Oahu had hottest year on record in 2019, officials say

HONOLULU (AP) — Oahu experienced its hottest year on record in 2019, according to federal officials and municipal authorities.

© Perspectives/Getty Images

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the island reached its highest temperatures last year and the National Weather Service said 273 daily temperature records were tied or broken across the state,Hawaii Public Radio reported Thursday.


A separate study by the City and County of Honolulu also found the state experienced its hottest recorded day last year.

The city's Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency performed the first Community Heat Assessment Aug. 31.

The study found the maximum heat index in several Oahu communities was more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius), with Waimalu Plaza Shopping Center recording the highest temperature at 107.3 (41.8 Celsius).

“By all indications, that's the new normal," said Josh Stanbro, Honolulu's chief resilience officer. "So that's why we have to take action immediately to try to reverse that trend. We have to completely slam on the brakes in terms of burning carbon fuels for our energy source.”

Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Wednesday that increasing the city's tree canopy is expected to help cool communities.

City officials advised residents to protect themselves from high temperatures, especially children and the elderly.

Honolulu Emergency Services Director Jim Howe urged residents to not leave children or pets in locked cars on hot days and advised surfers and stand-up paddle boarders to drink a liter of water before heading onto the water.

"The time you need to be most prepared is between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.," Howe said. “Every one of our lifeguards here knows that when you're out at the beach, the first place you go is you go for the shade. So you want to stay in the shade and you want to stay well-hydrated.”



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Fossil hunters make astonishing find that offers 'fleeting glimpse of a time long gone' after windstorm

Chaffin Mitchell

A monstrous dinosaur footprint believed to be 130 million years old was found preserved in clay after Storm Ciara shifted the sands above it with its powerful winds and waves.

The prehistoric three-toed track was discovered by fossil hunters on Sandown Bay on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom.

"All this weather is revealing traces of vanished worlds along our coastline," Wight Coast Fossils said in a Facebook post.

© Provided by AccuWeather
"Our track maker was crossing this environment 130 million years ago, heading southwest in what is now Sandown Bay, leaving these huge tracks in the boggy soil," the Wight Coast Fossils Facebook post said. (Facebook / Wight Coast Fossils)

The footprints present on the foreshore depend on changing sand levels to be revealed. This track size is almost 20 inches, or approximately 50 cm, from the central toe to the heel.

"Sand levels on the beach fluctuate in response to storm events, longshore drift currents and tidal movements which can either bury the footprints beneath meters of sand or deposit the sand elsewhere revealing bedrock and dinosaur footprints, which is how we spotted this track," Wight Coast Fossils Island fossil hunter Theo Vickers said in an interview with AccuWeather.

In terms of time, Vickers said footprints are probably visible a handful of times a year, with a greater chance during the rougher winter months.

"The weather is the key driving force behind the erosion that allows us to discover fossils. Rain, wind, a wave action are fantastic at wearing away exposures of rock and revealing fossils in the process," Vickers said.

"Along the coastline of the Isle of Wight, and really anywhere, the days following storms are the best for fossil hunting due to increased erosion and movement of sand. During the storm itself can be extremely dangerous," Vickers said.

Although the weather can help unearth archaeological treasures, it is also responsible for causing them to vanish quickly.

"Clay footprints such as these can be relatively common in our Wessex Formation exposures but do not hold up to the forces of erosion for long," Vickers said.

© Provided by AccuWeather
A drawing overlay to highlight the footprint made by a dinosaur 130 million years ago. It was found on the foreshore at Yaverland on Sandown Bay in an area of brightly colored clays from the Wessex Formation. (Facebook / Wight Coast Fossils)

"Sadly, they will typically disappear in a couple of days or weeks, as the tide wears down the soft clays of the Wessex Formation, an awesome but fleeting glimpse of a time long gone, lying in plain sight on our coastline," Vickers said.

The preservation of clay footprints such as these are extremely fragile therefore attempting to physically remove them to protect them would ultimately destroy them.

