Monday, October 24, 2016

Episode 339 (10-24-16): Meet the Hazel River, Accompanied by Music from Timothy Seaman

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:05)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-21-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO


From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 24, 2016.

MUSIC – ~ 4 sec

This week, we feature music about a Virginia Blue Ridge mountain river noted for exceptional natural qualities and a historical ownership conflict.  Have a listen for about 25 seconds.

MUSIC - 27 sec

You’ve been listening to part of “Hazel River,” by Timothy Seaman with Henry Smith and Paulette Murphy, on the 1997 album “Here on This Ridge,” from Pine Wind Music.  The album was a project celebrating Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge’s people, lands, and waters.  According to Mr. Seaman, the tune commemorates a 1977 hike downstream along the Hazel River’s headwaters, and the music reflects that experience by moving down through several keys.  The Hazel River begins on the Blue Ridge in Rappahannock County, then flows approximately 51 miles to its confluence with the Rappahannock River in Culpeper County.  Along the way, its tributaries include the Hughes, Rush, and Thornton rivers.

The Hazel is noted for its scenery, trout fishery and other aquatic communities, and whitewater paddling sections.  Based on those qualities, the Virginia State Water Control Board designated a 6.5-mile section of the upper Hazel River in Rappahannock County as a Tier III/Exceptional State Water.  According to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, a Tier III designation recognizes waters with outstanding scenic beauty, exceptional aquatic communities, or superior recreational opportunities, and it prohibits any new or increased permanent wastewater discharges into such waters from identifiable point sources.  The Hazel’s designation, as well as the October 2016 removal from the river of part of the 150-year-old Monumental Mills dam in Culpeper County, was complicated by king’s grant claims—that is, claims from some streamside landowners that specific grants during the colonial period give the landowners possession of the streambed and the right to prohibit wading and fishing.

Scenery, trout fishing, paddling, history, streambed-ownership controversy—that’s an exceptional number of story lines to follow along the Hazel River’s run to the Rappahannock.  Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Hazel River.”

MUSIC - ~ 11 sec

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Hazel River” and “Here on this Ridge” are copyright Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.   More information about Mr. Seaman is available online at http://www.timothyseaman.com/.

This episode updates the “Water Sounds and Music” segment of Episode 39 (10-25-10).  “Hazel River” was also featured in Virginia Water Radio EP209 – 4/14/14.

PHOTOS
 
 
Upper photo: Hazel River near Shenandoah National Park boundary, Nov. 4, 2005.   Middle photo: Hazel River in Rappahannock County, Va., outside of national park, Nov. 4, 2005.  Lower photo: Hazel River about five miles upstream of confluence with Rappahannock River in Culpeper County, Va., Nov. 3, 2005.  All photos from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Summary Report for the Hazel River Staff Site Visit November 3 & 4, 2005,” PDF available online at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/WaterQualityStandards/ExceptionalStateWaters(TierIII).aspx (scroll down to “Shenandoah National Park Region/Hazel River/Site Report”).

EXTRA FACTS ABOUT THE HAZEL RIVER

Following is a description of the upper Hazel River in Rappahannock County, Va., of which an approximately 6.5-mile segment was designated as a Virginia Exceptional State Water, effective in August 2008.  The description is an excerpt from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Summary Report for the Hazel River Staff Site Visit November 3 & 4, 2005,” PDF available online at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/WaterQualityStandards/ExceptionalStateWaters(TierIII).aspx (scroll down to “Shenandoah National Park Region/Hazel River/Site Report”).

“The upper segment of the river within the Shenandoah National Park is a coldwater-habitat, headwater stream with a steep gradient, and the surrounding area is heavily forested.  The Hazel River is classified by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as a Class II wild trout stream from its headwaters downstream through most of Rappahannock County and, according to Exceptional State Waters guidance, satisfies the eligibility criteria of possessing an exceptional aquatic community. ...The streambed is dominated by boulder and cobble substrate and is characterized by numerous plunge pools that provide excellent habitat for native brook trout. ...The benthic macroinvertebrate community that was observed appeared to be what would be expected to inhabit a coldwater mountain stream, consisting of stonefly, mayfly, and caddisfly species. The environmental setting, recreational opportunities, and aquatic communities all appear to be of exceptional quality.

