.....SUPER STUDENT REPORT.....Sept. '97-May '98
.....................................EL NINO...........................
November 10th
-- We're having a HEATWAVE!! Melting snow, warm winds, 45 degrees, it's 16 degrees above normal for this time of year. Is it because of El Nino?
November 12th
-- Well, it's 8:00 at night and it's pouring rain outside. The rain is melting all the snow.
The Ski resorts here are closed and people are complaining because they can't even go cross-country skiing.
Since November 4th, temperatures have been on a steady rise. It's because of a powerful low with a series of lows behind it. The capital of Alaska, Juneau hit a record high for Sunday with 52 degrees. They also had another record on Monday because it was 55 degrees. This warm weather is all over Alaska. Even the oil production at Prudhoe Bay has been affected. Oil production has dropped by 40,000 barrels a day, because the compressors that reinject natural gas into the reservoir to help pump out crude oil work best at 10 below to 10 above. Tuesday the temperature was 37 degrees. "It's the pits," said Debbie Moderrow, who used to travel 40 minutes to train her sled dogs but now commutes three to four hour. "However far north I have to drive, I'll get there somehow, but I'm not so sure there'll be snow."
I'm going to ask my mom if I can get my bike out!
NOW UPDATED EVERY WEEK
UPDATE FOR OCTOBER
I read in the Anchorage Daily News on October 22, that a mass die-off of seabirds in Western Alaska and the Chukchi Sea this summer apparently was caused by starvation. This was according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It appears the birds couldn't get enough food because the calm, warm conditions of El Nino drove their food deeper into the water than the birds could reach. "We'll never know how many seabirds we lost," said Vivian Mendenhall, a seabird biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service. "But it appears this was one of the largest seabird die-offs ever recorded." Species affected include short-tailed shearwaters, black-legged kittiwakes, murres and other diving species. Up to 500 dead shearwaters were found for each mile of beach along the Bering Sea, and thousands of dead birds were reported along both sides of the lower half of the Alaska Peninsula. The dead birds were also seen in the Aleutians as far west as Adak. The birds feed on small fish and shrimplike zooplankton, but the warm waters and lack of major storms apparently forced that bird food into deeper, cooler waters. Healthy populations of all the affected species remain but Alaska could see another round of bird die-offs in the coming months, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
WHAT EFFECT WILL EL NINO HAVE ON ALASKA?
First of all,
WHAT IS EL NINO?
"Scientists can't fully explain the subtle interactions between ocean and the atmosphere that produce El Nino. But they do know that the process involves a weakening of the southeasterly trade winds that normally dictate the area's weather. This produces warm water throughout the Pacific Ocean. Every 2-10 years, the weather throughout the southern Pacific Ocean shifts and acts wild. The normally rain soaked Far East becomes dry, while the west coast of South America gets a lot of heavy rains. This causes years of agricultural abundance. Winds from the east push warm surface water across the Pacific, making its west edge 2 degree F. warmer and 16" higher. In the east, cold water replaces the warm. So the warm, moist air rises in the west and brings clouds and rain. The cold, dry air falling in the east dries out the South American coast.
Because this phenomenon usually occurs around Christmas, it is called El Nino, the Spanish term for the Christ child." I am quoting this from The Seattle Times, Tuesday, August 12, 1997, that was online on the Internet.
SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ALASKA?
Anchorage has already had some weird storms this past spring and summer. Jason Hess, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said, "Anchorage averages less than one thunderstorm a year, but this spring and summer, five thunderstorms have boomed overhead. To get that many is definitely unusual." Hess said the unusual weather in Anchorage this year could be part of a larger phenomenon, perhaps El Nino. Jason Hess also said, "This El Nino they've been talking about is supposedly the strongest of the century." Normally with an El Nino the first six months of the year are drier than usual and the last are wetter.
That's exactly what happened in Anchorage. Anchorage got half of its rainfall for the year in August. I remember this last storm real well. It was around September 18, and it rained so hard that my driveway was totally flooded. The grass on the lawn was all under water. There were a bunch of worms crawling on my steps, I guess they were trying to find a place to hide. I really liked the thunder and lightning. I got my flashlight ready, just in case the electricity went off, but it didn't. We had hail about the size of a dime at my house. My dog Penny didn't want to go out, but I did. I ran out for just a minute and got soaked.
Current Alaska Weather Map--------------------Click on this link to see a weather map of Alaska---------------------------- Be sure to use your "Back" button to return to this page!
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUES EL NINO PREDICTIONS-
"The National Weather Service thinks that Anchorage can expect more Chinook winds, warmer temperatures and a wetter winter, while Interior Alaska can look forward to an easy breakup." They are blaming it on El Nino. This is what I read in the Anchorage Daily News, on September 30, 1997. The weather forecasters seem pretty certain El Nino will make Anchorage a wetter than normal place until Christmas and drier after that. They aren't saying whether that means more than average snow or lots of rain. The answer is that it will depend on where the low pressure systems move. I guess they can't predict that right now.
