First measurement flight: Research aircraft HALO explores trade wind clouds

Which climate effects do clouds have? Under what conditions will they warm or awesome the climate? Today, after greater than 5 years of preparation, the specifically outfitted research aircraft HALO (Thin Air and Lengthy Range Research Aircraft) will take off because of its first measurement flight in atmospheric research. Prof. Bjorn Stevens and Dr. Lutz Hirsch in the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) leave Oberpfaffenhofen in Germany for any ten-hour flight to Barbados.

They'll operate numerous calculating instruments aboard HALO with respect to the German atmospheric research: "Each day we've eagerly looked forward to," states Stevens. "It's the initial pursuit to exploit the novel abilities of HALO to determine vertical profiles of aspects of atmospheric water -- like vapor, liquid and ice, both in cloud and precipitation forms, along with the aerosol contaminants where cloud tiny droplets form -- from the thin air. A brand new era of airborne atmospheric research." The aircraft, outfitted with a lot of advanced technology, is definitely an initiative by German climate and environment research institutions (see below) and it is run by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The flight belongs to the NARVAL project (Next-generation Aircraft Remote-Realizing for Validation Studies) and can supply the researchers with increased more information around the metabolic rate of tropical clouds (Fig. 1). The transatlantic plane tickets from Oberpfaffenhofen to Barbados will complement the stationary dimensions from the cloud observatory on Barbados. The collected data will lead to some better knowledge of cloud and precipitation processes and will assist you to reduce questions in climate models.

Remote realizing instruments, situated within the "Belly Pod" beneath the aircraft?s shell, will identify vertical profiles of humidity and temperature and also the distribution of tiny droplets and aerosols (Fig. 2). Furthermore, so-known as dropsondes is going to be launched throughout the flight. These radiosondes usually ascend from Earth with the aid of a weather balloon and perform dimensions enroute with the atmosphere. This time around, they'll be came by parachute and can glide back down.

The very first measurement flight is really a joint project from the MPI-M using the Meteorological Institute from the College Hamburg, DLR, Colleges of Perfume, Leipzig and Heidelberg and also the Forschungszentrum J?lich. It will require the researchers on the lengthy-haul flight to Barbados, in which the MPI-M cloud observatory is situated, and back. Ideally, comparison dimensions using the satellite CloudSat is going to be carried out throughout the plane tickets. The satellite measures the Atlantic clouds in trajectories crosswise towards the flight route. Short plane tickets of HALO in parallel using these satellite trajectories have the ability to ensure the satellite?s dimensions (Fig. 3): the aircraft flies in a lower altitude compared to satellite and may therefore identify the clouds a lot more accurate.

As a whole, the environment route Oberpfaffenhofen -- Barbados and back ought to be flown three occasions in December 2013 ("NARVAL South"). Throughout the 2nd flight, a nearby flight from Barbados eastward with the trade wind clouds is planned. The goal would be to identify clouds which are directly at risk of the Barbados cloud observatory and also to do a comparison towards the land-based cloud observatory data.

The 2nd area of the mission is going to be completed underneath the direction from the College Hamburg in The month of january ("NARVAL North"). HALO depends on Iceland to look at the backsides of fronts within the North Atlantic. The quantity of precipitation around the backsides of fronts is really a questionable subject in science because satellite findings and model information provide spun sentences. "Measured values are missing?? because ships don't sail during these typical storm zones" states principal investigator Prof. Felix Ament in the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), College of Hamburg. "A effective HALO mission could provide important details and eliminate a 'blank spot' into the spotlight of science."