"Additionally, if physically removing them was possible, dinosaur footprints and footcasts around the coastline of the Isle of Wight are protected legally and can only be removed with permission," Vickers said.
The best method with these tracks, Vickers said, is to photograph them and record their position and let nature take its course.

Experts say this occurrence isn't as rare as one might think. As one disappears, another will likely appear.

"Tracks like these are actually relatively common in the dinosaur-rich Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight so while others erode away and disappear, it's often the case that elsewhere other dinosaur tracks will be appearing," Vickers said.

The Wessex Formation is a geological formation in Southern England that is a hotbed for fossil discovery.

According to Vickers, the pointed toes of this track may indicate a large theropod, perhaps Neovenator or the Spinosaur Baryonyx, which are giant carnivorous lizards that walked on two legs.

"These are just possible species that we have suggested based on the size of the track and species present in the Wessex Formation," Vickers said.

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ST. ELMO'S FIRE
Pilots aboard Hurricane Hunter plane chasing a winter storm experience strange phenomenon
FOR REAL NOT THE MOVIE

Mark Puleo

An experienced hurricane hunting crew chasing a winter storm came across a far different discovery this past weekend. In what is know as St. Elmo's fire, footage of the forking electric discharge was captured on Saturday by pilots as the spectacle flashed throughout the cockpit.

The video, captured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), was taken as pilots flew across the Atlantic Ocean amid thunderstorms. NOAA deployed the hunters to support a project analyzing ocean surface winds in winter storms over the North Atlantic.

The flight took place as Storm Dennis chugged along in the North Atlantic approaching Ireland and the United Kingdom.

While frightening and shocking on camera, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Samuhel said the actual charge from the weather phenomenon is harmless, especially for those surrounded by the metal shell of the aircraft.

"St. Elmo's fire is a phenomena that has occurred throughout human history. Before it was reported on planes, it happened on ships in the open ocean," Samuhel said. "It happens when the charge of an object is much different than the charge of the air. Unlike lightning when huge bolts of electricity jump across a large distance from one charge to another, St. Elmo's fire happens on a very small scale."

© Provided by AccuWeather
Sprawling displays of St. Elmo's fire illuminated the cockpit of a crew flying across the Atlantic Ocean. (NOAA Corps)

Named after St. Erasmus of Formia, the patron saint of sailors, reports of St. Elmo's fire trace back thousands of years to ancient Greece and tales of the marvel were consistently shared by ship fleets.

St. Elmo's fire differs from lightning in that it is simply a glow of electrons in the air, whereas lightning is the movement of electricity from a charged cloud to the ground. In a thunderstorm, where the surrounding environment is electrically charged, the phenomenon is sparked when a charged object, such as a ship mast or airplane nose, causes a dramatic difference in charge, emitting a visual discharge. It can most simply be compared to a continuous spark.

"The point of the nose of an aircraft gives electricity an easy path to flow, as does the mast of the ship," Samuhel said. "These locations are where St. Elmo's fire is most common."

In historical recounts of St. Elmo's fire, writers such as Julius Caesar and Charles Darwin depict the instances as a steady glow.

"Everything is in flames: the sky with lightning, the water with luminous particles and even the very masts are pointed with a blue flame," Darwin wrote while aboard the Beagle as he traveled across the Atlantic.

For experienced pilots like the Hurricane Hunters, the light show in front of them likely wouldn't have induced any fear or panic, although the event could be a sign of stormy weather ahead.

"It lasted about three minutes," explained Maria Ines Rubio, a flight attendant who witnessed the phenomenon in 2017, to The Washington Post. "I wasn't nervous, because it a rather normal occurrence when you get into a strong enough storm."

The phenomenon, also known as a corona discharge, is "commonly observed on the periphery of propellers and along the wing tips, windshield, and nose of aircraft flying in dry snow, in ice crystals, or near thunderstorms," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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