Feb 6-10, 2023 Weather & Climate News

[Mid-Atlantic Weather Station (MAWS) Mailing List]

(Source:  AMS, 2/6/23)

WEEKLY WEATHER AND CLIMATE NEWS 6-10 February 2023 Items of Interest:   

• Record low wind-chill temperature was reached on Mt. Washington -- An Arctic air that spread across the Northeast over the weekend was accompanied by sub-zero (Fahrenheit) air temperatures and wind chills to the region. A record-setting wind chill temperature of 108 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (or 78 degrees below zero Celsius) was observed late Friday night and again on Saturday morning at the Mount Washington Observatory (elevation 6288 feet above sea level), at the summit of the Northeast's highest peak, Mount Washington, New Hampshire. On Friday night, when the wind-chill temperature dropped to 108 degrees below zero, the air temperature was 45 degrees below and the sustained winds were 101 mph gusting to 115 mph. On Saturday morning, the air temperature had dropped to 47 degrees below zero with sustained winds of 89 mph gusting to 97 mph. The previous record low wind-chill was 102.7 degrees below zero at Mt. Washington on 16 January 2004, with an air temperature of 44 degrees below zero and sustained winds of 87 mph gusting to 98 mph. In addition, Saturday morning's temperature of 47 degrees below zero broke the previous record for the Observatory of 46 below set on 8 January 1968. Editor's Note Unless verified otherwise, the 108-degree wind-chill could be considered a record for anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States, due to the rarity of a combination of subzero temperatures and wind gusts exceeding 100 mph found elsewhere. EJH [Weather Underground News]
• Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2023 Campaign for February commences -- The second in a series of twelve GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for the calendar year 2023 commences this Sunday (12 February) and will continue through Tuesday, 21 February. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of constellations with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. The constellations selected for this series are Orion and Gemini in the Northern Hemisphere and Orion and Canis Major in the Southern Hemisphere. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The third series in the 2023 GLOBE campaign is scheduled for 13-22 March. [GLOBE at Night]
• Becoming AWARE -- During this coming week (6-10 February 2023),    Alabama,    Florida and Georgia have scheduled their Severe Weather Awareness Week. If you live in any of these states, you should take time to become familiar with the various public affairs announcements issued by your local National Weather Service Office. Other states farther to the north will be observing their Severe Weather Awareness weeks in the next ten weeks.
  With the approach of the severe weather season, officials with the National Weather Service are encouraging science teachers throughout the country to take time to relay various safety information concerning weather-related hazards to their students. These teachers should contact the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at their local National Weather Service Office. They can locate that person on-line by going to https://www.weather.gov/stormready/contact and clicking on the outline of their state appearing on the map.
   
• The NOAA Environmental Satellite and Information Service reviews its accomplishments in 2022 -- A team at the NOAA Environmental Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS) selected at least one dozen of the agency's accomplishments during 2022 to review. "NESDIS' mission is provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information from satellites and other sources to both promote and protect the Nation's environment, security, economy quality of life." Some of these accomplishments in 2022 included:
  The successful launch of a NOAA geosynchronous satellite, a NOAA polar-orbiting satellite and a separate instrument that rode onboard a commercial satellite;
  Significant milestones were reached in the planning of next generation satellite systems and instruments that will be carried on these spacecraft;
  NOAA satellites monitored extreme weather phenomena that included a total of 15 weather and climate disasters across the U.S. in 2022, each with losses exceeding $1 billion; NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) "Billion-Dollar Disaster and Risk Mapping tools " now include U.S. Census tract data;
  The NOAA-Search And Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) System celebrated 40 years of helping rescue more than 55,000 people;
  NOAA’s Earth Topography Global Relief Model ( ETOPO ) was updated in 2022, bringing greater, more accurate details to the geophysical characteristics of Earth’s surface. Data collected by NOAA's satellite fleet continues to provide new information on Arctic sea ice decline over the last four decades;
  NOAA’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) developed a technique combining digital elevation maps with satellite images from the NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument to enhance and improve flood products and mapping across the nation. [NOAA NESDIS News]
       
• NOAA Education shows its photo album for 2022 -- The NOAA Education community was invited to submit photos that summarized 2022 for NOAA interns, fellows, and educators. Some of the photos from 2022 that were selected as best showing students learning in and enjoying the outdoor environment of several national marine sanctuaries appear on the NOAA Education website. [NOAA Education]
   