The study aircraft HALO is definitely an initiative by German climate and environment research institutions. HALO is funded by: Federal Secretary of state for Education and Research (BMBF), German Research Foundation (DFG), Helmholtz Association, Max Planck Society, Leibniz Association, Free Condition of Bavaria, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Package), GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, Forschungszentrum J?lich and German Aerospace Center (DLR)

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First infrared satellite monitoring of peak pollution episodes in China

Plumes of countless anthropogenic contaminants (especially particulate matter and deadly carbon monoxide) situated near walk out over China have the very first time been detected from space. The job was completed with a team in the Laboratoire Atmosph?res, Milieux, Findings Spatiales (CNRS / UPMC / UVSQ) together with Belgian scientists with support from CNES, using dimensions through the IASI infrared sounder released aboard the MetOp satellite. Their groundbreaking answers are released online online from the journal Geophysical Research Letters dated 17 The month of january 2014. They represent an important step towards enhanced monitoring of regional pollution and predicting of local pollution episodes, particularly in China.

Despite efforts through the Chinese government to lessen surface pollutants, China is frequently impacted by major polluting of the environment episodes. It has become an essential public health problem, since polluting of the environment causes greater than 300,000 premature deaths in China every year. In The month of january 2013, Beijing experienced an unparalleled pollution episode, mainly because of periodic coal consumption and unfavorable climate conditions (insufficient wind plus temperature inversion) that trapped the contaminants at walk out. In lots of regions, atmospheric levels of particulate matter (PM) arrived at values considered dangerous to human health, sometimes exceeding the daily threshold suggested through the World Health Organization (25 ?g/m3) with a factor of nearly 40.

To watch local and regional pollution, China comes with an quality of air monitoring network that continuously provides dimensions of key contaminants including PM, deadly carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). However, the physical distribution of calculating stations is patchy, which causes it to be hard to predict the introduction of pollution episodes. Within this context, satellite findings end up being very valuable because of their excellent physical coverage and horizontal resolution. Regrettably, such dimensions possess the drawback to being sensitive primarily at altitudes of three to 10 km. Using satellites to find out atmospheric composition near walk out was complicated so far.

The scientists have proven that, unlike anticipation, the IASI sounder has the capacity to identify plumes of contaminants even near walk out as lengthy as two the weather is met: climate conditions should be stable, which results in a build-from contaminants at walk out, and there has to be a substantial temperature distinction between the floor and also the air just above Earth's surface. In The month of january 2013, IASI measured high levels of anthropogenic contaminants for example CO, SO2, ammonia (NH3) and ammonium sulfate aerosols over Beijing and neighboring metropolitan areas. The IASI infrared sounder thus turns out to be suitable to monitoring these contaminants such conditions.

The work signifies a breakthrough in pollution monitoring from space. Using the launch of IASI-B, two IASI sounders can now collect infrared data from space and two times just as much information has therefore been available because the finish of The month of january 2013. It'll henceforth be easy to monitor pollution episodes connected with stable climate conditions more precisely and frequently. The job reveals new prospects for enhanced assessment and control over quality of air.

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First GOES-R instrument ready to be installed onto spacecraft

May 2, 2013

The first of six instruments that will fly on GOES-R, NOAA’s next-generation of geostationary operational environmental satellites, has been completed seven months before its scheduled installation onto the spacecraft.

The instrument, the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors, or EXIS, will provide forecasters at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center with some of the most important early warnings of impending solar storms. It will also give scientists a more accurate measure of the extremes in solar energy radiating toward earth, which can severely disrupt telecommunications, air travel, and the performance of power grids.

“Severe space weather has the potential to cause significant damage to the U.S. and global economy, so it’s critical GOES-R has this technology in place as quickly as possible to monitor it,” said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.

GOES-R, scheduled to launch in 2015, will be more advanced than NOAA’s current GOES fleet. The satellites are expected to more than double the clarity of today’s GOES imagery and provide more atmospheric observations than current capabilities with more frequent images. Data from the GOES-R instruments will be used to create many different products, enabling NOAA meteorologists and other users to better monitor the atmosphere, land, ocean and the sun, facilitating more timely and accurate forecasts and warnings.

The University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) built and tested EXIS.

EXIS will be shipped from the LASP site in Boulder to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Littleton, Colo., later this year to be installed onto the spacecraft. Lockheed is building the GOES-R spacecraft.