“Shortly after the Hazel River exits the national park, it may best be described as a transition from a coldwater fishery to a warmwater fishery.  Though the terrain is still somewhat mountainous, the gradient becomes less steep and the substrate becomes mostly cobble, gravel, and sand with occasional bedrock outcroppings.  Most segments of the river observed had adequate riparian buffer zones though others had pasture land directly abutting the river without the benefit of riparian buffers.  A cursory benthic survey was done and caddisfly, mayfly, and stonefly species were noted.

“Access to the river outside of the park is difficult unless one owns land on the river or has landowner permission to access the river through private property.  Bridges provide limited access.  Of the five or so bridges within this segment, only two provided what may be considered reasonable access for a canoe or kayak.  Canoeing or kayaking the majority of this segment would probably only be feasible during periods of high flow.  It should be noted that a number of the properties along the length of the Hazel River are claimed to be King’s Grant properties and as such landownership extends to the riverbed and the landowner is in control of fishing rights.

“Staff concurred the environmental setting through the Upper segment from outside the park boundaries downstream to the Rappahannock/Culpeper County line may be considered ‘exceptional’ to ‘good’ and the aquatic communities as healthy and diverse.  The recreational opportunities outside of the national park may be rated as good though limited by accessibility.”

SOURCES

Used for Audio

American Whitewater, “Hughes and Hazel, Virginia, US—SR 603 to Rt. 522 Bridge,” online at https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/1944/.

Beau Beasley, “Anglers across nation watching VA Crown Grant case,” Bay Journal, 7/1/02.

Engineering Concepts, Inc., “Upper Hazel River Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load Plan Technical Report,” submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, June 2009, available online (as PDF) at http://www.rrregion.org/pdf/publications/environment/tmdl/implementation/Hazel_IP_TechnicalPlan.pdf.

Fred Fox, Trout Unlimited/Rapidan Chapter, “Hazel River” (May 9, 2011), online at http://www.rapidantu.org/2011/05/09/hazel-river/.

Donnie Johnston, Emotions surface at river meeting, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 3/28/07.

Donnie Johnston, Hazel River flows free after Culpeper dam is breached, Culpeper Star-Exponent, 10/6/16.

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, “Exceptional State Waters—Tier III,” http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/WaterQualityStandards/ExceptionalStateWaters(TierIII).aspx.

For More Information about the Rappahannock River Watershed and Shenandoah National Park

College of William and Mary Department of Geology, “The Geology of Virginia/Hydrology,” online at http://geology.blogs.wm.edu/.

National Park Service Web site, “Shenandoah National Park-Virginia,” online at http://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm.

Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, “Upper Rappahannock River Basin TMDL Study,” online at http://www.rrregion.org/rappbasin.html.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Surf Your Watershed” Web site, at http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=02080103 for the Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock watershed.

For More Information about King’s Grants and Streambed Ownership

William E. Cox., “Public Recreational Rights on Virginia’s Inland Streams,” Virginia Water Resources Research Center Special Report No. 10, January 1980, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49271.

Elizabeth A. Murphy and Kurt Stephenson, “Inland Recreational Fishing Rights in Virginia: Implications of the Virginia Supreme Court Case Kraft v. Burr,” Virginia Water Resources Research Center Special Report SR12-1999, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49459. See pages 4-6 for a basic explanation of king’s grants, which are also called “crown grants” or “colonial grants.”

Susan Svrluga, Troubled waters: Landowners, angler wrangle over access to Va. river, Washington Post, 8/19/12 (regarding a court case over access on the Jackson River, a James River tributary in western Virginia).

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).   Please see specifically the “Rivers, Streams, and Other Surface Water” category.

