Monthly Archives: October 2014

Official Prediction of US Winter

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released its official prediction of what this winter is going to be like.

And yes, it is in ALL CAPS!!! I’ve pasted it below, but first a summary of the relevant points.

According to NOAA

El Nino

<li>There will be a weak El Nino, late Autumn or Winter.</li>

<li>Or, there could be a moderate EL Nino.</li>

<li>Or, there could just be this thing that might someday be an El Nino but doesn't quite do that for an indefinate period of time.</li>

November, December, January Temps

  • Warmer along the West and Northwest, all the Northern State and New England, and the Atlantic Seaboard.
  • Colder than average in places that are usually warm (from E. New Mexico to the Western Gulf States.
  • November, December, Janurary Precipitation

  • Mostly, pretty near average.
  • More rain than average from California east and pretty much everywhere but the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley (which will be slightly below normal)
  • Temperature Outlook Graphic

    Outlook_map_temp2014F

    Precipitation Outlook Graphic

    Outlook_map_Precip_214F

    The Movie

    The actual findings in ALL CAPS

    PROGNOSTIC DISCUSSION FOR LONG-LEAD SEASONAL OUTLOOKS
    NWS CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD
    830AM EDT THURSDAY OCT 16 2014

    SUMMARY OF THE OUTLOOK FOR NON-TECHNICAL USERS

    THE MAIN FACTORS THAT USUALLY INFLUENCE THE SEASONAL CLIMATE OUTLOOK INCLUDE:
    1) EL NINO AND LA NINA – WHICH TOGETHER COMPRISE EL NINO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION
    OR ENSO. IMPACTS OF THESE EVENTS ARE SUMMARIZED BY SEPARATING 3-MONTH
    OBSERVATIONS FROM 3 OR MORE DECADES INTO EL NINO, NEUTRAL, AND LA NINA SETS,
    AVERAGING EACH SEPARATELY, AND THEN COMPUTING ANOMALIES. THESE ARE CALLED “ENSO
    COMPOSITES”, WHICH ARE USED AT TIMES TO SUBJECTIVELY MODIFY THE FORECAST.
    2) TRENDS – APPROXIMATED BY THE OCN TOOL AS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MOST
    RECENT 10-YEAR MEAN OF TEMPERATURE OR 15-YEAR MEAN OF PRECIPITATION FOR A GIVEN
    LOCATION AND TIME OF YEAR AND THE 30-YEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL PERIOD (1981-2010).
    3) THE MADDEN-JULIAN OSCILLATION (MJO) – AFFECTS CLIMATE VARIABILITY WITHIN
    SEASONS.
    4) THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION (NAO) AND THE PACIFIC – NORTH AMERICAN (PNA)
    PATTERNS – WHICH AFFECT ANOMALY PATTERNS ESPECIALLY DURING THE COLD SEASONS.
    THESE PHENOMENA ARE CONSIDERABLY LESS PREDICTABLE ON A SEASONAL TIMESCALE THAN
    ENSO.
    5) THE PACIFIC DECADAL OSCILLATION (PDO) – AN ENSO-LIKE PATTERN OF CLIMATE
    VARIABILITY AFFECTING THE TROPICS AND THE NORTH PACIFIC AND NORTH AMERICAN
    REGIONS, BUT WHICH VARIES ON A MUCH LONGER TIMESCALE THAN ENSO.
    6) PERSISTENTLY DRY OR WET SOILS IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER AND SNOW AND ICE
    COVER ANOMALIES IN THE WINTER. THESE FACTORS TEND TO PERSIST FOR LONG PERIODS
    AND ACT AS A KIND OF MEMORY IN THE CLIMATE SYSTEM.
    7) STATISTICAL FORECAST TOOLS – CANONICAL CORRELATION ANALYSIS (CCA), SCREENING
    MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION (SMLR), CONSTRUCTED ANALOGUE (CA) AND ENSEMBLE CCA
    (ECCA).
    8) DYNAMICAL FORECAST MODELS – INCLUDING THE NCEP CLIMATE FORECAST SYSTEM
    (CFS). AN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL FORECAST SYSTEM, THE NORTH AMERICAN MULTI-MODEL
    ENSEMBLE, COMPRISED OF SEVERAL MODELS AND DESIGNATED NMME, MAY ALSO BE USED
    EXPERIMENTALLY AND SUBJECTIVELY UNTIL IT IS INCLUDED INTO THE CONSOLIDATION. AN
    INTERNATIONAL MULTI-MODEL ENSEMBLE DESIGNATED IMME IS ALSO AVAILABLE.
    9) CONSOLIDATION (CON) – AN OBJECTIVE, SKILL-WEIGHTED COMBINATION OF THE OCN,
    CCA, SMLR, ECCA, AND CFS FORECASTS IS USED AS A FIRST GUESS IN PREPARING THE
    FORECAST MAPS. THIS TECHNIQUE MAKES OPTIMUM USE OF THE KNOWN SKILL OF FORECAST
    TOOLS.

    CURRENT ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC OBSERVATIONS ARE CONSISTENT WITH ENSO-NEUTRAL
    CONDITIONS WITH A STILL FAVORED TRANSITION TO EL NINO CONDITIONS IN LATE AUTUMN
    AND WINTER. A WEAK EL NINO EVENT IS MOST PROBABLE, HOWEVER THERE REMAINS A
    CHANCE OF EITHER A LOW-END MODERATE EVENT OR CONTINUED ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS
    DURING THE UPCOMING OUTLOOK PERIOD.

    THE TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK FOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER-JANUARY (NDJ) 2014-15 INDICATES
    ELEVATED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE-NORMAL MEAN TEMPERATURES FOR ALASKA, THE FAR
    WEST, ALONG THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE CONTINENTAL U.S. EASTWARD TO INCLUDE PARTS
    OF THE NORTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC. BELOW-NORMAL MEAN TEMPERATURES ARE MOST
    LIKELY OVER AREAS FROM EASTERN NEW MEXICO TO THE WESTERN GULF COAST STATES.