The remaining GOES-R instruments to be delivered are:

the Advanced Baseline Imager, the primary instrument on GOES-R for imaging Earth’s weather, climate, and environment;Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which will provide for the first time a continuous surveillance of total lightning over the western hemisphere from space;the Space Environment In-Situ Suite, which consists of sensors that will monitor radiation hazards that can affect satellites and communications for commercial airline flights over the poles; the Solar Ultraviolet Imager, a high-powered telescope that observes the sun, monitoring for solar flares and other solar activity that could impact Earth, andthe Magnetometer, which will provide measurements of the space environment magnetic field that controls charged particle dynamics in the outer region of the magnetosphere. These particles can be dangerous to spacecraft and human spaceflight.

 NOAA manages the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA program office, staffed with personnel from NOAA and NASA, and co-located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

“We’re just a few years away from seeing significant improvements in the way NOAA will serve the public with even better weather forecasts and warnings,” said Greg Mandt, director of the GOES-R Series Program..

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.

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Wiggins upbeat after Paris-Nice first stage cycling

Britain's Bradley Wiggins on Sunday hailed his second place in the first stage of the Paris-Nice classic, despite difficult weather conditions that hampered his quest for the leader's yellow jersey.

"I'm in the best shape I've ever been in and I've had a great winter," said the Team Sky rider, after he failed to beat Sweden's Gustav Larsson by just one second in the 9.4-kilometre (5.8-mile) time-trial here.

Wiggins started this season with a third-place finish in the Tour of the Algarve, which he said had left him "raring to go", particularly with a chance to defend his Olympic titles in front of a home crowd in London.

The Londoner, who was third in last year's "race to the sun", was one of the last to go on the course and looked likely to have beaten Larsson if the heavens hadn't opened in the last half-hour of the race.

Wiggins admitted he could have gone faster but fared a lot better than the two German riders who beat him on the podium in 2011: defending champion Tony Martin was 24 seconds behind the Briton, while Andreas Kloeden lost 35 seconds.

"I didn't take any risks in the corners but I knew in a straight line I was flying," he said. "I wasn't willing to find out whether it was slippery so I never really pushed it as hard as I could have done in the corners.

"I'd already slipped on the ramp coming off the start, so straight away I had one mind on safety in the corners. Fortunately, there weren't so many corners so it wasn't as decisive."

Wiggins clawed his way back from 14th position at 1.8 km, five seconds behind the best time but was faster than Larsson in the final part of the course.

Larsson, 31, has not won a major title but has carved out a reputation for himself when up against the clock.

In 2008, he won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics behind Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.

"It's my second race of the season and I didn't expect to do as well," said Larsson who quit Bjarne Riis' Team Saxo Bank to join the Dutch outfit Vacansoleil.

The big Swede rode at nearly 50 kilometres (31 miles) per hour to steal a march on a number of big names.

Spain's Alejandro Valverde, who set off on a dry course, was 30 seconds back, one more than his compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez, who won the race in 2009.

Three younger riders showed their potential: America's Tejay Van Garderen, who was fourth, was nine seconds behind Larsson; Estonia's Rein Taaramae (7th) was at 13 seconds; while Jerome Coppel (10th), was at 15 seconds.

Monday's stage in theory favours the sprinters, with 185.5 kilometres on the flat between Mantes-la-Jolie west of Paris and Orleans. But blustery conditions are expected.

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Japan's first trade deficit since 1980 raises debt doubts (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan first annual trade deficit in more than 30 years calls into question how much longer the country can rely on exports to help finance a huge public debt without having to turn to fickle foreign investors.

The aftermath of the March earthquake raised fuel import costs while slowing global growth and the yen's strength hit exports, data released on Wednesday showed, swinging the 2011 trade balance into deficit.

Few analysts expect Japan to immediately run a deficit in the current account, which includes trade and returns on the country's huge portfolio of investments abroad. A steady inflow of profits and capital gains from overseas still outweighs the trade deficit.

