Great earthquake rocks Chile; NYC gets 4th greatest snow ever; Xynthia batters Europe
A great earthquake with magnitude 8.8 rocked the coast of Chile at 6:34 GMT this morning, generating a potentially dangerous tsunami that is racing across the Pacific Ocean. The great quake is the 7th most powerful tremor in world history (Figure 1). Preliminary tsunami wave heights for the California coast near Santa Barbara are 2 - 2.5 feet. The wave is expected to arrive between 12:15 - 12:35 pm PST. The tsunami is expected to arrive in Hawaii between 11:05 - 11:42am HST, with a wave 8.2 feet high expected in Hilo, on the Big Island. A tsunami from the 9.5 Magnitude 1960 earthquake in Chile killed 61 people in Hilo. Today's quake was so strong, that it triggered a seiche in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, over 4,500 miles (7,000 km) away. The lake sloshed back and forth, creating a wave 0.4 - 0.51 feet on either side of the lake.
Figure 1. Wikipedia's list of strongest earthquakes of all-time.
Preliminary tsunami amplitude forecasts:
La Jolla, CA 2.3 ft
Los Angeles, CA 2.0 ft
Malibu, CA 2.6 ft
Pt. San Luis, CA 2.3 ft
Half Moon Bay, CA 2.6 ft
Crescent City, CA 1.7 ft
Morro Bay, CA 2.2 ft
Santa Monica, CA 3.3 ft
San Francisco, CA 0.7 ft
Pismo Beach, CA 4.6 ft
Hilo, HI 8.2 feet 11:5am HST
Honolulu, HI 1.6 ft 11:37am HST
Kahului, HI 7.2 ft 11:26am HST
Nawiliwili, HI 3.0 ft 11:42am HST
Haleiwa 1.6 ft
Kawaihae 2.0 ft
Port Orford, OR 0.7 ft
Moclip, WA 1.3 ft
Seward, AK 1.3 ft
Stika, AK 1.3 ft
Kodiak, AK 2.3 ft
Tofino, British Columbia 1.7 ft
Today's great quake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American plates about 325 km southwest of the capital Santiago (population 5.3 million). The depth was estimated at 35 km. At least four aftershocks of magnitude 6 or higher have occurred, the largest being a 6.9 aftershock. Fortunately, the area close to the epicenter is relatively sparsely populated, but there may be heavy damage in Concepción (est. pop. 300,000) and Chillan (est. pop. 170,000), which lie 115 km and 100 km to the south of the epicenter, respectively.
Figure 2. NOAA's preliminary forecast of tsunami wave energy for today's earthquake. Image credit: NOAA Tsunami Warning Center.
New York City slammed with its 4th largest snowstorm on record
The snow from the fourth extreme snowstorm to wallop the Northeast U.S. this winter dumped a remarkable 20.9" of snow on New York City's Central Park yesterday and Thursday. This is the 4th largest snowstorm for the city in recorded history. According to the National Weather Service, the top ten snowstorms on record for New York City's Central Park are:
26.9" Feb 11-12, 2006
26.4" Dec 26-27, 1947
21.0" Mar 12-14, 1888
20.9" Feb 25-26, 2010
20.2" Jan 7-8, 1996
19.8" Feb 16-17, 2003
18.1" Mar 7-8, 1941
17.7" Feb 5-7, 1978
17.6" Feb 11-12, 1983
17.5" Feb 4-7, 1920
The storm also helped New York City set a new all-time snowfall record for the most snow ever recorded in a month--36.9". The old record was 30.5", set in March 1896. However, the old Lower Manhattan WB Station recorded 37.9" in February 1894. Yesterday's snowstorm puts New York City's snow for the 2009 - 2010 season at 51.4", making it the 11th snowiest winter since 1869. Chris Burt, author of Extreme Weather, lists the city's all-time seasonal snowfall record at 81.5", set in the winter of 1867 - 1868. This measurement came before official records began in Central Park, and were done be the NY Park Commissioners (see "Annual Report NY Park Commissioners", 1868, by John B. Marie). The second snowiest winter in NYC occurred during the winter of 1995 - 1996, when 75.6" fell.
