10-14 May 2004

Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2004 with new Water News and Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 30 August 2004. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• Farewell to GOES 8--NOAA officials recently announced that GOES 8, one of the geosynchronous satellites that had been in operation for the last 10 years, has been deactivated. While on station above the equator, the satellite provided coverage of the western hemisphere and tracked numerous tropical cyclones that moved across the relatively uninhabited tropical oceans. [NOAA News]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes-- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• 10 May 1977...An unprecedented spring snowstorm, hit southern New England and southeastern New York. This storm, which began on the 9^th, was an elevation storm. Twenty inches of snow fell at Norfolk, CT (elevation 1337 feet) while downtown Hartford received only 1.2 inches. The highest total occurred at Slide Mountain, NY (elevation 2600 feet) with 26 inches falling. Extensive damage to trees and power lines occurred with 500,000 people without power following the storm. This was the first May snow in 107 years of records at Boston, MA although only 1/2 inch fell there. However, in the nearby suburb of Bedford, 9.5 inches fell. Of particular interest is the fact that Concord, NH received all rain from the storm, demonstrating latitude farther north played no role in this snowstorm. (Intellicast)
• 10-11 May 1991...Floodwaters from Soldier Creek and White River washed out many roads and bridges, including 20 miles of railroad track and 42 railroad bridges in the Nebraska Panhandle. In Oral, SD, houses were carried several hundred feet by floodwaters. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 11 May 1833...The ship Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic while bound from England to Quebec, resulting in the loss of 215 lives. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

• 11-12 May 1965...The first of two cyclones that struck East Pakistan (now called Bangladesh) during the year made landfall. This system, along with the one on 1–2 June killed about 47,000 people.

• 12 May 1916...Plumb Point, Jamaica reported 17.80 inches of rain in 15 minutes, which set a world record. (The Weather Doctor)
• 12 May 1972...In Texas, a cloudburst dumped sixteen inches of rain north of New Braunfels sending a thirty foot wall of water down Blueders Creek into the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers washing away people, houses and automobiles. The flood claimed 18 lives and caused more than twenty million dollars damage. (The Weather Channel)
• 12 May 1989...Showers and thunderstorms associated with a low-pressure system stalled over New York State drenched Portland, ME with 4.50 inches of rain in 24 hours. Rains of 5 to 7 inches soaked the state of Maine over a four-day period causing 1.3 million dollars damage. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 13 May 1930...A man was killed when caught in an open field during a hailstorm 36 miles northwest of Lubbock, TX, the first, and perhaps the only, authentic death by hail in U.S. weather records. (David Ludlum)
• 13-14 May 1989...Heavy rain and snow fell along Colorado's Front Range and the north central mountains, with 20 inches of snow recorded at Echo Lake. A 30-ton boulder, loosened by the wet weather, tumbled onto Interstate 70 east of the Eisenhower Tunnel. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 15-24 May 1951...Hurricane Able did a "loop-the-loop" north of the Bahamas and reached Category 3 strength off Cape Hatteras, NC. (The Weather Doctor)
• 15 May 1972...The worst ice jam flooding of memory for long-time residents took place along the Kuskokwim River and Yukon River in Alaska, marking the first time since 1890 that the two rivers "flowed as one". The towns of Oscarville and Napaskiak were completely inundated. (15th-31st) (The Weather Channel)
• 16 May 1874...The Mill Creek disaster occurred west of Northhampton, MA. Dam slippage after a rain resulted in a flash flood that claimed 143 lives, and caused a million dollars property damage. (David Ludlum)
• 16 May 1883...A three-day flood was in progress throughout the Black Hills of South Dakota that resulted in damages over one million dollars in the Rapid City area. (Intellicast)
• 16 May 1917...Marquette, MI had its latest opening of navigation on Lake Superior in history. (Intellicast)

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URL: WES/news.html

Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.