But the trade figures underscore a broader trend of Japan's declining global competitive edge and a rapidly ageing population, compounding the immediate problem of increased reliance on fuel imports due to the loss of nuclear power.

Only four of the country's 54 nuclear power reactors are running due to public safety fears following the March disaster.

"What it means is that the time when Japan runs out of savings -- 'Sayonara net creditor country' -- that point is coming closer," said Jesper Koll, head of equities research at JPMorgan in Japan.

"It means Japan becomes dependent on global savings to fund its deficit and either the currency weakens or interest rates rise."

That prospect could give added impetus to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's push to double Japan's 5 percent sales tax in two stages by October 2015 to fund the bulging social security costs of a fast-ageing society.

The biggest opposition party, although agreeing with the need for a higher levy, is threatening to block legislation in parliament's upper house in hopes of forcing a general election.

Japan logged a trade deficit of 2.49 trillion yen ($32 billion) for 2011, Ministry of Finance data showed, the first annual deficit since 1980, after the economy was hit by the shock of rising oil prices.

Were Japan to run a current account deficit, it would spell trouble because it would mean the country cannot finance its huge public debt -- already twice the size of its $5 trillion economy -- without overseas funds.

Japanese investors currently hold about 95 percent of Japan's government bonds, which lends some stability to an otherwise unsustainable debt burden.

Domestic buyers are less likely to dump debt at the first whiff of economic trouble, unlike foreign investors, as Europe's debt crisis has shown.

The trade data helped send the yen to a one-month low against the dollar and the euro on Wednesday.

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Graphic on 2011 trade data http://link.reuters.com/mev26s

Dec trade balance http://link.reuters.com/vyq65s

Exports by destination http://link.reuters.com/far65s

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"HOLLOWING OUT," AGEING POPULATION

Total exports shrank 2.7 percent last year while imports surged 12.0 percent, reflecting reduced earnings from goods and services and higher spending on crude and fuel oil. Annual imports of liquefied natural gas hit a record high.

In a sign of the continuing pain from slowing global growth, exports fell 8.0 percent in December from a year earlier, roughly matching a median market forecast for a 7.9 percent drop, due partly to weak shipments of electronics parts.

Imports rose 8.1 percent in December from a year earlier, in line with a 8.0 percent annual gain expected, bringing the trade balance to a deficit of 205.1 billion yen, against 139.7 billion yen expected. It marked the third straight month of deficits.

Japan managed to sustain annual trade surpluses through the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s and the post-Lehman Brothers global recession that started in late 2008, which makes the 2011 dip into deficit all the more dramatic.

A generation ago, Japan was the world's export juggernaut, churning out a stream of innovative products from the likes of Sony and Toyota.

Much like China today, Japan's bulging trade surplus became a source of friction with the United States and other advanced economies, who pressed Tokyo to allow the yen to rise more rapidly in order to reduce the imbalance.

A 1985 agreement between Japan, the United States and Europe's big economies -- known as the Plaza Accord after the New York hotel where it was signed -- pushed the yen higher against the U.S. dollar.

Many economists argue that sowed the seeds of Japan's current debt woes. After the Plaza Accord, Japan's economy weakened and its central bank slashed interest rates, which contributed to a credit boom that eventually spawned a financial crisis and led to two decades of economic stagnation.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Tuesday he did not expect trade deficits to become a pattern, and did not foresee the country's current account balance tipping into the red in the near future.

But Japan's days of logging huge trade surpluses may be over as it relies more on fuel imports and manufacturers move production offshore to cope with rising costs and a strong yen, a trend that may weaken the Japanese currency longer term.

A fast-ageing population also means a growing number of elderly Japanese will be running down their savings.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government wants to closely watch the trend of exports and imports.

"There are worries that the yen's strength is driving Japanese industry to go abroad," said Fujimura. "We have to create new industries ... implement comprehensive steps to boost growth. It is important to secure employment within the nation."