Previous episodes on the Rappahannock River watershed:Dam Removal on Rappahannock near Fredericksburg – Episode 71, 7/11/11;
Introduction to Rappahannock River – Episode 89, 11/21/11;
Watersheds on Blue Ridge (James, Rappahannock, and Shenandoah) – EP209 – 4/14/14;
Virginia bridges – Episode 245, 12/22/14;
June 1995 flooding in Madison County, Va., on the Rapidan River (a Rappahannock tributary) – Episode 272, 6-29-15;
George Washington, Walter Johnson, and the Rappahannock River (at Fredericksburg) – Episode 304, 2/22/16.

Previous episodes on king’s grants and stream access:
Virginia General Assembly committees (includes information on Senate Bill 737 in 2013 regarding stream access) -- Episode 147 (2-14-13);
Jackson River stream rights court case -- Episode 76, 8-22-11.

Previous episodes on Shenandoah National Park:
Virginia National Park Service units – Episode 229, 9/1/14;
Air quality and water impacts in Shenandoah National Park – Episode 231, 9/15/14.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

The episode may help with Virginia 2013 Music SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

This episode may also help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science SOLs:

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
3.6 - ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources.
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS. 10 - changes over time in ecosystems, communities, and populations, and factors affecting those changes, including climate changes and catastrophic disturbances.
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 - influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.

Biology Course
BIO.8 - dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.2 – physical geography of Virginia past and present.

United States History to 1865 Course
USI.2 – water features important to the early history of the United States.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.8 – government at the local level.
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.16 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2015 Social Studies SOLs, which become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.8 – government at the local level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.18 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/

.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Episode 338 (10-17-16): Rainfall Dimensions



Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-7-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO


From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 17, 2016.

SOUND – ~ 3 sec

This week, we drop in on a familiar kind of conversation: two people talking about the weather.  In this case, the weather occurred the last week of September 2016 in Blacksburg, Va.; it was quite unusual; and it generated some questions about several key dimensions of rainfall.  Let’s have a listen.

SOUNDS - ~ 3 sec

Kriddie: Hey, Alan. Whatcha doin’?

Alan: Hey, Kriddie. I’m checking out the water gushing through that stormwater pipe.  I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 16 years and this is the first time I’ve seen it rain hard enough for water to flow through there!   I’ve had over 3 and a half inches at my house just this afternoon!

Kriddie: Yeah, and it’s still coming down pretty hard!   I’m goin’ inside!   Let’s talk about it later!

SOUNDS - ~ 3 sec

Alan: Hey, Kriddie!  Wanna talk some more now about all that rain we’ve been having?

Kriddie: You bet!   Whatcha got?

Alan: Well, that rain on Monday was just the beginning!  With that day plus the past three, I’ve measured over 10 inches at my house.

Kriddie: Whew!  I knew we’d gotten a lot, but I didn’t think it was that much.

Alan: Yeah, and get this.  The National Weather Service Office in Blacksburg is only about 3 miles from my house, and their preliminary data show only about 5 or 6 inches for the same period.

Kriddie: Yeah, storms can be really variable.  That’s why you need a lot of rain gauges to get an accurate average rainfall for an area.   I’ve read that the Appalachian mountain region particularly can get some really intense rainfall, like what caused that flash flooding in Madison County, Virginia, in June 1995.  I understand that was a 1000-year storm for the Rapidan River watershed.

Alan: What do you mean by that?  You mean a rainfall like that comes only once in 1000 years?

Kriddie: No, actually not.   It means there’s a 1 in a 1000 chance, or probability, that such a rainfall could be exceeded in any given year.  Scientists use historical records to calculate probabilities that a certain area will have a rainfall of a certain volume over different durations, like 24 hours, or 2 days, or 4 days.  And, in fact, I just happen to have a table of values for Blacksburg right here.  OK, let’s see: you measured a volume of over 10 inches, duration of 4 days—that works out to close to a 500-year storm, or a 1-in-500 probability in any year.  Not your usual amount of rain!

Alan: Wow—volume, duration, frequency, probabilities: I never realized all the dimensions to measuring rain!

Kriddie: Yep, and all part of deciding how big that stormwater pipe needed to be!

Alan: Hey, speaking of rain and its dimensions, I just got this new music from my friend Torrin Hallett, a student at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio.  It’s called “Rain Refrain.”  Wanna listen for about 30 seconds?

Kriddie: Sure, then I’m off before it starts raining again!

