DINNER MEETING HIGHLIGHTS (JULY 1997) The Palmetto Chapter of the American Meteorological Society held a meeting on July 10, 1997 at the West Side Bowery in Aiken, South Carolina. The meeting was very well attended with 26 people from Augusta, Georgia, and Aiken, Columbia, and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina coming out to listen to Dr. Michael Helfert of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources give an excellent presentation dealing with the processes of climatic change. As discussed by Dr. Helfert, the population explosion has certainly affected our climate, with the rise in carbon dioxide levels as measured over the past 40 years. Although he urged that wide spread definitive conclusions about global warming are difficult to make, he gave several examples of what he considers evidence of global warming. For instance, icebergs "larger than the size of Connecticut" have been peeling off of Antarctica leading to an icepack roughly two-thirds its size as compared to 1984 measurements. This may be impacting South Carolina by way of cooler temperatures over the previous decade. He stressed that this is due to increasing cloud cover, thus suppressing daytime maximum temperatures. However, since more moisture is available in the atmosphere, we have seen a rise in the number of extreme precipitation events (>2 inches). Finally, El Nino was reviewed. The classic condition of a high- pressure cell being located over eastern Australia was illustrated using current data, and sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies were depicted over the entire globe. Values in excess of 4.5=B0C were noted to the west of South America, with dramatic increases in the last four months. The current forecast is for the peak strength of El Nino to occur in December 1997, resulting in wet, cool conditions over South Carolina. However, the main question we are all left to ponder from Dr. Helfert's presentation is this; why have we experienced so many El Ninos (5 or 6) this decade? Thanks to all who attended the meeting, especially to Dr. Helfert for his illuminating presentation! (Bob Buckley) PALMETTO CHAPTER ON THE WWW Sandi St.Claire, President, with the input of several Palmetto Chapter members, put together a draft version of the Palmetto Chapter's web page. During the July meeting copies of the draft version were passed along to members. Since then a link to the web page has been added to the AMS's web pages. If anyone would like to add to the existing pages or would like to see some changes, please contact one of the officers. The web address for the Palmetto Chapter web page is: http://water.dnr.state. sc.us/climate/sercc/pams (Sandi St.Claire) DUES Thanks also to those who have paid their annual dues this year. For individuals who haven't paid their dues for the 1997-year, it is not too late! You may still pay the treasurer or one of the other officers. These funds are used to pay for newsletter mailings, awards for the high school and middle school science fair winners, supplies for the mini-technical conference, and meal tabs for guest dinner/meeting speakers. Due to the small amount usually in the treasury, it is not economically feasible to establish a separate bank account. Thus, checks should be made out directly to the treasurer, Robert Buckley. (Bob Buckley) UPCOMING DINNER MEETING The next meeting is planned for September 25, 1997 at 7:00 p.m. at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Columbia. Our speaker for the evening is Carl Ulbrich, professor at Clemson University. His talk will be focused on lightning research in Puerto Rico. Please mark this date on your calendar. We look forward to hearing Dr. Ulbrich's talk. Directions to the Spaghetti Warehouse: FROM AUGUSTA/AIKEN: Take exit 64 off I-20 (sign will say Columbia I-126). Follow I-126 (follow sign that says Downtown Columbia - this intersection is very confusing!) into downtown. Continue approximately 1-2 miles until you must follow one of two roads ...follow signs to Elmwood. Continue straight. Take a right onto Assembly Street. Continue straight. The next street you will turn onto is Lady Street. You will know you are getting close to Lady as you approach the Affinity Building (former AT&T building). Take a right onto Lady Street. The Spaghetti Warehouse will be about 2 blocks down Lady Street on your right. You can't miss it! A map of the directions will be posted on our web page next week. (Sandi St.Claire) UPSTATE CHAPTER MEETING The Upstate South Carolina Chapter of the AMS is having a meeting on Thursday, September 18, 1997 at 7:30 PM in the conference room at the National Weather Service Office at GSP airport. The speaker will be Grant Goodge from NCDC. His talk will focus on the detection of low level phenomena that increase convergence and aid in the develop- ment of severe thunderstorms. Anyone interested is invited to attend. 1997 OFFICERS President - Sandi St.Claire stclaire@water.dnr.state.sc.us (803) 737-0808 ext. 140 Vice-President - Jim Gandy JimGandy@aol.com (803) 799-1010 Sec/Treasurer - Robert Buckley robert.buckley@srs.gov (803) 725-1926
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