($1=77.71 yen)

(Additional writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Linda Sieg and Emily Kaiser)

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First significant snow of winter to hit central U.S. (Reuters)

AUSTIN, Tex (Reuters) – Up to 12 inches of snow was expected to fall in parts of Colorado and New Mexico on Saturday as a storm system moved through the central U.S., bringing what forecasters said would be the first significant snow of the season to the region.

From New Mexico to the Great Lakes, the storm that brought damaging winds to Western states and several inches of snow to the Rockies on Friday is set to drop four to seven inches of snow in other states in the region, including Nebraska and Kansas, according to forecasters.

Sioux City, Iowa was expecting up to five inches of snow by the end of the day, and police were already reporting more than a dozen car crashes on Saturday afternoon due to the slick roads.

In Omaha, Neb., the first significant snowfall of the season coincided with Saturday's college soccer playoff game featuring the hometown Creighton University and a team from a place where it snows about once every two decades or so: the University of South Florida in Tampa.

The NCAA provided yellow balls for the elite eight matchup but the afternoon game was postponed until noon Sunday to give crews time to clear the field.

The storm was expected to leave as much as 6 inches of snow in eastern Nebraska by Sunday morning.

About four inches of snow on the ground in Pueblo, Colorado on Saturday afternoon did not deter business at Shamrock Brewing Company, where patrons were enjoying a beer in spite of the winter weather, said bartender Heather Ramsey.

"There's almost a rush in business during the snowy days," she said. "It's almost like people want to get out. They don't want to get too far, but they don't stay home."

Residents of the high country in Arizona were on the lookout for snow later Saturday as well, with forecasters predicting up to eight inches in Flagstaff by Saturday night.

The same system was bringing rain to parts of north Texas, as well as parts of Michigan and Iowa.

Temperatures below freezing was causing dangerous driving conditions in Michigan, where rain was freezing on roads, according to Accuweather.com.

The northern Great Lakes can expect snow accumulation on Saturday night, forecasters said.

Travel on several interstate highways is expected to be affected by the wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain, according to Accuweather.com forecasters, including I-25, I-29, I-35, I-39, I-40, I-70, I-80, I-90 and I-94.

The National Weather Service issued an advisory on Saturday warning of potential heavy rain in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas on Saturday night in advance of a cold front expected to hit the area late Saturday or early Sunday.

A second winter storm is expected to develop on Sunday evening in New Mexico, across Texas and into Oklahoma, bringing temperatures down to the 20s for some areas and sparking the potential for snow, sleet or ice.

Also starting Sunday, forecasters will be watching for heavy rains to drench an already saturated area from Arkansas to the Ohio Valley, raising the potential for floods in that area next week, according to Accuweather.com.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

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First Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System (EAS) to Be Held Nov. 9 (ContributorNetwork)

We've all heard the words "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test." Be ready because on Nov. 9, expect to hear those words wherever you live in the United States as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is partnering with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct the first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

When is the Emergency Alert System Test?

This nationwide test will be conducted on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. eastern standard time. It is estimated that the test will last approximately three minutes, after which, regular programming on television and radio stations will resume.

What is the Emergency Alert System?

The EAS sends alerts across television and radio stations in all 50 U.S. states and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. When emergency alerts are activated, regular programming is interrupted with special announcements about the emergency and includes instructions and information for citizens.

In the event of a nationwide emergency, the EAS would be activated by the president to provide important information to the public. Local emergency services and NOAA also use part of the EAS system to send local alerts about specific hazards such as weather alerts that most of us hear on our NOAA weather radios.

The EAS was created in 1994 and took over from the precursor Emergency Broadcast System which was created in 1963.

What is the EAS Test?

According to the FEMA website, the "EAS test plays a key role in ensuring the nation is prepared for any type of hazard, and that the U.S. public can receive critical and vital information should it ever be needed."

If you are watching television, listening to the radio or have your NOAA weather radio on at 2 p.m. November 9, you will hear the words "This is

Why is this test being conducted?

In the event of a real national emergency in which all citizens will need to be informed quickly and accurately about the emergency, the EAS would be activated to instruct and inform the public. This test on November 9 is being conducted to make sure that system is reliable and effective as a method of alerting the public during an emergency.