MUSIC - ~ 30 sec

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.   Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Kriddie Whitmore, a graduate student in the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, for lending her voice and suggestions to this episode.

“Rain Refrain” is copyright 2016 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Click here if you’d like to hear the full piece (43 seconds).  In 2016-17, Torrin is a fourth-year student at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, majoring in horn performance, music composition, and math major.  More information about Torrin is available at his Web site, http://www.torrinjhallett.com/.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece for Virginia Water Radio.

Thanks to Kevin McGuire, associate director of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, for his help with this episode.

The sound of water flowing through a stormwater pipe was recorded in Blacksburg, Va., on September 26, 2016, 6:45 p.m., at the same location as the private-residence rainfall amounts mentioned in this episode (see below under Extra Facts for those rainfall measurements).

PHOTOS
Stormwater drainage pipe flow in Blacksburg, Va., 6 p.m. on September 26, 2016, recorded for the audio in this episode of Virginia Water Radio.



Storm clouds north of Blacksburg, Va., 7 p.m. on September 26, 2016.


Stormwater detention pond in Blacksburg, Va., September 28, 2016.

Stormwater drainage ditch in Blacksburg, Va., September 29, 2016.

Debris along fence indicating recent high water in Stroubles Creek on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., October 1, 2016.


EXTRA FACTS ABOUT RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS IN THIS EPISODE

Rainfall observations at National Weather Service’s (NWS) Blacksburg Forecast Office for Sept. 26-29, 2016 (preliminary data—that is, still needing official verification—as of 10/7/16)
Sept. 26 – 1.25 inches
Sept. 27 – 0.54 inches
Sept. 28 – 1.02 inches
Sept. 29 – 2.80 inches
9/26-9/29 4-day total = 5.61 inches

Rainfall Observations at the residence of Alan Raflo, Virginia Water Radio host, about 3 miles north of the NWS Blacksburg Forecast Office
Sept. 26 – 3.8 inches
Sept. 27 – 1.4 inches
Sept. 28 – 1.5 inches
Sept. 29 – 3.7 inches
9/26-9/29 4-day total = 10.4 inches.

A 4-day-duration rainfall of 10.4 inches at this location has a return period estimated at 500 years, that is, a 1 in 500 probability of exceedance in any given year, according to the National Weather Service/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, “NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates: Va,” online at http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/pfds_map_cont.html?bkmrk=va.

Madison County, Va., Rainfall in June 1995
On June 27, 1995, the Rapidan River basin received a basin-wide average rainfall of 344 millimeters, or about 13.5 inches, according to Michael D. Pontrelli, et al., 1999, “The Madison County, Virginia, Flash Flood of 27 June 1995,” Weather and Forecasting (American Meteorological Society), Jun. 1, 1999.    According to the NOAA precipitation frequency estimates document mentioned above, a one-day-duration rainfall of 13.5 inches at that location had a 1000-year return period or 1 in 1000 probability of exceedance in any given year.

SOURCES

Used for Audio

Richard H. McCuen, Hydrologic Analysis and Design (Third Edition), Pearson/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J., 2005.

Kevin Myatt, Complex storm system to continue bringing showers/storms to SW Virginia, Roanoke Times, 9/27/16; and One spinning vortex slowly exits as another lingers ominously offstage, Roanoke Times, 9/30/16.

National Weather Service/Blacksburg, Va., Forecast Office, “Observed Weather Reports,” online at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=rnk.

National Weather Service/Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, “NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates: Va,” online at http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/pfds_map_cont.html?bkmrk=va.

Michael D. Pontrelli, et al., 1999, “The Madison County, Virginia, Flash Flood of 27 June 1995,” Weather and Forecasting (American Meteorological Society), Jun. 1, 1999.

James A. Smith et al., 2011, “Extreme rainfall and flooding from orographic thunderstorms in the central Appalachians,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 47.

For More Information about Virginia Rainfall Events

Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHaS), “Virginia Daily Precipitation Reports,” online at http://www.cocorahs.org/state.aspx?state=va.

