Santa Monica Beach

Postcard US-3841697 to Germany shows a January, 2003 photo at Santa Monica beach near Los Angeles, CA when I was visiting from Florida. The picture was taken on the 100-year-old Santa Monica Pier, looking north. It was fascinating to see beaches on the Pacific Ocean side.

It was before the US-led Iraq invasion in May, 2003. I had just watched the debates about starting the invasion on TV in my hotel room before taking a walk on the pier. In less a month, then US Secretary of State Colin Powell would go to the United Nations Security Council to present his now infamous speech loaded with flaws on February 5, 2003. I can't help but wonder what if we could turn back time and change the course of history?  Without the war, we would be in a much better world today.

Surfing Santa Cruz, California

Postcard NL-2915866 from the Netherlands shows a surfer drops into a powerful wave near Westcliff Drive in Santa Cruz, California. Autumn and winter storms in the North Pacific Ocean generate frequent large swells along the Central and Northern California coastline. Santa Cruz, 75 miles or 120 kilometers south of San Francisco, is a beach resort community with a population of 62,864 as of 2013 and home to  the University of California, Santa Cruz, a premier research institution and educational hub.

Separately, Garrett McNamara, an American professional big wave surfer, was featured in a previous blog.

Daylight Saving Time Starts in 2015, But Not in Hawaii

Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts today at 2 a.m. on March 8, 2015 in most parts of the U.S. except in the states of Arizona and Hawaii, and the overseas territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. As clocks "spring forward" one hour, spring is in the air.

Hawaii is in the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone; Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HST) is equivalent to GMT/UTC - 10h Standard Time. When the United States enacted the Uniform Time Act in 1966, Hawaii opted out in 1967, mainly because there is not a large variation in daylight hours from summer to winter due to Hawaii's proximity to the Equator. The Territorial Legislature enacted a bill placing Hawaii on daylight saving time in 1933, but the law was repealed three weeks later. According to Wikepedia, during World War II between February 9, 1942 and September 30, 1945, Hawaiian Standard Time was advanced one hour to so-called "Hawaiian War Time." That was the only period when Hawaii was effectively placed on year-round daylight saving time.

Postcard US-3230216 from California shows a NASA image of the entire Hawaiian Island chain as seen from the Space Shuttle. Niihau and Kauai are in the foreground followed by Oahu, Molokai, Lanai and Maui, with the Big island in the distance. The curve of the Earth and the black of outer space can be seen on the top of the card.

Jhaorih Hot Spring, Green Island, Taiwan

Postcard TW-1496923 from Taiwan shows Jhaorih Hot Spring (朝日溫泉), located on the south-east part of Green Island (綠島), in Taitung County, Taiwan.  

Green Island, a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean 33 kilometers or 21 miles off the eastern coast in Pacific Ocean, is the 4th largest island in Taiwan. It was known for its prisons and penal colonies for political prisoners during the martial law period between the late 1940s and the late 1980s. The prison was later closed, and the island is now open to the public.

Jhaorih Hot Spring gets its name because it faces the Pacific Ocean to the east. Bathing in the morning in one of the three ocean-side spas, or one of the five terrace-like hot-water and lukewarm-water pools will guarantee a magnificent sunrise view in a sunny day. All pools and spas are fed by spring water from under the ocean floor with a temperature of 53°C or 127°F and a pH value of 7.5.

2013 Hurricane Season Starts with GOES 13 Satellite Failure

Hurricane Katrina

I bought this postcard in the gift shop at the CSN Planetarium Observatory, showing the huge Hurricane Katrina looming on the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. It devastated New Orleans and other coastal cities with the subsequent failure of the levee system. The image was derived from GEOS-12 satellite's visible wavelength data.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season starts on June 1st and ends on November 30th every year. For 2013, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects 13 to 20 named storms with sustained winds of 39 mph or higher, 7 to 11 hurricanes (Category 1 and above) with sustained winds of at least 74 mph, and 3 to 6 major hurricanes (Category 3 and above) with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. The most intense hurricanes (Category 5) have sustained winds at the speed at least 157 mph. Since there are only 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes in a regular season, the 2013 season appears to be more active than average.

Hurricane forecasts rely heavily on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system for data input. However, GOES-13, also known as GOES-East, failed on May 22, 2013. The geosynchronous satellite sits 22,300 miles above the equator at 75°W longitude. It has a clear view of the Atlantic Ocean so it's very valuable to spot early tropical storm activities.

A backup satellite GOES-14 was activated on May 23, 2013. Since it currently remains at its storage position at 105°W, it does not see as far as GOES-13 to the east. It may be moved eastward eventually.

GOES-15, also known as GOES-West, hovers at 135°W longitude. It is responsible for monitoring weather conditions in the western United States and the Pacific Ocean. It remains operational after NOAA briefly expanded its coverage area during the activation of the backup satellite GOES-14.

With severe weather grows more frequently while more people live in the harm's way, it's important to ensure the redundancy of those earth observing satellite systems. However, the next back up satellite is not scheduled to launch until February 2016, subject to further budget and technical delays. There will be real worries in case future satellite troubles cause the gaps for data coverage.