State and local tests of the system are conducted monthly and weekly, but before now, there has never been a coordinated nationwide testing of the alert system.

Why would the EAS be activated?

The EAS would be activated by a major national disaster -- for example a major earthquake or a tsunami -- as a means of providing the American public with warnings, information and instructions during such an emergency.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope -- a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, weather and other natural phenomena.

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Atlantic's first 2011 hurricane, Irene, tracks toward Cape Canaveral (The Christian Science Monitor)

Hurricane forecasters have posted hurricane and tropical-storm warnings for the island of Hispaniola and the southern Bahamas as hurricane Irene, the Atlantic season's first hurricane, crossed Puerto Rico overnight Sunday.

Irene emerges as the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season is nearly a third of the way through its peak August-to-October period. Within that span, activity peaks on average from early to mid-September.

As of 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Monday, the National Hurricane Center's track forecast puts the center of Irene roughly 120 miles east of Florida's Cape Canaveral by Friday evening, with landfall currently forecast to occur just south of Charleston, S.C., at about 8 a.m. Saturday. The intensity forecast upgrades Irene to a major hurricane, with winds in excess of 110 miles per hour, by the time it reaches the central Bahamas Thursday morning. It currently is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane.

RECOMMENDED: Top 10 most expensive hurricanes

Errors are large, however, in track forecasts this far in advance. The track's "error" cone also include the possibilities that the storm could swing west and move up the Florida peninsula. Or it could track farther east than its current path indicates, pushing it closer to North Carolina's outer banks by Saturday morning.

Irene appeared as a tropical storm early Saturday evening from a cluster of thunderstorms some 175 miles east of Martinique. By early Monday morning, the center of the storm had arrived over Puerto Rico. But instead of weakening as it encountered the island, as often happens to a storm, it strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 74.8 m.p.h.

Although a formal analysis will come later, it appears that based on the storm's path, "the island was just too small" to deflate Irene, says Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Irene was strengthening as it approached Puerto Rico, he says, and the storm's path took the eye overland but close to the island's north coast, missing the highest, most potentially disruptive terrain.

The storm's path also left much of Irene's circulation over warm water, so Irene kept spinning up. Forecasters say they expect additional strengthening.

Irene is the ninth named storm in the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane season – a season busier so far than were 2009 and 2010.

IN PICTURES: Hurricane Irene

By this time in August 2009, the season had produced three named storms, only one of which was a hurricane. But it was a strong one – hurricane Bill reached Category 4, with maximum sustained winds of more than 131 m.p.h. It spent most of its time in the open Atlantic, skirting Nova Scotia as a weak hurricane and Newfoundland as a tropical storm.

The 2010 season saw five named storms by this time in August, two of which were a Category 4 storm. Both formed in August. One, hurricane Earl, kept much of the US East Coast on edge as skirted the shore from North Carolina's outer banks to finally make landfall in Nova Scotia as a Category 1 hurricane.

One key factor behind the differences: conditions in the tropical Pacific, forecasters say.

In 2009, El Niño conditions had taken hold by July. A large pool of warm water had migrated from the western tropical Pacific to the east, off the coast of Central and northern South America. That migration altered atmospheric circulation patterns in ways that increase the amount of wind shear over the tropical Atlantic.

Wind shear shows up as changes in wind speed and direction with altitude, and when a season's average conditions include strong shear, hurricanes have a tough time forming.

El Niño's opposite, La Niña, appeared in 2010, reducing shear and establishing general atmospheric conditions that favor hurricane formation.

This year, conditions in the tropical Pacific are in a neutral phase, which also tend to make formation more likely than during an El Niño year.

In addition to their high levels of street cred as natural hazards, tropical cyclones also figure into seasonal drought forecasts as drought busters. Drought has gripped much of the southern tier of the US for months, with "extreme" to "exceptional" conditions spanning Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and much of Louisiana. Drought at lesser intensities also span much of the rest of the Southeast.