Destructive Winter Storm Xynthia battering Portugal and Spain
A powerful 969 mb low pressure system named "Xynthia" is rapidly intensifying of the coast of Spain, and stands poised to deliver a devastating blow to Portugal, Spain, and France today and tomorrow as it powers through Europe. Sustained winds of 60 mph (96 km/hr) were reported today at a Personal Weather Station in Costa del Morte, Spain. The pressure fell to 969 mb as Xynthia passed overhead. For comparison, Winter Storm Klaus had a minimum pressure of 967 mb. Klaus, which hit northern Spain and southwest France January 23 - 25, was Earth's most costly natural disaster of 2009, causing $5.1 billion in damage and killing 26. Models predict that Xynthia will continue to intensify today, reaching 962 mb as it moves into the west coast of France Sunday morning. Sustained winds of 50 - 65 mph (80 - 105 km/hr) with hurricane-force gusts up to 100 mph (160 km/hr) are possible along the north coast of Spain tonight and the west coast of France on Sunday as Xynthia barrels through. The storm is also bringing an exceptionally moist plume of tropical moisture ashore, as seen in precipitable water imagery from NOAA (Figure 4). This moisture is likely to cause moderate to severe flooding in portions of Europe over the weekend.
Figure 3. Visible satellite image at 12 GMT of Xynthia.
Figure 4. Satellite measurements show a region of extremely high atmospheric moisture is associated with Winter Storm Xynthia. This moisture will surge over Portugal and Spain today, potentially creating serious flooding. Image credit: Sheldon Kusselson, NOAA/NESDIS.
Links to follow:
Wundermap for Northwest Spain
Spanish radar
Meteo-France
Portugese radar
Jeff Masters
the BIG one
Taken in Manhattan
This cottage was no match for 65 mph wind and an old pine tree.
Reader Comments
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They aren't real...
1.5 feet to 5 feet seen along coasts should show up as less than one meter at the deep water buoys.
I wish I knew.
(Mentions nothing about an adjustment to scale or such)
Theory and algorithm functions here: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart/algorithm.shtml
Throwing this theory of mine, just thinking out loud. This is a relatively new science, studying and understanding tsunamis that is. I just wonder if a (some?) tsunamis put off a vibration, or some sort of harmonics, or something to that effect, that would give a false reading on the buoy instruments. I only say this because an earthquake is not a single "thump" but a series of vibration, which would amplify underwater. Just rambling!...
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/ops.shtml
So...and?
Vibrating water effect?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9K93AUFuvk&NR=1
There are diffrent types of tsunamis.
Hidden Fault Amplified 2004 Tsunami
Five years after one of the most devastating natural disasters in history, scientists are beginning to understand what caused this catastrophe.
Scientists thought the culprit behind the deadly waves was clear: the magnitude 9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, one of the most powerful ever seen.
It turns out the quake had help from a fault few scientists even knew existed. According to several new studies, the much smaller fracture spawned a separate tremor that sent a 100-foot-high wall of water barreling into Indonesia's Aceh province.
If true, the discovery would shed light on what really spawned the 2004 disaster. The main earthquake broke along a 1,600-kilometer-long section of fault where the India tectonic plate grinds underneath the Sunda plate. The fault is thought to have slipped 20 to 25 meters (65.6 to 82 feet) almost instantaneously.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/tsunami-megaquake-2004-faults.html
I like the way you think...but I see none of the ones giving these whacky obs on there.
So...why don't we have one?
(Still no good explanation)
Theoretical Battery Life, buoy = Greater than 2 years
Theoretical Battery Life, tsunameter - Greater than 4 years
And Try and say this 3 times fast - LoL tsunameter :)
Ya, that's just EPac, and not CPac. Although thanks for the link!
Like it did last year? Or is this year different?
Oh, sorry.
AND, I told ya wrong, anyway! The Best Track files start with "b"! (Oops)
I actually, haven't checked them yet, I just know there was 17 named storms and 3 TDs in the Eastern Pacific last year, and there are twenty options for me to choose from there. :P
I don't think to much should happen. But I'll be watching!