Associated Press, One-day Record 4.39 Inches of Rain Falls in Blacksburg, as published by WHSV TV-Harrisonburg, Va., 9/30/15; and Virginia Water Resources Research Center/Virginia Water Central News Grouper, “Heavy Rainfall and Flash Flooding in Late September and Early October 2015 — Information Sources,” 9/29/15.  These sources cover a heavy rainfall in late September 2015, a year prior to the subject of this Water Radio episode.

National Weather Service, “Observed Weather Reports”: Morristown, Tenn., Forecast Office (serving far southwestern Virginia), online http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=mrx; Baltimore-Washington Forecast Office, online at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=lwx; and Wakefield, Va., Forecast Office, online at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=akq.

National Weather Service/Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, online at http://water.weather.gov/precip/, providing maps of precipitation nationwide or by state, with capability to show county boundaries, and archives available for specific days, months, or years.

National Weather Service/Storm Prediction Center, online at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/, providing daily maps and text for preliminary reports of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail.

Southeast Regional Climate Center (Chapel Hill, N.C), online at http://www.sercc.com/climateinfo/precip_maps, providing maps of total precipitation and percent of normal precipitation for the past 7, 30, 60, or 90 days.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

For other episodes related to weather, please see the “Weather/Natural Disasters” category at the Index link. Please also see the following specific episodes related to rainfall and flooding:
EP86 – 10/31/11 (Historic-record water level marker dedication at New River);
EP192 – 12/16/13 (Nelson County in 1969);
EP272 – 6/29/15 (Madison County in 1995);
EP328 – 8/8/16 (flash flooding in general).

STANDARDS FOR LEARNING (SOLS) INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

Music
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

Science
Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
2.7 – Weather and seasonal changes affecting plants and animals.
3.9 – Water cycle, including sources of water, energy driving water cycle, water essential for living things, and water limitations and conservation.

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems Theme
2.6 – identification of common storms and other weather phenomena.
4.6 – weather conditions, phenomena, and measurements.
6.6 – properties of air and structure of Earth’s atmosphere; including weather topics.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Grades K-6 Matter Theme
6.6 – Properties of air (including pressure, temperature, and humidity) and structure/dynamics of earth’s atmosphere.

Life Science Course
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 - influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.
ES.12 – weather and climate.

Social Studies
World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Episode 337 (10-10-16): Hurricane Matthew Directs Attention to Storm Surge


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:37)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-7-16.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 10, 2016.

The October 7, 2016, arrival of Hurricane Matthew along the U.S. East Coast made this week a good time to revisit the subject of storm surge, which was also the topic of an October 2012 episode when Hurricane or Superstorm Sandy was devastating parts of the mid-Atlantic region. Along with high winds and heavy rainfall, one of the most serious expected impacts from Matthew—just like from Sandy—was storm surge and the flooding it can cause to coastal communities and to inland areas along waterways. For an introduction to storm surge potential generally in Virginia and how residents can prepare, have a listen for about 80 seconds to the following excerpt from a Virginia Department of Emergency Management video produced in 2010. The excerpt includes a list of Virginia areas most at risk from storm-surge flooding.

SOUND/VOICE - ~ 1 min./19 sec

On the morning of October 7, 2016, The Weather Channel reported that Hurricane Matthew had generated the highest storm surges in eastern Florida since Hurricane Hugo in September 1989, with Georgia and the Carolinas next to face the potential of such surges. Here’s hoping for the best for people and places in Matthew’s path.

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The storm-surge audio was excerpted from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s August 2010 video, “Virginia Hurricane Evacuation: Storm Surge” (2 minutes, 48 seconds), accessed on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=83m2K2VNUUo, 10/7/16.  That audio excerpt was also used in Episode 134, 10-29-12, “Hurricane Sandy and Storm Surge.”

IMAGES
Potential track area of the center of Hurricane Matthew, as of 10/7/16 at 5 p.m. EDT. Image from the National Hurricane Center, online at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/.