Forecasters had expected some relief for parts of southern Texas and the Southeast with the coming of the hurricane season. But air over Texas has been so dry that when tropical storm Don made landfall along Texas' Padre Island, Don dropped a paltry two-thirds of an inch of rain along the coast, far less than forecasters expected based on experience with past tropical storms or weaker tropical depressions.

By contrast, tropical depression Harvey, which made its second and final landfall along the Mexican state of Veracruz Monday morning after crossing Guatemala, was dumping between two to four inches of rain along its path, with some locations expecting to get as much as 10 inches.

IN PICTURES: Hurricane Irene

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Japan Tsunami Is First Tracked by Radar (LiveScience.com)

Scientists in California got an early look at the tsunami generated by the massive earthquake in Japan as it rippled across the Pacific Ocean.

The March 11 Japan tsunami was picked up by high-frequency radar in California and Japan as it swept toward their coasts, according to U.S. and Japanese scientists. This is the first time a tsunami has been observed by radar, raising the possibility of new early warning systems.

"It could be really useful in areas such as southeast Asia where there are huge areas of shallow continental shelf," said John Largier, an oceanographer and study team member from the University of California, Davis. The continental shelf is the perimeter of a continent that is underwater and gradually descends to the ocean floor.

Largier and his colleagues have been using a high-frequency radar array at their lab to study ocean currents for the last 10 years. Together with collaborators from Hokkaido and Kyoto universities in Japan and San Francisco State University, the researchers used data from radar sites at Bodega Bay and Trinidad, Calif., and two sites in Hokkaido, Japan, to look for the tsunami offshore.

The radar detection is the latest in the string of new ways the Japan earthquake and tsunami were observed.Satellite images found that the tsunami was so powerful that it broke off huge icebergs thousands of miles away in the Antarctic. Scientists also found that the earthquake rattled the planet's upper atmosphere.

In the new study, scientists noticed that the radar picks up not the actual tsunami wave — which is small in height while out at sea — but changes in currents as the wave passes.

The researchers found they could see the Japan tsunamionce it entered shallower coastal waters over the continental shelf. As the waves enter the shallower water, they slow down, increase in height and decrease in wavelength until finally hitting the coast.

The continental shelf off California is quite narrow, and approaches to the coast are already well-monitored by pressure gauges, Largier said. But he said radar detection could be useful, for example, on the East Coast or in Southeast Asia, where there are wide expanses of shallow seas.

The study was published in the August edition of the journal Remote Sensing.

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Obama's New Jobs Initiatives Bus Tour: Second Verse, Same as the First (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Do you know how to tell people recognizes they are in trouble for something they claim isn't their fault? They can't stop talking about how it's not their fault. Between [still] blaming George Bush, business owners who are too afraid to hire, Congress - particularly Republicans - the Arab Spring uprisings, a Tsunami in Japan and the European debt crisis and even ATM's, the president has pretty much absolved himself of every catastrophe that his economic policies have set into motion.

In 2008, Obama said he would create jobs. He said his stimulus bill would create jobs. Nancy Pelosi said Obamacare would create 400,000 jobs "almost immediately". In 2009, Obama told the private sector to create the jobs. When asked what the president was doing now to create jobs, White House Press Secretary John Carney said "the President is having meetings with his senior staff" and "called on Congress" to create jobs.

Then the president tells voters to pressure Congress to create jobs. "I don't think it's too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start delivering."

In other words, in true community organizer fashion, Obama continues to talk about creating jobs.

Meanwhile, stocks have plunged below 11,000 -- again. Jobless claims are up. The price of gas and other consumer goods are rising. One-in-five children have families living below the poverty level and American satisfaction of the condition of the United States has plummeted to11 percent.

In the meantime, he hits the campaign trail (cleverly disguised as another jobs tour) then takes off on a 10-day vacation to Martha's Vineyard with his family - which will cost American taxpayers millions - where he plans to play golf and stuff his face with foods his wife forbids the rest of us to eat.