    THE NDJ 2014-15 PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK INDICATES ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF
    BELOW-MEDIAN PRECIPITATION FOR PARTS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, NORTHERN
    ROCKIES, GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY. INCREASED PROBABILITIES FOR ABOVE-MEDIAN
    PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE FORECAST FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EASTWARD ACROSS THE
    SOUTHWEST, SOUTHERN PLAINS, AND ALONG THE GULF AND SOUTHERN ATLANTIC COASTS
    NORTHWARD TO INCLUDE THE EASTERN SEABOARD TO SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. THE
    PROBABILITIES FOR ABOVE-MEDIAN PRECIPITATION ARE ALSO ENHANCED OVER PARTS OF
    SOUTHERN ALASKA.

    IN AREAS WHERE THE LIKELIHOODS OF SEASONAL MEAN TEMPERATURES AND SEASONAL
    ACCUMULATED PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE SIMILAR TO CLIMATOLOGICAL PROBABILITIES,
    EQUAL CHANCES (EC) IS INDICATED.

    BASIS AND SUMMARY OF THE CURRENT LONG-LEAD OUTLOOKS
    NOTE: FOR GRAPHICAL DISPLAYS OF THE FORECAST TOOLS DISCUSSED BELOW SEE:
    HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PRODUCTS/PREDICTIONS/90DAY/TOOLS/BRIEFING

    CURRENT ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC CONDITIONS

    ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC CONDITIONS IN THE TROPICAL PACIFIC REMAIN MOST
    CONSISTENT WITH AN ENSO-NEUTRAL STATE, WHILE CONTINUING TO SHOW SOME INDICATORS
    FOR POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF AN EL NINO. OBSERVATIONS DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF
    OCTOBER SHOW POSITIVE SST DEPARTURES ACROSS THE ENTIRE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC
    BASIN, WITH GREATER THAN +0.5C ANOMALIES IN THE EAST-CENTRAL PACIFIC AND FAR
    WESTERN PACIFIC. WITHIN THESE AREAS THERE ARE ANOMALIES GREATER THAN +1.0C. THE
    NINO3.4 REGION CONTINUES TO HOVER NEAR +0.4C WITH VALUES OF +0.5C FOR NINO4,
    +0.6C IN NINO3, AND +0.6C IN NINO1+2. SST ANOMALIES INCREASED IN THE
    EAST-CENTRAL PACIFIC DURING THE LAST MONTH. OCEAN SUBSURFACE TEMPERATURE
    ANOMALIES CONTINUE TO SHOW POSITIVE VALUES RANGING FROM +1.0C TO +3.0C FROM THE
    SURFACE TO A DEPTH OF ABOUT 125 METERS ACROSS THE EAST-CENTRAL PACIFIC.
    MOREOVER, POSITIVE ANOMALIES ARE ALSO EVIDENT AT A DEPTH FROM 100 – 200 METERS
    NEAR AND JUST WEST OF THE DATE LINE.

    MONTHLY AVERAGED OLR ANOMALIES REMAIN MIXED ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC WITH
    THE GREATEST ANOMALIES AWAY FROM THE DATE LINE WITH TWO AREAS OFF OF THE
    EQUATOR SHOWING ENHANCED CONVECTION OVER THE FAR WESTERN PACIFIC. MONTHLY
    AVERAGED LOW- AND UPPER-LEVEL WINDS REMAIN NEAR AVERAGE, INDICATING THAT THE
    ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO STRUGGLE TO RESPOND OVER THE PACIFIC TO ABOVE AVERAGE
    SSTS.

    PERSISTENT, STRONGLY POSITIVE SST ANOMALIES WERE OBSERVED IN THE NORTH PACIFIC,
    ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA, AND WESTWARD ACROSS THE SUBTROPICAL
    PACIFIC OCEAN. THIS SST PATTERN PROJECTS WEAKLY ONTO A POSITIVE PDO. POSITIVE
    SST ANOMALIES WERE ALSO OBSERVED ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST. IN ADDITION,
    ANOMALOUS SNOW COVER EXTENT HAS ALSO INCREASED IN RECENT WEEKS ACROSS PORTIONS
    OF EURASIA AND IS BEING MONITORED.

    PROGNOSTIC DISCUSSION OF SST FORECASTS

    MOST STATISTICAL AND DYNAMICAL MODELS CONTINUE TO PREDICT THAT AN EL NINO EVENT
    WILL DEVELOP WITHIN AUTUMN AND PEAK (AS DEFINED BY NINO3.4 ANOMALIES) AS A WEAK
    EVENT DURING THE WINTER IN MANY FORECASTS AND ALSO ON AVERAGE. THE SPREAD
    REMAINS SOMEWHAT LARGE AS SOME TOOLS PREDICT CONTINUATION OF NINO3.4 ANOMALIES
    BELOW +0.5C WHILE SOME DYNAMICAL MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A MODERATE EVENT
    WITH FORECAST ANOMALIES OF GREATER +1.0C. OVERALL THIS MONTH CONTINUES THE
    SLIGHT TREND SEEN OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS OF DECREASING NINO3.4 POSITIVE
    ANOMALIES IN THE MODEL GUIDANCE. AN INTERESTING POINT THIS MONTH IS ALSO THAT
    THE DYNAMICAL MODELS PEAK ANY EL NINO EVENT LATER IN THE WINTER, WHICH WOULD BE
    SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL. WHILE FEW ENSO EVENTS HAVE DEVELOPED AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, IT
    IS NOT UNPRECEDENTED, AND CONSIDERED TOGETHER, MODEL FORECASTS AND CURRENT
    OBSERVATIONS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE CONSENSUS ENSO FORECAST INDICATING A
    60-65% CHANCE OF EL NINO DEVELOPMENT IN LATE AUTUMN OR WINTER AND THE OFFICIAL
    TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOKS CONTINUE TO CONSIDER EL NINO IMPACTS AT
    THIS TIME.