Earthquake in Chile shakes Lake Ponchartrain
Don Ames Reporting
Lake Pontchartrain was shaken and stirred early this morning by a massive earthquake in Chile.
"There was some sloshing of Lake Ponchartrain between about 4am and 4:30 this morning, our time. We had some, about half-a-foot slosh spikes near Shell Beach and that basically went on for about a half hour,' says Scott Lawrimore, with The Weather Channel.
Besides the Shell Beach area, the sloshing was also noticeable at Pass Manchac and West End in Metairie.
Lawrimore said the effect is like water being shaken in a bottle.
"The earthquake that occurred in the Pacific basically vibrated the earth enough here in Louisiana so that Lake Ponchartrain felt that...just like you would if you picked up a bucket of water and shook it back and forth," says Lawrimore.
"While that earthquake was occurring in the Pacific Ocean, even though it was not really detected by us, there was enough back and forth motion in the earth to produce sloshing back and forth in Lake Ponchartrain. And that sloshing resulted in about a half-a-foot slosh spike," Lawrimore said.
Tsunami warnings have been issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands.
People in Hawaii are being warned to take "urgent action to protect lives and property.'' The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the magnitude-8.8 earthquake in Chile has generated a tsunami that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands. There's even a possibility California and parts of Alaska could be affected.
At least 78 people have been killed in Chile.
All C-Pac storms, with advisory archive, at bottom of this page: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/tcpages/archive.php
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
A strong tropical wave just off the west coast of Africa has the potential to become a rare July "Cape Verde" storm, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday.
Should it become Tropical Storm Bertha in the next few days, it would mark the earliest on record that a tropical storm has formed this far east, hurricane center specialist Eric Blake said Wednesay.
He noted many could have formed in this area in the centuries before they could be spotted with satellites.
The system is becoming better organized and could become a tropical depression during the next few days, the hurricane center said.
While it's early in the season, and the storm wouldn't threaten the U.S. East Coast for at least a week, its circumstances are "extremely rare," Blake said.
"It's not normally a good sign when they start this early," he said.
"The models are taking the system to the west," Blake said. But, he said, "this is a long ways away. We have a lot of time to watch this one."
Tropical Storm Arthur, which formed May 31, lasted only a few days but brought heavy rains to Belize, killing five and causing about $78 million in damage, according to the hurricane center.
Cape Verde storms are so named because they form in the island chain off Africa's west coast.
3 small quakes last hr
62 days until the Pacific Hurricane season.
37 days until CSU releases its next '10 season predictions.
in the Last 30 Days Link
* From correspondents in Chile
* From: AFP
* February 28, 2010 12:45PM
TWO million people have been affected by the huge earthquake that struck Chile yesterday, President Michelle Bachelet says.
In her first address since the 8.8-magnitude quake struck, Ms Bachelet said six of Chile's 15 regions were "catastrophe zone".
"It was an earthquake of great strength," she said,
"The full extent of the damage cannot be fully quantified."
More than 300 people have died, the national emergency office said.
Ms Bachelet, who has toured the worst-hit areas around Chile's second largest city of Concepcion by plane, also postponed the start of the school year that had been set to begin March 3.
First waves here are small. The worry should lessen here.
# AFP
# February 28, 2010 2:56PM
JAPAN has evacuated more than 50,000 people from vulnerable seaside areas as a tsunami triggered by the huge earthquake in Chile approaches its Pacific coast.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that waves of up to three metres could hit the northern areas of Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi.
"We instructed some 11,300 people living near the coast to evacuate as quickly as possible from the designated danger zone," said Shigeru Suzuki, a local official in Sendai City in Miyagi.
Masanori Kitamura, an official of Hachinohe in Aomori, where 30,000 people were ordered to leave their homes, said: "Our firefighters are patrolling out there to check whether any residents remain near the coast."
At least another 15,000 residents in northern Japan were ordered to evacuate to school buildings and other public facilities to shield them from cold rain or snow falling in much if the region, officials said.
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