In Aug. 2009 the president said it would take "many more months" for the U.S. to fully recover from the recession as employers continue to eliminate jobs and he vowed he wouldn't stop "until every American who wants a job can find one." Then he took off to Martha's Vineyard with his family.

In July 2010, Obama again vowed, "I will not rest until everyone has a job, a good wage and benefits." Of course, this was during the BP oil spill for which the president also promised he "won't rest until leak is stopped," after which he took off to Bar Harbor, Maine on his third family vacation since the spill began. At taxpayer's expense, his wife and daughters also spent five lavish and sun-splashed days in Spain.

Another year, multiple vacations and rounds of golf later, President Barack Obama is literally reading the same string of words from his teleprompter, that he won't stop "until every American who wants a job can find one."

Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act in Sept 2009. While White House officials avoided giving an estimate they promised these initiatives would create a "pretty significant" number of jobs. The jobs never came.

In 2010, when the Democrats controlled both houses of congress, they rammed through a $26 billion jobs bill we were told would save 300,000 teachers, police and others from election-year layoffs. President Barack Obama immediately signed it into law. That didn't work either.

Earlier this month, President Obama made yet another speech about jobs; this time about how he would help veterans get back into the work force. Clearly his teleprompter had not yet told him what to say as he stood at his podium for a good minute or so in total silence. "Just waiting, here," shouted one man in the audience. "Awkward," shouted another.

Have you noticed how much Obama talks about creating jobs? In fact, according to a report by the New York Times, Obama has used the word "jobs" more than any other president in the 75 years of studying patterns in State of the Union addresses and CBS reported that talking about jobs is one of the things highest on the president's ever evolving list of yet to be accomplished "top priorities."

Now the president has another plan, a secret plan on how he is going to create jobs. He won't tell us what's in the plan until next month -- but he dared Republicans to block it.

Brendan Buck - spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner - said Obama should scrap the campaign bus tour speeches and just hand over a detailed plan to Congress. "Seriously, just drop it in the mail," Buck Tweeted. "Podium not required."

One year ago, at a Washington town hall meeting, Velma Hart had something to say to her president. She is an Obama supporter and self described "middle-class" woman and she wanted to express her concern about the increasingly tough economic times and the effect it has had on her and her family.

"I'm exhausted," Hart said frankly. The unprepared president smiled and shifted uncomfortably on his stool. "Frankly I'm tired of defending you."

Today, even loyal Obama defender, Rep. Maxine Waters (D- Calif.) isn't buying his fluffy words anymore. Just like Velma Hart, Waters and members of the Congressional Black Caucus are tired and frustrated by Obama's failure to create jobs.

"We're supportive of the president," Waters assured an audience in Detroit Tuesday. "But we're getting tired, ya'll. We're getting tired." And while Maxine is still willing to "give the president every opportunity to show what he can do and what he's prepared to lead on," in the meantime she knows, "our people are hurting."

Similar words were spoken by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) last month when he called for Americans to "march" on the president "and protest." Speaking at a press conference held by members of the House Out of Poverty Caucus, Conyers said quite bluntly, "We've And while Obama continues to waste time making speeches and whining about "what the Ds are doing and the Rs are doing in the House and in the Senate," Conyers added, "we're suffering!"

"The unemployment is unconscionable," said Waters.

Indeed. Unemployment among African Americans is at 16 percent, much higher than the national average. "We don't know what the strategy is," Waters continued. "We don't know why on this trip that he's in the United States now, he's not in any black community. We don't know that."

According to Conyers, the unemployment rate in Detroit stands at 31 percent. "That's a depression. That's not a recession," he said

"We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, gotten the economy moving again," Obama told a crowd in Decorah, Iowa. "But over the last six months we've had a run of bad luck."

First of all, since he has assumed office, when has any economic indicators signified that the economy was moving again? Second, if Obama is relying on luck rather than effort to solve these problems he should consider the words of R.E. Shay.

"Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit."

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