    POSITIVE NORTH PACIFIC AND WESTERN ATLANTIC SST ANOMALIES ARE FORECAST TO
    PERSIST IN SEASONAL AVERAGES THROUGH THE BOREAL WINTER BY MANY DYNAMICAL MODELS
    INCLUDING THE NMME AND IMME, ALONG WITH THE FORECAST OF EL NINO DEVELOPMENT.
    THESE SUB-TROPICAL AND HIGHER LATITUDE SST ANOMALIES ARE ALSO CONSIDERED IN THE
    OUTLOOK AND LIKELY TO IMPACT THE CLIMATE OF NORTH AMERICA IN THE NEXT SEVERAL
    SEASONS.

    PROGNOSTIC TOOLS USED FOR U.S. TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOKS

    THE TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOKS CONTINUE TO BE INFLUENCED BY
    POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF A WEAK EL NINO BEGINNING WITH NDJ 2014-15 AND CONTINUING
    PRIMARILY THROUGH FMA 2015, ALTHOUGH LESS SO THAN PREVIOUS OUTLOOKS FOR SOME
    AREAS IN THE TEMPERATURE OUTLOOKS. SST ANOMALIES IN OTHER AREAS OUTSIDE THE
    EQUATORIAL PACIFIC WERE UTILIZED OR CONSIDERED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
    COASTAL AREAS NEAR THE WEST COAST, IN PROXIMITY TO ALASKA AND AREAS ALONG THE
    U.S. EAST COAST.

    THE CONSTRUCTED ANALOG FORECAST FOR TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION BASED ON
    GLOBAL SST PATTERNS WAS ALSO UTILIZED IN THE OUTLOOKS AS WAS INFORMATION FROM A
    LARGE VARIETY OF DYNAMICAL MODEL GUIDANCE, INCLUDING THE CFS, THE NMME AND IMME
    AND THEIR PARTICIPANT MODELS, WITH ADJUSTMENTS MADE FOR POTENTIAL MODEL BIASES.
    THE SHIFT IN PROBABILITIES RELATED TO POSITIVE NINO3.4 ANOMALIES IN THE RANGE
    OF 0.5C TO 1.0C WERE CONSIDERED. ALTHOUGH CHANGES AND EXTENT OF SNOW COVER
    ACROSS EURASIA AND ANY ASSOCIATED TELECONNECTIONS GENERALLY REQUIRE COMPLETION
    OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, IT WAS CONSIDERED IN FORMULATING THE OUTLOOK.

    FOR OUTLOOKS FROM AMJ THROUGH OND 2015, DECADAL TRENDS DUE TO CHANGES IN THE
    CLIMATE BASE STATE AND THE CON (HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY TRENDS) ARE THE PRIMARY
    SOURCE OF TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION SIGNALS.

    PROGNOSTIC DISCUSSION OF OUTLOOKS – NDJ 2014 TO NDJ 2015

    TEMPERATURE

    THE SET OF OUTLOOKS THIS MONTH DEPICT A SOMEWHAT COOLER SCENARIO FOR THE FIRST
    FEW LEADS (THROUGH FMA 2015) AS COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS SET OF OUTLOOKS. MORE
    SPECIFICALLY AND BETTER STATED, COVERAGE AND PROBABILITIES FOR ABOVE NORMAL
    TEMPERATURES WERE REDUCED OR REMOVED ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS OF THE EASTERN CONUS
    AND PROBABILITIES FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES INCREASED IN COVERAGE FOR
    PORTIONS OF THE LOWER-TO-CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, TENNESSEE VALLEY,
    SOUTHEAST AND LOWER MID-ATLANTIC. THIS IS BASED ON AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF
    ANY EL NINO EVENT BEING OF WEAK MAGNITUDE, CONSIDERABLE CHANGE IN MUCH OF THE
    DYNAMICAL MODEL GUIDANCE (OTHER THAN THE CFS) AND INDICATIONS IN SOME TOOLS AND
    INFORMATION FOR A POTENTIAL TENDENCY TOWARD A NEGATIVE AO AND NAO DURING THE
    WINTER MONTHS.

    POTENTIAL EL NINO CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTE TO THE OUTLOOKS PRIMARILY THROUGH FMA
    2015. FOR NDJ AND DJF 2014-15, ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE FAVORED ACROSS
    ALASKA, THE FAR WEST AND ALONG THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE CONUS EASTWARD TO
    INCLUDE PARTS OF THE NORTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC (NDJ ONLY). THE PROBABILITIES
    FOR ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE REDUCED AND SHIFTED SOMEWHAT NORTHWARD IN DJF
    FOR BOTH THE GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST. THE HIGHEST ODDS ARE FOR COASTAL AREAS
    ALONG THE WEST COAST AND PARTS OF SOUTHERN ALASKA WHERE SST ANOMALIES ARE
    CONSIDERABLY ABOVE AVERAGE AND LIKELY WILL INFLUENCE TEMPERATURES FOR NDJ
    2014-15. ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES FAVORED ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS
    AND GREAT LAKES IN THE PREVIOUS OUTLOOK FOR JFM AND FMA 2015 WAS REPLACED WITH
    EC IN THIS SET OF OUTLOOKS. BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE FAVORED DURING NDJ
    2014-15 FROM NEW MEXICO EASTWARD TO THE WESTERN GULF COAST STATES INCLUDING
    AREAS OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. THE HIGHLIGHTED REGION OF BELOW NORMAL
    TEMPERATURES IS EXPANDED EASTWARD AND SOMEWHAT NORTHWARD TO INCLUDE THE
    LOWER-TO-CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, TENNESSEE VALLEY, SOUTHEAST AND LOWER
    MID-ATLANTIC THROUGH JFM 2015 WITH A SLIGHT DECREASE IN COVERAGE IN FMA 2015.

    THE EVOLUTION IN THE TEMPERATURE OUTLOOKS FOR THE FIRST FOUR LEADS DEPICTED IS
    FURTHER SUPPORTED BY 500-HPA HEIGHT AND TEMPERATURE FORECASTS FROM THE
    CONSTRUCTED ANALOG DERIVED FROM GLOBAL SSTS ALONG WITH A DECREASE OR REMOVAL OF
    ABOVE NORMAL MEAN TEMPERATURE PROBABILITIES FROM MANY OF THE NMME AND IMME
    PARTICIPANT MODELS.

    ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE FAVORED FOR ALASKA AND THIS IS SUPPORTED BY
    DYNAMICAL MODEL GUIDANCE AND ANOMALOUSLY WARM WATERS IN PROXIMITY TO THE STATE.
    ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE ALSO FAVORED FOR NEW ENGLAND THROUGHOUT THE
    WINTER BASED ON THE CONSTRUCTED ANALOG TEMPERATURE FORECAST, NEARBY OCEAN
    TEMPERATURES AND MODESTLY HIGH PROBABILITIES FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FROM
    THE NMME AND IMME GUIDANCE.

    THE OUTLOOK MAPS FROM AMJ 2015 AND BEYOND REMAINED LARGELY UNCHANGED FROM THE
    PREVIOUS OUTLOOKS. ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE
    FORECAST FOR NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH NDJ 2015-16. THE ANOMALOUS DELAY IN ARCTIC
    OCEAN AND BERING SEA SEA-ICE COVER FOR OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER IN THE LAST DECADE
    RELATIVE TO THE 1981-2010 CLIMATOLOGY PERIOD RESULTS IN GREATLY ENHANCED
    PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR PARTS OF NORTHERN AND
    NORTHWESTERN ALASKA FROM ASO – OND 2015.

    PRECIPITATION

    THE PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK MAPS THROUGH FMA 2015 WERE PRIMARILY BASED ON
    POTENTIAL EL NINO CONDITIONS, DYNAMICAL MODEL FORECAST GUIDANCE FROM THE NMME
    AND IMME AND THEIR PARTICIPANT MODELS. PRECIPITATION FORECASTS FROM THE GLOBAL
    SST BASED CONSTRUCTED ANALOG TOOL WAS ALSO CONSIDERED. DYNAMICAL MODEL GUIDANCE
    TENDED TO INDICATE INCREASED WETNESS IN MANY AREAS OF THE CONUS AS COMPARED TO
    GUIDANCE LAST MONTH.

    ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION IS FAVORED FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACROSS THE
    SOUTHWEST, SOUTHERN PLAINS AND SOUTHEAST CONUS FROM NDJ 2014-15 THROUGH FMA
    2015. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH EL NINO CONDITIONS AND GENERALLY SUPPORTED BY
    MODEL GUIDANCE. EL NINO COMPOSITES ALSO WEAKLY SUPPORT AN INCREASE IN THE ODDS
    FOR ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION NORTHWARD ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD TO
    SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND AND THIS ALONG WITH CONSIDERABLE SIGNALS IN THE NMME AND
    IMME MODEL GUIDANCE SUPPORT ADDING THIS REGION TO BOTH THE NDJ AND DJF 2014-15
    PRECIPITATION OUTLOOKS. BOTH EL NINO CONSIDERATIONS AND MODEL GUIDANCE ALSO
    SUPPORT AN EXPANSION OF THE FAVORED ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE CENTRAL
    ROCKIES AND CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS DURING JFM AND FMA 2015.

    ENHANCED PROBABILITIES FOR BELOW-MEDIAN PRECIPITATION ARE INDICATED FOR THE
    PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH MAM 2015, AND FROM THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
    INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION FROM NDJ 2014-15 THROUGH MAM 2015. A LESS ROBUST
    SIGNAL THIS MONTH IN DYNAMICAL MODEL GUIDANCE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WAS THE
    BASIS FOR THE SLIGHT REDUCTION IN COVERAGE AND PROBABILITIES OF BELOW MEDIAN
    PRECIPITATION IN NDJ AND DJF 2014-15 IN THIS AREA WHEN COMPARED TO PREVIOUSLY
    ISSUED FORECASTS FOR THESE SEASONS. PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE-MEDIAN PRECIPITATION
    ARE ENHANCED FOR PARTS OF SOUTHERN ALASKA THROUGH FMA 2015.

    PROBABILITIES OF BELOW-MEDIAN PRECIPITATION ARE ENHANCED FOR PARTS OF THE
    SOUTHWEST DURING AMJ AND MJJ 2015 AND FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST IN THE JAS AND
    ASO 2015 SEASONS DUE TO DECADAL TRENDS.

    FORECASTER: JON GOTTSCHALCK

    THE CLIMATIC NORMALS ARE BASED ON CONDITIONS BETWEEN 1981 AND 2010, FOLLOWING
    THE WORLD METEROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION CONVENTION OF USING THE MOST RECENT 3
    COMPLETE DECADES AS THE CLIMATIC REFERENCE PERIOD. THE PROBABILITY ANOMALIES
    FOR TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION BASED ON THESE NEW NORMALS BETTER REPRESENT
    SHORTER TERM CLIMATIC ANOMALIES THAN THE FORECASTS BASED ON OLDER NORMALS.

    FOR A DESCRIPTION OF OF THE STANDARD FORECAST TOOLS – THEIR SKILL- AND THE
    FORECAST FORMAT PLEASE SEE OUR WEB PAGE AT
    HTTP:/WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PRODUCTS/PREDICTIONS/90DAY/DISC.HTML
    (USE LOWER CASE LETTERS)
    INFORMATION ON THE FORMATION OF SKILL OF THE CAS FORECASTS MAY BE FOUND AT:
    HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/SOILMST/FORECASTS.HTML (USE LOWERCASE LETTERS)
    NOTES – THESE CLIMATE OUTLOOKS ARE INTENDED FOR USE PRIOR TO THE START OF THEIR
    VALID PERIOD. WITHIN ANY GIVEN VALID PERIOD OBSERVATIONS AND SHORT AND MEDIUM
    RANGE FORECASTS SHOULD BE CONSULTED.

