Tiempo Climate Newswatch

Hurricane Charley scythed through the Caribbean mid-August, strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico after passing over Cuba where 200,000 were moved out of the storm's path. The storm then hit the coast of Florida on Friday August 13th at Punta Gorda, with winds reaching 145 mph and a sea water surge of 13 to 15 feet. Over one million people were evacuated. Latest reports put the death toll at 19.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a normal to above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with only a ten per cent chance of below-normal numbers. As Hurricane Charley approached Florida, Typhoon Rananim struck the Chinese coast Thursday August 12th at Wenling City in Zhejiang province, killing over 100 people.

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• Newsday
• ABC
• Newsday
• BBC

• Newsday
• CBS
• CNN
• China Daily

The Climate Prediction Center of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is warning that El Niño could develop by late 2004. Sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific "indicate the possible early stages of a warm episode."

The forecasts issued by the various research groups are mixed, with about half predicting the development of El Niño warming and the remainder predicting near-neutral conditions through to the end of the year. "It's way too early to even begin talking about a possible El Niño," reckons Bill Patzert, an oceanographer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory involved in monitoring the Pacific Ocean from space.

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• CNN
• Science Daily
• BBC

Construction of the latest Habitat for Humanity near-zero-energy house in Lenoir City, Tennessee, USA, has been completed. The project is contributing to the US Department of Energy's goal of leading new home owners and builders toward high energy-efficiency houses that use, amongst other things, solar panels to generate their own electricity.

"The effort must be all-inclusive, so we're not limiting our approach to space heating, cooling, water heating, lighting and major appliances," said Jeff Christian of the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "We're also looking at a number of other advanced technologies and we are integrating sensors so the homeowners can monitor their energy usage and savings." The houses feature airtight envelope construction, advanced structural insulated panel systems, insulated precast concrete walls, adaptive mechanical ventilation, cool roof and wall coatings with infrared reflective pigments and solar integrated raised metal seam roofs.

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• Science Daily
• Oak Ridge News
• Structural Insulated Panel Association