Satellite photo of Hurricane Matthew, centered just offshore of northeastern Florida, as of 3:45 p.m. EDT on 10/7/16. Please note that Z, or Greenwich Mean Time, shown on the photo is 4 hours ahead of EDT and 5 hours ahead of EST. Photo accessed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Web site at http://www.goes.noaa.gov/browsh.html, on 10/7/16, 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Screen shot from Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s August 2010 video, “Virginia Hurricane Evacuation: Storm Surge” (2 minutes, 48 seconds), accessed on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=83m2K2VNUUo, 10/7/16.

SOURCES USED IN AUDIO AND FOR MORE INFORMATION

National Weather Service, “Hurricane Sandy – October 29, 2012,” online at http://www.weather.gov/okx/HurricaneSandy.

National Weather Service/National Hurricane Center Web site, at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/. The site includes a “Storm Surge Overview” page, at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/; among other items, this page includes an explanation of the factors that lead to storm surge, photographs and graphics, and two short videos. Information on storm-surge potential and probabilities are also part of National Hurricane Center updates and advisories on any tropical storm.

PBS NewsHour, “Nearly 2 million warned to flee destructive Hurricane Matthew in the U.S.,” 10/6/16, online at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nearly-2-million-warned-flee-destructive-hurricane-matthew-u-s/. The video includes an interview with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Craig Fugate in which he discussed the dangers of storm surge flooding along coastlines and inland.

The Weather Channel, “Extreme Wind Warning For Cape Canaveral as Matthew Eyewall Strikes Florida Space Coast; Dangerous Rainfall, Surge Flood Threat in Georgia, South Carolina,” 10/7/16; “Hurricane Matthew Scrapes Florida Space Coast; Highest Storm Surge Since Hugo, Torrential Rain to Trigger Major Flooding in South Carolina, Georgia,” 10/7/16, 8:45 a.m. EDT; and “Hurricane Matthew's U.S. Impacts: Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Damaging Winds, Flooding Rainfall,” 10/6/16, 12:15 a.m. EDT.

Virginia Department of Emergency Management, storm surge items online at http://www.vaemergency.gov/?s=storm+surge.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  For episodes related to tropical storms, please see the “Weather” category.  As noted above under Acknowledgments, a previous episode on storm surge and Hurricane Sandy is Episode 134, 10-29-12.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Earth Patterns, Cycles, and Change Theme
2.7 – Weather and seasonal changes affecting plants and animals.
3.9 – Water cycle, including sources of water, energy driving water cycle, water essential for living things, and water limitations and conservation.

Grades K-6 Interrelationships in Earth/Space Systems Theme
2.6 – identification of common storms and other weather phenomena.
4.6 – weather conditions, phenomena, and measurements.
5.6 – characteristics of the ocean environment.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.6 – structure and dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere.

Life Science Course
LS. 10 - changes over time in ecosystems, communities, and populations, and factors affecting those changes, including climate changes and catastrophic disturbances.

Earth Science Course
ES.10 – ocean processes, interactions, and policies affecting coastal zones, including Chesapeake Bay.
ES.11 – origin, evolution, and dynamics of the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.
ES.12 – weather and climate.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.2 – physical geography of Virginia past and present.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.8 – government at the local level.
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2015 Social Studies SOLs, which become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

Civics and Economics Course
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.8 – government at the local level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.
WG.4 - types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.
WG.18 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Episode 336 (10-3-16): A Streamside Exploration for Insects and Spiders

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:47)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-30-16.
 

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 3, 2016.

SOUND - ~ 4 sec

This week, we take a peek inside a complex streamside community—one that takes some work to see, even though it’s all around any stream visitor. Have a listen for about 20 seconds to several mystery sounds, and see if you can guess the two main groups of animals found during an early fall exploration of that biological community. And here’s a hint: six plus eight equal the two of this answer.