• Reflecting on state climate extremes records and reports -- Deke Arndt, Chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), posted a Beyond the Data blog five years ago in which he featured a look at climate extremes by state. (The most recent list, as of April 2021, of extremes in maximum, minimum temperature, 24-hour precipitation, 24-hour snowfall and snow depth for each state officially recognized by NCEI is provided.) He provided insight into the importance of having volunteer weather observers who are part of the Cooperative Network to not only report measured values from the instruments but also make commentary about unusual weather events in their area. [NOAA News]
• Climatology of Super Bowls updated -- Next Sunday (12 February 2023) is "Super Sunday," when the Philadelphia Eagles (National Football Conference Champions) will play the Kansas City Chiefs (American Football Conference Champions) in the National Football League's Super Bowl LVII (or 57) at State Farm Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium with a retractable roof in the Phoenix, AZ suburb of Glendale that was formerly called University of Phoenix Stadium.
  The service climatologist for the Southeast Regional Climate Center has provided an updated listing of the Super Bowl Climatology 1967-2022. This annotated list contains the "climatology" for game day that includes the daily maximum and minimum temperatures, the 24-hour precipitation and the 24-hour snowfall along with comments on the weather observed at the major airport closest to the host city on "Super Sunday" for each of the previous 56 Super Bowl games.
  During the last 56 years the Super Bowl has been played in at least 15 different major metropolitan areas and in 27 different stadiums. Furthermore, one-third (18) of these games have been played indoors or in a stadium with the retractable roof closed. After years of restricting the selected site to relatively warm cities (where temperatures need to be at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit) or at domed stadiums, NFL officials scheduled the 2014 Super Bowl for the outdoor MetLife Stadium at East Rutherford, NJ, a cold weather site that is home to the New York Giants and Jets. That game was played only hours before wintry weather reached northern New Jersey.
• Recalling the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of February 1899 -- An arctic air mass spread across large sections of the nation during the past several weeks. This outbreak pales in comparison to the historic "Great Arctic Outbreak" during the first two weeks of February 1899 that brought unprecedented low temperatures to many Southern and Eastern States. In 2014, NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) reviewed the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of February 1899 when temperatures fell to 61 degrees below zero at Fort Logan, MT. In Tallahassee, FL, the temperature reached 2 degrees below zero, which remains the all-time record low for the Sunshine State. Ice formed on the Mississippi River near its mouth. Over 100 people lost their lives during this "Great Arctic Outbreak." [NOAA NCEI News]

Weather and Climate News Items:

• Eye on the tropics ---As of this past Sunday, no organized named tropical cyclones (with maximum sustained near-surface winds of 39 mph or greater) formed last week over any of the world's tropical ocean basins. However, a weak and disorganized tropical depression formed and traveled across the Bay of Bengal in the North Indian Ocean for several days early last week.
• Nation's severe weather events in 2022 are reviewed -- The NOAA/National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) recently posted its "2022 Severe Weather Year-In-Review" that summarizes the severe weather events across the contiguous United States during 2022; comparison can be made with other years. Click on the various tabs, such as "Reports," "Significant Events," and "Miscellaneous" to provide more detailed information about last year's events.
  A record number of 236 tornadoes were reported across the U.S. during this past March, which is the most for any March since 1950, which is the beginning of the SPC nationwide records. The 236 tornadoes surpassed the previous record of 192 tornadoes set in March 2017. Interestingly, the three months of July through September 2022 had only 122 tornadoes across the nation, which ranks as the third lowest tornado count since 114 tornadoes were reported in July-September of 2012. Additionally, this past May was the third consecutive May where no violent EF4 or greater tornado was reported. The highest rated tornado in 2022 was a EF-4 tornado with 185-mph winds at Pembroke, GA on 5 April.
  The most severe weather reports for any single day in 2022 was 850 on 17 June 2022, when over 800 strong wind reports, 45 large hail reports and one tornado reports were filed across the Southeastern States to as far north as the Ohio Valley. The maximum measured thunderstorm wind gust during 2022 was 120-mph gust on 2 different occasions in South Dakota on 14 June as a cluster of thunderstorms moved across the state. [NOAA SPC Media ]
• Gulf of Mexico found to be warming over last 50 years -- Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and NOAA's Northern Gulf Institute have quantified the existence of a warming trend that has been occurring in the upper 2000 meters of the waters of Gulf of Mexico over the past 50 years (1970–2020). The scientists based their findings upon analyzed 192,890 temperature profiles that they collected from 1950–2020 in the Gulf of Mexico; these profiles are publicly available in the NCEI World Ocean Database. The rate of warming of the upper layers of the Gulf has been at 0.19 Celsius degrees (or 0.34 Fahrenheit degrees) per decade. which is at a rate approximately twice the rate of the global ocean during these same five decades. [NOAA NCEI News]
• "Coastal County Snapshots" unveiled as a new tool for climate resilience planning -- NOAA’s National Ocean Service has recently released "Coastal County Snapshots," which is a new online tool to NOAA’s "Digital Coast" platform that can be used to inform planning and decision-making in coastal communities. By selecting an area of interest, such a county along the coasts of the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes, the user will be able to access easy-to-understand charts, graphics, and information. Topic areas within Snapshot are focused on issues important to coastal communities intending to become more resilient to climate change: flooding, sea level rise, and economics. Printable handouts can be produced that would help in articulating the community resilience message. [National Ocean Service News]
• Societal impacts of Earth data are investigated -- An enormous potential exists to improve how society understands, values, and uses essential environmental information that are being collected by the nation's science agencies. Consequently, NASA and NOAA are co-sponsoring a Call for Proposals for Socioeconomic Assessments (SEA) that seeks to expand the research, methodologies, tools, and capacity for assessments of the socioeconomic value from Earth science information for real-world decisions and operations. In addition, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) serves as a collaborator to this activity and will host the outputs, materials, and results of the awarded groups in their international Societal Benefits Repository. The SEA call for proposals that will run through 22 March 2022 focuses on broad types of Earth science information, especially that obtained from satellite-based Earth observations made by NASA, NOAA, and USGS, as well as from commercial and international sources. [NOAA NESDIS News]
   