    THIS SET OF OUTLOOKS WILL BE SUPERSEDED BY THE ISSUANCE OF THE NEW SET NEXT
    MONTH ON NOV 20 2014

    1981-2010 BASE PERIOD MEANS WERE IMPLEMENTED EFFECTIVE WITH THE MAY 19, 2011
    FORECAST RELEASE.
    $$

    For a few lucky teachers, an adventure of a lifetime

    From the NCSE:

    The National Center for Science Education is pleased to accept applications for its inaugural class of Grand Canyon Teacher Scholars. Lucky teachers will be given an all-expenses-paid seat on NCSE’s annual Grand Canyon expedition, an eight-day voyage through some of the world’s most greatest geological wonders. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, giving deserving teachers a hard-earned vacation and an incomparable learning experience.

    For over a dozen years, NCSE has chartered a raft trip through Grand Canyon, with staffers Steve Newton and Josh Rosenau currently taking the lead in the unique and tongue-in-cheek “two model” tour of the canyon’s geological history. Rafters descend through the strata, considering the hundreds of millions of years revealed on the canyon’s walls, and examine how creationists try to explain that same evidence, and why such efforts are doomed to fail.

    “The Grand Canyon is the best geology classroom in the world,” explains Steve Newton, a programs and policy director at NCSE and a geology professor at the College of Marin. “There’s no better way to see deep time and explore the processes that shape our Earth than to raft down the Colorado River as it cuts down through the eons, past the Great Unconformity, to rocks almost half the age of the Earth.”

    “Any teacher would be lucky to be chosen for this scholarship,” added Rosenau. “Aside from the wonders of the canyon and the inspired presentations Steve and I prepare, the great joy of the NCSE expedition is the mix of scientists, scholars, and brilliant polymaths who join us. The winning teachers will have a chance to learn from a lot of brilliant people, and bringing more teachers into the campfire conversations will enrich all of our experiences.”

    “We all want to find ways to honor the amazing work science teachers do, and I’m glad NCSE has this opportunity,” explained NCSE executive director Ann Reid. “It’ll be exciting to see all the applicants, and to give everyone a chance to help give teachers this spectacular reward.” Teachers are encouraged to apply now (the deadline is January 5, 2015), and anyone interesting in helping teachers have this experience can contribute to the scholarship fund..

    Apply for a Teacher Scholarship to Raft the Canyon with NCSE

    Apply for an all-expenses-paid eight-day raft trip down the Grand Canyon with the National Center for Science Education! Winners will receive free airfare, lodging before and after the trip, and the trip of a lifetime, exploring the wonders of Grand Canyon with a team of scientists, educators, and science fans. The application form is at the bottom of the page, but please review this information on eligibility, requirements, and what to expect from the trip before submitting an application.

    Apply here

    The Methane Bomb Thing Isn't Really A Thing (Global Warming)

    Peter Sinclair has done some nice work to clarify the famous Methane Bomb thing.

    Briefly, the Methane Bomb is where methane trapped on the floor of the Arctic ocean gets out in large quantities because it is warm. This makes more warming. So, more of this Methane comes out, causing it to get warmer, then this cycle keeps up for a while and in short order civilization collapses and we all die.

    It turns out that the science DOES NOT SUPPORT A METHANE BOMB OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. It just doesn’t. Unfortunately this has become a point of contention among people who are truly, seriously, concerned about climate change. It is a little like Ebola. If you take Ebola seriously and are approproately afraid of it, it seems, you are required to believe that it has already “gone airborne” and civilization will end and we will all die (Ebola has not gone airborne and will not go airborne). With Methane, if you truly love the planet then you are required to believe in the Methane Bomb. Even if it isn’t for real. And, it isn’t for real.

    Dr. Carolyn Ruppel is one of the senior scientists who study Arctic Methane (and bottom-of-the-ocean Methane in general). In two videos put together by Peter Sinclair, she goes into significant detail about this problem.

    Calling the Methane Bomb Squad
    Methane Bomb Squad Part 2 – Dr Aradhna Tripati on Undersea Methane
    Methane Bomb Squad Part 3: Dr. Carolyn Ruppel on Siberian Shelves

    This is the end of the old Arctic Methane discussion and the beginning of the new discussion.

    How to turn Apple Spotlight on and off

    I hardly ever use spotlight. It is a search tool that is “well designed” meaning it looks pretty. Pretty search tools aren’t worth much. I need to be able to go from simple dumb search to complex detailed search, drill down, change parameters. If all I needed was a list of files or directories with a string in them, I’d probably already know where the damn thing is. I want to find a file that didn’t show up that way, that I don’t remember the name of, but that I know I made last weekend and it had the word “meteor” in it but it could have been spelled wrong and I cant remember if it was a spreadsheet or a text file but it was probably on a certain external hard drive. Chances are Spotlight is not going to handle that.

    But, spotlight is great at doing something else. Using system resources. Did you ever have your computer slow down and act like the processor was brain dead and it had no memory over the period of an hour or two while you were using very few apps and doing nothing complicated? Chances are that was Spotlight indexing everything on your computer. Which you will never use. Because who uses Spotlight?

    Well, OK, sometimes you want Spotlight, so maybe having that index is a good thing. But when you are trying to get some work done and Spotlight is interfering and shows no sign of letting up, then the sane thing to do is to kill it. You can unkill it later.

    I found this here. To kill Spotlight in Mavericks or large cat versions of OSX, you go to the command line (terminal) and type in this (or copy and paste it!), for Mavericks and Mountain Lion:

    sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist

    To make it come back to life again, you command your computer thusly:

    sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist

    For Snow Leopard use this method.

    IF Spotlight has been annoying you, one strategy is to turn it off while you don’t need it, then later, when you are planning to go do something else for a few hours, turn it back on so it does its job while you are not around.

    There should be a way to give Spotlight lower level access to the CPU so it stays more in the background. And, at the same time, to give the apps you want to be always responsive a higher priority. I’ve not explored that for this operating system. There are reasons to think, though, that this would not work well for certain important tasks. Any suggestions?

    How to be properly scared about climate change: A talk by Greg Laden

    Monday, the 20th, I’ll be in Saint Cloud. More information here.

