Hurricane Bill Shifts Up Into Cat 4

For updates see Atlantic Hurricanes 2009

Bill strengthens into category 4 hurricane, eying top level

Hurricane Bill strengthened to a Cat 4 on Saffir-Simpson scale. Click image to enlarge and update. See also FEWW New Hurricane Scale.

[Meanwhile NASA’s MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center, is still measuring Bill as he was on August 17.]

NHC: Hurricane BILL Data  – Summary

5:00 AM AST Wed Aug 19 (9:00 UTC)
Location: 18.0°N 54.9°W
Max sustained:  215 km/h (135 mph)
Moving: WNW at 26 km/h (16 mph)
Min pressure: 71.1 cmHg (948 mb)

Hurricane Bill is expected to strengthen further, NHC said.  Adding that, bill will create large swells which would  impact the islands of  the northeast Caribbean sea in the next 48 hours. Bermuda and parts of  the SE coast of the US would be affected similarly, Friday and Saturday.

For background information,  details of Bill’s progress and additional images, see Atlantic Hurricanes 2009.

FEWW Comments: There’s a small probability of about 0.15  that Bill could move in a westerly direction toward the Gulf of Mexico, making his first landfall on the coast of Alabama.

Related Links:

• Bill a Major Hurricane, May Strengthen  Further
• Bill Becomes Hurricane, Strengthening

• Tropical Storm CLAUDETTE [Regular updates for CLAUDETTE are found in the comment section of the post]
  
• Meet Bill and Ana, 2009 First Named Storms [Regular updates for Bill and Ana are found in the comment section of the post]
• National Hurricane Center
• FEWW New Hurricane Scale

New Round of Geo-Assualt at Kermadec Trench

Magnitude 6.3 Quake South of Fiji Isles May Herald New Round of ‘Geo-Assault’ at Kermadec Trench

Following the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the tip of the Fiordland, South island, New Zealand, followed by a large cluster of aftershocks (still ongoing), another round of geo-assault appear to be gearing up at the southern end of the Kermadec trench.

The Fiordland quakes occurred as a result of a large reverse faulting motion caused by the subduction of the Australian subplate under the Pacific plate, on which Fiordland rests,  in Puysegur Trench, at the Alpine Fault.

The new wave of earthquakes would instead be caused by the ‘mirror image’ action, with Pacific plate subducting beneath the Australian protoplate.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck south of the Fiji Islands on August 18, 2009 at 21:21 UTC may herald a new round of intense [and unprecedented] seismic activity at Kermadec Trench to the north, NE, and East of the North Island, as well as the north, NE, and east of the South Island, New Zealand.

Details of the latest quake in the region:

Earthquake Location Map. Source of original map: USGS

• Magnitude: 6.3
• Date-Time:  Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 21:20:47 UTC

• Location: 26.014°S, 178.390°W
• Depth:  269 km (167.2 miles)
• Region: SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
• Distances:
  • 360 km (225 miles) N of Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands
  • 595 km (370 miles) S of Ndoi Island, Fiji
  • 1365 km (850 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand
  • 1800 km (1120 miles) NNE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand

• Location Uncertainty:  horizontal +/- 6 km (3.7 miles)
• Parameters:  NST=236, Nph=236, Dmin=362.1 km, Rmss=0.95 sec, Gp= 29°,  M-type=centroid moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8
• Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID: us2009klcj

[Caution: Data provided by the USGS  Earthquake Hazard Program may be subject to large margins of error as well as ‘ghost reporting,’ and therefore may be unreliable. ]

Related Links:

• Mt Ruapehu Eruption Alert
• Mag 5.3 Earthquake Rattles North Island, NZ
• Magnitude 7 Earthquake Hits Kermadec Islands
• Magnitude 6.8 Quake strikes Kermadec Isls Region
• Powerful 7.8 M Quake Strikes New Zealand Region
• http://newzeelend.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/a-warning-to-new-zealand-visitors/

• FEWW Earthquake Links

Another Ocean Record Broken

Congratulations! We’ve broken another ocean record!

Warmest Global Ocean Surface Temperatures on Record for July: NOAA

Our planet experienced the  warmest ocean surface temperature on record for July, exceeding the previous record established in 1998, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., reported.

As for the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature records, July 2009 ranked fifth-warmest since 1880 when world-wide records began,  NOAA said.

Atlantic Ocean Daily Sea Surface Temps – POES Composite. Source: NOAA

East Pacific Ocean Daily Sea Surface Temps – POES Composite. Source: NOAA

The following stats were provided by NOAA:

Global Climate Statistics

• The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the fifth warmest on record, at 1.03 degrees F (0.57 degree C) above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees F (15.8 degrees C).

• The global ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degree C) above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F (16.4 degrees C). This broke the previous July record set in 1998. The July ocean surface temperature departure of 1.06 degrees F from the long-term average equals last month’s value, which was also a record.

• The global land surface temperature for July 2009 was 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C) above the 20th century average of 57.8 degrees F (14.3 degree C), and tied with 2003 as the ninth-warmest July on record.

Notable Developments and Events

• El Niño persisted across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during July 2009. Related sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies increased for the sixth consecutive month.

• Large portions of many continents had substantially warmer-than-average temperatures during July 2009. The greatest departures from the long-term average were evident in Europe, northern Africa, and much of western North America. Broadly, across these regions, temperatures were about 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) above average.

• Cooler-than-average conditions prevailed across southern South America, central Canada, the eastern United States, and parts of western and eastern Asia. The most notably cool conditions occurred across the eastern U.S., central Canada, and southern South America where region-wide temperatures were nearly 4-7 degrees F (2-4 degrees C) below average.

• Arctic sea ice covered an average of 3.4 million square miles during July. This is 12.7 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent and the third lowest July sea ice extent on record, behind 2007 and 2006. Antarctic sea ice extent in July was 1.5 percent above the 1979-2000 average. July Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 6.1 percent per decade since 1979, while July Antarctic sea ice extent has increased by 0.8 percent per decade over the same period.

Related Links:

• Our Oceans: WILD FACTS SERIES
• How Hot Is Your Ocean?

• El Niño Update [17 Aug 2009]
• El Niño Home Page