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Lights back on after Hawaii power failure

Lights blink back on after Hawaii power failure from Associated Press

Record high temperature in Dallas; Storms usher in cooler air

Dallas-Fort Worth broke a record for highest temperature Fridaday as the mercury soared to 83 degrees.

The temperature broke the previous record of 81 degrees, set in 2005, the National Weather Service said.

Read the full report from the Dallas Morning News by clicking here.

NOAA: Global Temperature for November Fourth Warmest on Record

The year 2008 is on track to be one of the 10 warmest years on record for the globe, based on the combined average of worldwide land and ocean surface temperatures, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. For November alone, the month is fourth warmest all-time globally, for the combined land and ocean surface temperature. The early assessment is based on records dating back to 1880. 

NOAA: Jason-2 Satellite Data Now Available to Scientists

Jason-2 satellite.

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA announced that scientists around the world now have access to valuable data from a new international satellite, the Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission. This information allows them to closely watch the rate of global sea-level rise and monitor changing ocean features around tropical cyclones.

Jason-2/OSTM, launched June 20, 2008, is a joint effort between NOAA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). After five months of calibration and validation activities an international team of scientists, including representatives from NOAA, declared the near real-time Jason-2 data were ready for public distribution.

NOAA: Second Warmest October for Global Temperatures

The combined global land and ocean surface average temperature for October 2008 was the second warmest since records began in 1880, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

NOAA: Nenana, Alaska, Receives Nation’s 1,000th NOAA Weather Radio Transmitter

Alaska weather radio transmitter.

High resolution (Credit: /NOAA)

Central interior Alaskan residents, visitors, barge captains and railroad operators now have access to weather information anytime, thanks to a new NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards transmitter recently installed on Toghotthele Hill in Nenana, the 1,000th of these transmitters installed by NOAA.

NSIDC: Ice growth slows, Arctic still warmer than usual

The period of very rapid ice growth that characterized October and early November has ended. The rise in ice extent over the past three weeks has been much slower, and should continue to slow until the expected seasonal ice extent maximum is reached sometime in March. Air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean stayed well above average during November, partly because of continued heat release from the ocean to the atmosphere and partly because of a pattern of atmospheric circulation transporting warm air into the region.

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for November 2008 was 10.63 million square kilometers (4.10 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1979 to 2000 average extent for November. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Sea Ice Index data. About the data.
—Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

High-resolution image

NOAA: NOAA, NASA Select Contractor to Build GOES-R Series Spacecraft

NOAA and NASA officials announced today Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, of Denver, Colo., has been selected to build two spacecraft for NOAA’s next generation geostationary satellite series, GOES-R. There are two options, each providing for one additional satellite. Scheduled for launch in 2015, the new satellites will provide more data in greater detail which is essential to creating accurate weather forecasts.