SOUNDS - ~20 sec

If you guessed six-legged insects and eight-legged spiders, you’re right! You heard the sounds of Toms Creek in Blacksburg, Va., on September 27, 2016, along with an insect net sweeping the vegetation and air beside the stream, and a jar for observing what the net managed to catch. The streamside area, also known as the riparian area, of that part of Toms Creek has various grasses and other plants growing under tall American Sycamores, Black Willows, and other trees and shrubs. Here are common names of some of the 17 kinds of creatures found in Toms Creek’s riparian area that day: Asian ladybird beetles, flat bark beetles, black flies, crane flies, caddisflies, ebony bugs, leafhoppers, treehoppers, crab spiders, jumping spiders, and nursery web spiders. And those were all above the water; an exploration of the plants and rocks in the stream that day likely would have revealed immature dragonflies [and] mayflies, snails, and various other aquatic creatures. So if you like exploring and want to make some new acquaintances, there’s probably a big crowd gathered at a stream near you.

Thanks to the Virginia Tech Department of Entomology’s Insect ID Lab for equipment, sample identification, and information used in this episode. We close with the sounds of Toms Creek and of a two-legged creature: the American Goldfinch, a seed-eating bird that was the most vocal and conspicuous animal near the creek during our late-September exploration.

SOUNDS – ~ 9 sec

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of “Cripple Creek” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The streamside exploration took place at Toms Creek in Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Va., on September 27, 2016, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Thanks to Theresa Dellinger in the Virginia Tech Department of Entomology's Insect ID Lab for providing equipment, insect identification, and information for this episode.

PHOTOS

Toms Creek (New River watershed), Heritage Park, Blacksburg, Va., September 27, 2016.


Net used sweeping for insects in vegetation beside Toms Creek in Heritage Park, Blacksburg, Va., September 27, 2016.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPIDERS AND INSECTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Following is a list of the spiders and insects found during the streamside exploration of Toms Creek in Heritage Park, Blacksburg, Va., on September 27, 2016. Along with the animals names are links to more information at the “Bug Guide” Web site produced by the Iowa State University Department of Entomology.  Thanks to Theresa Dellinger in the Virginia Tech Entomology Department’s Insect ID Lab for identifying the animals and for providing the Bug Guide links.

Spiders

Crab spider (family Thomisidae); more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1957.
Jumping spider (family Salticidae); more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1962.
Nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira); more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/2919.

Insects

Beetles (Order Coleoptera)
Crab-like rove beetle (Family Staphylinidae) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/385585.
Multicolored Asian ladybird beetle (Harmonia axyridis) larvae; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/397.
Silvanid flat bark beetle (Telephanus atricapillus) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/13074.

True Flies (Order Diptera)
Black fly (family Simulidae) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/16613.
Vinegar fly (family Drosophilidae) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/7178.

True Bugs (Order Hemiptera)
Aphid (family Aphididae); more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/147.
Ebony bug (family Thyreocoridae; genus Corimelaena) nymphs and adults; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/83252.
Meadow spittlebug (family Cercopidae, Philaenus spumarius) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/7452.
Potato leafhopper (family Cicadellidae, Empoasca fabae) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/21067.
Stinkbug (family Pentatomidae, genus Euschistus); more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/7207.
Treehopper family Membracidae, Publilia concava) adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/10012/bgimage.

Earwigs (Order Dermaptera)
European earwig (family Forficulidae, Forficula auricularia), adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/23281.

Caddisflies (Order Trichoptera)
Fingernet caddisflies (family Philopotamidae), adult; more information: http://bugguide.net/node/view/38306.

SOURCES

Used in Audio

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, “Birds of North America Online,” online at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna (subscription required).

For More Information about Insects

University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology, “Featured Creatures,” online at http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/.

Iowa State University Department of Entomology, “BugGuide,” online at http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740.

Virginia Tech Department of Entomology Insect Identification Lab, online at http://www.insectid.ento.vt.edu/index.html.

J. Reese Voshell, Jr., A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America, McDonald and Woodward, Blacksburg, Va., 2002.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html); see particularly the “Insects” category.

For other episodes on various aspects of streams biology and of stream sampling, please see the following:
Methods of fish sampling – Episode 172 – 7/29/13.
Stream assessment with aquatic macroinvertebrates – Episode 81 – 9/26/11.

Episodes on physical factors of streams and other water bodies are listed under the “Science” category of the Index.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 - living things as part of a system, including habitats.
3.6 - ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources.
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Life Science Course
LS. 4 - organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.8 - community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.

Biology Course
BIO.8 - dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.