• Canadian national seasonal outlook issued -- Forecasters with Environment Canada issued their outlooks for temperature and precipitation across Canada for the three months of February through April 2023, which represent the remainder of meteorological winter (February) and the first two months of meteorological spring (March and April). Their temperature outlook indicates that most of the interior sections of Canada, along with a part of Atlantic Canada could experience below-normal (1991-2020) temperatures for these three months. The cold conditions would extend from southern British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies eastward across the Prairie Provinces to Hudson Bay and then to the Labrador coast and New Brunswick. . Only a relatively small western section of the Canadian Archipelago could have above-average temperatures for the next three months. Elsewhere, western Canada consisting of most of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, along with areas of Ontario and Quebec located along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Valley could have near-normal temperatures.
  The Canadian precipitation outlook for the next three months indicates that large sections of northern and eastern Canada could experience below-average precipitation for these three months. These areas would include the Northwest and Nunavut Territories in northern Canada, along with Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in eastern Canada. On the other hand, several scattered areas could have above-average precipitation. One of th larger areas that could experience above-average precipitation would be in central British Columbia and northern Alberta. Smaller, widely scattered areas would be in the Prairie Provinces along the U.S. Canadian border running from southern Alberta to southern Manitoba and in the western Canadian Archipelago. Elsewhere, near-average precipitation was anticipated.
  [Note for comparisons and continuity with the three-month seasonal outlooks of temperature and precipitation generated for the continental United States and Alaska by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, one would need to use Environment Canada's probabilistic forecasts for temperature and precipitation.]
• Detailed seasonal temperature record for Earth over last 11,000 years -- Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and an international team of collaborators have used Antarctic ice cores analysis to create a seasonal temperature record of the Earth dating back 11,000 years to essentially the start of the Holocene Epoch. This record, which contains both summer and winter temperatures, helps validate a theory concerning how seasonal temperatures in polar regions respond to Milankovitch cycles. These cycles are named for the Serbian scientist, Milutin Milankovitch, who hypothesized slightly more than 100 years ago that the collective effects of changes in the Earth’s orbital elements (orbital eccentricity, obliquity of the ecliptic and the precession of the equinoxes) are a strong driver of Earth’s long-term climate, including the start and end of ice ages. Over time, slow variations of Earth's orbit and its axial position relative to the Sun on the order of 23,000 to 100,000 years result in periodic variations in the incoming solar radiation in terms of latitude on Earth and upon the seasons. The researchers analyzed a continuous record of water-isotope ratios from a more than two-mile long ice core, determining the past temperatures from the ratios between the concentration of isotopes (chemical elements with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons). Thus, this record could be used to determine transitions between ice ages and warm interglacial periods in Earth’s past. [University of Colorado News]
• South Atlantic Ocean plays a unique role in global overturning circulation -- Scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) along with colleagues from other research institutions in the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and South Africa have used 15 years of data collected as part of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (SAMOC) initiative to understand the role of the South Atlantic component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). SAMOC, which was initiated in 2007, consisted of an observational network that was built over the past 10 to 15 years that monitored climatically relevant oceanic fluxes of mass, heat, and freshwater. These measurements were made along the SAMOC Basin-Wide Array (SAMBA) line at 34.5 degrees South latitude and the Tropical Atlantic Circulation and Overturning (TRACOS) network line at 11 degrees South latitude. These measurements provided information about the structure and variability of the AMOC volume transports at these two latitudes. The observations made along with the numerical models that have been constructed consistently indicate that variations in the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) are strongly correlated to important climate changes that include variations in precipitation and surface air temperatures. Interestingly, the South Atlantic Ocean is the only ocean basin that transports heat toward the equator instead of the poles. It transfers vast amounts of Pacific and Indian Ocean waters to the North Atlantic. As a result of this research, the South Atlantic Ocean has been found to have warmed from its surface to the deep ocean, upper ocean salinity has increased, and intermediate, deep water masses are freshening. [NOAA AOML News]
• An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]

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