WHY ARE SCIENTIST SO SURE THAT THIS IS THE BIG ONE?
One reason is that technology has allowed the meteorologists to make more accurate predictions. They have weather balloons and they get Satellite Data from floating and fixed ocean buoys. These buoys record sea surface temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind and deep sea temperatures. The Space Science and Engineering Center in Madison, Wisconsin records this data. This information shows them the normal and abnormal conditions. And this year, there are a lot of abnormal conditions.
WEIRD THINGS ARE ALREADY HAPPENING IN ALASKA-
Temperature readings in the Gulf of Alaska, right now, are about 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. The usual surface temperature in the Gulf of Alaska, in September, is about 54-55 degrees. This year, in September the surface temperature was about 64-65 degrees. Tuna swim in seas of about 59 degrees. When salmon fisherman, fishing the waters off Southeast Alaska pulled in their nets earlier this year, they found a surprise catch. Shimmering with a brownish blue metallic shine and round in shape, they were Mola Mola, an ocean sunfish that can weigh more than a ton. The Mola Mola fish live in tropical waters. They are not supposed to be west of Juneau, Alaska. In 1958, another El Nino year, fisherman reported seeing and catching Barracudas, Tuna and Letterback Sea Turtles swimming in Alaskan Sea waters.
We could be seeing a lot of strange stuff this year. Water temperatures off the North American coast, from California to Alaska, have been very warm. Warmer than normal.
AN ALASKAN MYSTERY
What happened to sockeye salmon that were supposed to arrive at Bristol Bay, one of Alaska's richest fishing areas? Before the season started, the prediction was for about 24.8 million sockeye. The actual harvest was a little over 12 million. That was the lowest since 1978. Nobody knows what happened. The University of Washington scientists are planning a one day workshop to look at the Bristol Bay mystery later in October. Everyone is saying that it is because of El Nino.
WHAT EL NINO IS DOING AROUND THE WORLD
Scientists are watching the extreme weather patterns around the world to see what the ecological impact will be. They say extreme weather sets the stage for a lot of infections. The doctors and scientists will be watching to see what diseases emerge from the droughts and floods that are expected. They think they will see a lot of Cholera and Malaria.
Some people in other countries are getting very nervous, wondering about what El Nino will do to them. In Papua, New Guinea, it is feared that as many as 1 million people could starve to death because of the drought they expect El Nino to cause. They are already having huge wildfires there. The loss of hydroelectric power has already brought Papua, New Guinea's industries to a standstill. Drought could affect North Korea, China and Australia too. Floods have already been happening in Europe. In New Zealand, they have crop and livestock losses estimated at $130 million. El Nino will also affect the tourism trade, because no one will want to visit these places for awhile.
Also, the Amazon Rain Forest is burning because of El Nino. It is so dry there.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE CURRENT EARTH'S WEATHER---Use your "BACK" button to return to this page!
HERE IS SOME GOOD NEWS!
"The dry spell expected to hit the Philippines later this year from the El Nino ocean warming phenomenon could make the country's sugar taste sweeter, the Philippine Sugar Regulatory Authority has announced." "Sugarcane is better harvested during the dry months," President Wilson Gamboa told reporters, adding that the wetter the climate, the less sugar is extracted."
CALIFORNIA PREPARES FOR A DISASTER
The people in California think they are going to have a very bad winter this year, because of El Nino. Officials there are getting ready for heavy winter storms, flooding and mudslides. In Santa Monica, California, Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday said, "I think maybe that global warming may be adding muscle to El Nino weather effects." He was speaking to a group of western state leaders, attending a meeting to talk about El Nino. I saw on CNN that a lot of people are already filling sand bags in case there are floods. I also saw a story on CNN about the cast and crew of "DR. Quinn Medicine Woman." The show is filmed somewhere around Hollywood and they are afraid the wind and rain and storms will wreck the little town that they film the show in. Also, another story about El Nino on CNN said that the ocean water is getting so warm that the Squid are diving deeper, because they like cold water better. Now the Sea Lions don't have anything to eat, because they liked to eat the Squid.
El Everyone is talking about El Nino. Everyone is watching and waiting to see what will happen. I'll be watching too, and telling you right on this page what happens in Alaska.
Why not check out these links. You will find out some great information about El Nino.
Links to other sites on the Web
Environmental News
Forecasts and Predictions
Weather Phenomenon
Dateline NBC News
E-Mail me at
dcunited13@yahoo.com
....................stay tuned.............more to come.........lots more....................
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