    Details:

    On October 20,2014 the Central Minnesota Freethinkers are proud to present a program by Greg Laden, noted writer about climate change, evolution, science education and more at National Geographic, Science Blogs and other venues. His presentation will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall in St. Cloud at 7:00. The admission is free and the program is open to all who wish to attend.

    While trained as a biological anthropologist and archeologist and having research experience at many locations in the United States and in the Congo and South Africa, and, having taught at several colleges and universities, today he mostly engages in climate change related science communication.

    He will explore the most current research about climate change, framed in the context of time. Global warming is often spoken of as something to worry about in the future. Different people may express concern about different things, or perhaps even a studied lack of concern about some of the effects of climate change. Much of this depends on the time frame of expected changes. For example, no one doubts that the vast majority of glacial ice on the North and South poles is doomed, but when will it melt? A common conversation item these days is the civilization-ending species-extincting “Methane Gun.” Is that a real concern?

    In this discussion he’ll explore the time frame of climate change, look at the most extreme scenarios that people are talking about today, and evaluate them. Bring your favorite scare story and we can work out whether or not we should be scared, by how much, and when!

    Adding a third party keyboard in iOS 8

    One of the great things about Apple is that they maintain tight control over the hardware/system/software triad that bad design can’t creep into your digital life and ruin your day. One of the bad things about Apple is that they maintain tight control over the hardware/system/software triad so you can’t always have what you want. If you’ve been wanting one of those great keyboard replacements that, maybe, your spouse has been using all along on her android, you can have it now on your iPad or iPhone after you upgrade to iOS 8

    Go buy Swiftkey or Swype or whatever from the App store. Then go to settings, general, keyboard. There, you can select a new keyboard. You may have an option to “allow full access” … do that.

    There you go.

    Don't Panic. But, Dallas Patient Two Flew on a Commercial Air Flight

    It is now known that the second infected health worker who had cared for Dallas Index Patient Duncan took a Monday air flight from Cleveland to Dallas-Forth Worth after she started to have a fever. It was a Frontier airline flight and it arrived in Dallas at 8:16 PM, was put to bet overnight, received normal cleaning, and resumed service Tuesday. There were more than 130 other people on that plane.

    Chances are Ebola is not THAT contagious when it is just staring up. You really need those bodily fluids. There is almost ZERO chance that anyone was infected on that plane, or at the airport, or anywhere else.

    “We will, from this moment forward, ensure that no individual monitored for exposure undergoes travel in any way other than controlled movement,” Frieden said Wednesday. He said the agency would work with state and local authorities to enforce this restriction.

    So, OK then.

    Good Morning, America. There is another Ebola case. UPDATED

    UPDATE: The first health worker to have been affected with Ebola in Texas may not be moved to Maryland.

    From NBC:

    Nina Pham, one of the two nurses who contracted Ebola in Dallas, is expected to be moved to a National Institutes of Health isolation unit in Bethesda, Maryland, a federal official with direct knowledge of the plans told NBC News on Thursday.

    The transfer could happen later Thursday, but the official cautioned that plans were evolving. Pham, 26, was diagnosed with the virus on Sunday after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who contracted Ebola in Liberia, flew to Dallas and later died.

    The other nurse who contracted Ebola in Dallas, Amber Vinson, was flown on Wednesday to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The Emory and NIH units are two of the four facilities in the United States that are specially equipped to handle Ebola.

    UPDATE: The second infected health worker will be transferred from Dallas to Emory.

    This is a second health worker, who reported in with at fever on Tuesday. The worker is one of the 76 who had been self monitoring, who were thought to be most likely beyond the most likely period for infection.

    (This might be a good time to point out that while the CDC uses 21 days, which is probably usually good, one study showed that a small percent of individuals might develop the disease after 21 days following exposure.

    Yesterday, Tom Frieden, head of the CDC, noted “CDC Director on Ebola: ‘Even a Single Infection is Unacceptable'” Also, yesterday, Dallas nurses complained about the situation at the beginning of the treatment period for the Index patient who died there.

    There was a briefing in Dallas.

    During the briefing, it is confirmed that this new patient was involved in care for the Index patient.

    We’re a great hospital, we always have been, we want to get this right, we fell really bad, we’re doing fine, etc. etc. (that was the hospital representative)

    Teams have swooped in and started cleaning common areas near the new patient’s apartment, neighbors have been or are being interviewed.

    The patient lived alone and with no pets. Inside cleaning and cleaning of the car will happen later today.

    Question for hospital rep: Does a second case indicate systematic institutional problem. Answer: No. We know what we are doing and handling it and we are looking at everything.

    Was this person a nurse? We won’t tell you that.

    Question: When did this patient come forward and get a blood test in relation to yesterday’s press conference? Answer. Hipaa.

    Question: There are three isolation rooms at the hospital. What will you do when you fill up? Answer: Working on that. Also, there are actually is more room than that, a little.

    Question: Timeline? Answer, got confirmation about 1:00 AM. Then we started doing stuff, press release at 4:00.

    Question: Allegations from the nurses?? Answer: I can’t comment. We have the proper protected gear.

    Question (breathless): Are steps being taken to isolate the other workers? Answer. There are 75 hospital workers. They are asymptomatic, the are not contagious. Please try to avoid community panic with those questions (I paraphrase, he didn’t say that). When people get symptomatic they report in, like happened twice, the system is working.

    By the way, the are not coming in to work.

    Perspective:

    On preparedness of the hospital. There is evidence that the Dallas hospital that treated Thomas Duncan was not prepared to handle an Ebola case, and initially, nurses were not well protected. It is also clear that the clean, crisp, rapid response we may have expected from the CDC was not there. However, it is probably the case that that hospital is now managing the two cases they have properly, and that the monitoring program for other contacts is good.

    To me, this means that the repeated, near universal statement by the US health community that the US can handle Ebola was overstated. Let’s take a look at the overall problem. I previously divided the Ebola exposure problem into several phases. Here is an updated version of that:

    1: An infected individual arrives in the US, becomes (or already is) symptomatic, and is not yet admitted to a hospital. At this point we rely on that person’s decisions to seek treatment. There can be several hours to several days of time of potential exposure, but even so, the person is ambulatory and less symptomatic, and probably is an infection risk but a low(ish) one.

    2: The infected individual either becomes very sick and is brought to the hospital or self admits. At this point there is a risk of infection to other people at the hospital including other patients and hospital workers, as well as ambulance drivers, etc. During this second phase it is up to the hospital to quickly identify a possible Ebola case and isolate the patient, and start safe procedures for care. In the case of the Index patient in Dallas, this took several days (and the patient was sent back into Stage 1). This inadequacy conflicted with what the public was being told by experts. However, now that the very first actual case of Ebola emerging in the US happened, and those who were not expected to mess it up did mess it up, everyone is on their toes and the chances of a repeat of that are lower. The CDC has also developed an improved method of addressing this (their ready teams).

    3: The infected individual is in an isolation unit and being cared for. At this point it is up to the hospital and the health workers to minimize the chance of infection of others, and those at risk are, theoretically, the health workers. In the case of the Index patient at Dallas, according to nurses who worked there, the risk of infection of health workers was not minimized fully at least initially, and it is even possible that risks beyond the care staff continued. Eventually, we assume this was fixed. But, the fact that two health workers have been infected does amply demonstrate that whatever was going on was not adequate, though at this point we don’t yet know in what way, or when, things were done improperly and we need to take the word of the same hospital and health system spokespeople that earlier assured us that things are fine. Since the system representatives have yet to fully acknowledge there were inadequate procedures or care, and describe that inadequacy openly, we really don’t know. I suspect they really have cleaned up their acts, because they are strongly motivated to, but we are starting to see the edges of an Orwellian response where information is being cleaned or withheld, sometimes under cover of HIPAA rules.

    1: During the first three stages, exposure of others may happen, and those individuals need to be identified and managed. Individuals who do end up being infected during that period are now in Stage 1, but if there is an effective monitoring program, stage 1 is very short (hours?). Because the system is ready for secondary cases, stage 2 is minimized (or does not even exist), and the patient is now in Stage 3. In the case of Dallas, we can guess that the two patients who have cycled into Stage 1 (both health workers) are in Stage 3 and Stage 3 is being done properly.

    At a later time, if there are too many additional cases, the revamped and updated Stage 3 response may break down again due to lack of isolation facilities. The authorities seem to be aware of this possibility.

    We don’t have a lot of control over what happens during Stage 1 for newly arriving patients, though the system has demonstrated that it can handle Stage 1 for those of known risk who are in a monitoring pool. But for the system to be like various spokespeople claimed it was, a great deal of effort has to be put into training, procedure, and dispersal of equipment. Dallas demonstrates that for a hospital that should have been ready, this was not the case. But, the CDC response, of having ready teams (like we learned from movies and literature to be how the CDC operates, in fiction!) should make the transformation from inadequate response to adequate response more likely if there are other cases.

    Many thousands of people in West Africa have gotten Ebola, about half have died. Our problems here in the US are tiny. But, everyone is concerned about the possibility of spread outside of West Africa. One consequence of the small leakage that may occur being handled poorly is a stricter response in the form of travel restrictions. This would have multiple negative consequences. The Dallas Index patient got past the system, but the international travel problem is being tightened up a little (we have no idea if that is adequate). If infections beyond Stage 1 continue to happen, as they have in the US and Spain, people will demand a closure of borders. And, perhaps, that is what should happen.

    Timing of infections vis-a-vis the Index patient

    Ebola is thought to manifest in as little as four days after exposure, with most cases showing up prior to 17 days after exposure, but as late as 25 days, using very liberal estimates of exposure time. The Dallas Index patient, Thomas Duncan, was cared for in the hospital staring on September 25th, and died on October 8. The most recent secondary infection was identified last night, so let’s round up and say that was 7 days after possible exposure. If we assume for the moment (we have no basis for this, this is a rough guess) that the first half of that care period was as suggested by nurses being handled inadequately, and the last half was managed well, to split the difference, perhaps the most likely period of exposure ended around the second of October. So, perhaps today is about two weeks post dating likely exposure. So, a roughly optimistic guess would be that the chances of another health worker ending up with Ebola is not small for the next three or four days. A fully pessimistic estimate is that we have ten or so days over which this could happen. Stay tuned.

    Was the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Prepared for Ebola? Probably not.

    This is breaking news as of Tuesday PM. According to the nurses at the hospital, no, not initially. Anonymous nurses have claimed via their union:

    -Patient Zero was left for several hours in a place with up to seven other patients, not in isolation. When a senior nurse attempted to insist he be moved to an isolation unit she was met with “hostile” responses.
    -Blood samples were transported through the hospital tube system instead of hand carried.
    -Nurses were not entirely covered with protective wear. The gear they had left their necks exposed. To remedy this they were told to wrap tape or gauze (not sure) around their necks.
    -People were going in and out of isolation areas without protective equipment.
    -Medical waste was not properly handled, with hazardous waste piled nearly to the ceiling as there was no plan to dispose of it.

    The hospital has not responded.

    Elect These Four Californians: Lois Capps, Heidi Hall, Mike Honda, Ted Lieu

    This is an endorsement by Climate Hawks Vote, which I support.

    Climate Hawks Vote is delighted to endorse in four California Congressional elections, joining our prior endorsement of Scott Peters (CA-52, San Diego). In order purely alphabetical, they’re Lois Capps, Heidi Hall, Mike Honda, and Ted Lieu.

    Lois Capps (CA-24, Santa Barbara) has earned our endorsement by being a tireless advocate for action on climate. She has the second-highest score among all Democrats in the House of Representatives on our scorecard measuring leadership. Her climate resilience ideas, in particular, have been adopted by the White House. We especially appreciate her passion in connecting the dots between climate change and two issues important to her constituents: public health and the Santa Barbara coastline.

    Heidi Hall (CA-01, Redding and far northern California) says: “The greatest threat to our national security, public health and long-term economic growth is climate change.” The region is being hit hard by climate change – homes in Weed were recently lost to wildfire while Shasta Dam is shockingly barren. Yet her opponent, a first-term Republican of the tea party variety, denies basic climate science, voted to shut down the government, and flirts with the state of Jefferson. Heidi’s pragmatic approach includes keeping her district in the state of California. Imagine that.

    Mike Honda (CA-17, Silicon Valley) has been a stalwart on climate change among other progressive causes. He’s authored a core bill, HR 4461, requiring climate change education – a happy contrast to those red states whose textbooks question science. And he’s tied a tech-savvy Smart Electronics bill to climate change. He’s spoken out for a carbon tax and against Republican efforts to gut the EPA. He’s being challenged by a technology mogul who promises to represent the businesses of Silicon Valley; but Mike represents something far more important, people. His leadership on climate is demonstrated by the fact that he’s among the top 10 members of Congress on our very tough leadership scorecard.

    Ted Lieu (CA-33, coastal Los Angeles) is running in the seat held by the retiring Henry Waxman. In backyards and in living rooms throughout the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, Ted has promised to make climate change his top issue. He’s voiced opposition to export of coal to Asia. And he’s floated the idea of an AB32 (California’s landmark global warming law) at the national level. The debate Congress should be having – whether California’s exemplar leads the way or whether to embrace a cap-and-dividend or carbon tax – stands in stark contrast to the asinine “debates” being put forth by current House leadership. We expect great things from Ted.

    Liveblogging CDC Ebola Briefing October 14th

    Live blogging.

    Dr. Tom Frieden talking.

    Don’t say “hand in glove!”

    What the are doing in Dallas:

    1) Site manager on the site in Dallas every hour of the day, checking protective gear use.

    2) Enhanced training, including by experienced nurses with Ebola experience.

    3) Limit number of care staff so they can be more expert.

    Have been hearing concern from health care workers everywhere, working to minimize concerns.

    Working to prepare all nurses and docs in all ER’s to ID Ebola, asking “where have you been in the past month/21 days”

    Infections more likely to spread from someone not diagnosed.

    Establish CDC response team to arrive within hours to any site where Ebola pops up. Equipment, management, expertise. I think most people thought they already had that but I guess not. They’ll assist in all aspects.

    Also, for training, ramping up webinars, etc.

    DALLAS CONTACT STATUS

    Nurse remains in stable condition. Not severely ill now.

    Index had 48 contacts, past 14 days, 2/3rds of risk period, highest risk period passed, decreasing likely that they will develop.

    For the nurse only one contact. (because of active monitoring and not messing up)

    Since nurse developed infection, possible other people who cared for Index patient could have been exposed… they are not in the 48.

    ID’s 76 individuals in that group, all will be monitored daily for fever.

    Relates his personal experience with thinking he might have Ebola; acknowledges freak out effect.

    Now Dr. David Lakey, commissioner, TX dept of state health service.

    14 days since first US case diagnosed.

    Visited hosp. yesterday, visited CDC and state epi team, local health dept, and two emory nurses (brought in for training, checking system)

    Reiterates 48 contacts past critical period.

    One Patient 2 contact no symptoms.

    Watching Nurses dog, the dog is fine.

    Everyone remain calm. We’ll quickly announce any Ebola+ results. Those with self monitoring are all now on active monitoring.

    QUESTOINS

    NYT: How many of 76 were health care workers. Answer: all of them, all care takers for Index. (48 outside contacts, 76 or more possible in hosp contacts with him or his blood. still looking for more of those contacts)

    ABC: Once a patient at some hosp is diagnosed, why not transfer them to a better facility. Ans: They might be.

    NBC: Nurse had been certified in crit care 2 months ago. Is that enough experience. Ans: May not have mattered, we don’t normally treat Ebola (paraphrasing). Wish we had our response team we later thought of in place first. But from now on we’ll do that.

    PHONE Question: CNBC: are you concerned about health care workers being concerned that they won’t come to work. Ans: we are concerned about htat, and about patients avoiding hospitals or clinics. We are trying to spread more knowledge about what to not worry about while at the same time doing a better safer job.

    PHONE CNN. Clarify the 48 are unlikely to get Ebola. Ans: Yes, most cases would have happened by now, 21 days is on the safe side.

    Newsweek: What has CDC learned from W. Africa from orgs like Doctors without borders. Ans: We work closely with them. African environment and US environment are different.

    PHONE: CBS Dallas: Have you identified the breach in protocol. Ans: No. We review everything that occurred, nurse has helped a lot with this. We don’t always know what happened. Asks Lakey if he has ifo. Lakey: Have not identified a specific error. Looking closely.

    So they don’t know. SO maybe there wasn’t one!

    TIME: you wonder if you should have sent a team originally. Why? Ans: We did send a team, epis, to help with tracing, etc. We could have in retrospect sent a bigger more robust team and been more involved with hospital. Ebola is unfamiliar. Hospitals may even do unsafe things like using extra layers of protective equipment.

    Phone question: inre 4 hospticals specialized with biocontainment. Why are there only four of them. If you transferred a patient there, how would it happen. Ans: The hosp with specialized facilities were created for totally unknown much scarier diseases that don’t exist yet. Ebola isn’t that bad if you do it right. Transporting is easy.

    UNS: Some recover, some die, why? ans: We are not sure. Being healthy going in is better. Standard care makes a huge diff, doubles survivorship. Fluid balance. Also experimental treatments may or may not help.

    Last question: Atlanta jour. cont: To what degree has team been sent at emory, has that become the model. Ans: Nebraska and emory have sound protocols, some are on site in Dallas.

    Asks Lakey if he has concluding remarks. He says some stuff about how they are doing everything they can do.

    Frieden final remarks:

    1 we are focusing on supporting patient and hosp. in Dallas with robust expert team.

    2 icreasing education and info to health care workers around the us

    2.5 making a team to go anywhere needed within hours if there is another case.

    3 working on contact tracing.

    That concludes this liveblogging. Thank you very much you may return to your homes.