Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/278161
By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press Scientists have crowd- sourced a network of volun- teers taking water samples at beaches along the West Coast in hopes of capturing a detailed look at low levels of radiation drifting across the ocean since the 2011 tsu - nami that devastated a nu- clear power plant in Japan. With the risk to public health extremely low, the ef- fort is more about perfect- ing computer models that will better predict chemical and radiation spills in the future than bracing for a threat. Federal agencies are not sampling at the beach. The state of Oregon is sam - pling, but looking for higher levels closer to federal health standards. The March 2011 tsunami off Japan flooded the Fuku - shima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, causing radiation-contam- inated water to spill into the Pacific. Airborne radi- ation was detected in milk in the U.S. soon afterward. But things move much more slowly in the ocean. "We know there's con - taminated water coming out of there, even today," Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceano - graphic Institution in Massa- chusetts, said in a video ap- pealing for volunteers and contributions. In fact, it is the biggest pulse of radioactive liquid dropped in the ocean ever, he said. "What we don't really know is how fast and how much is being transported ac ro ss t he Pa ci fic ," h e ad de d. "Yes, the models tell us it will be safe. Yes, the levels we ex - pect off the coast of the U.S. and Canada are expected to be low. But we need mea- surements, especially now as the plume begins to ar- rive along the West Coast." In an email from Japan, Buesseler said he hopes the sampling will go on every two or three months for the next two to three years. Two different models have been published in peer-re - viewed scientific journals predicting the spread of radioactive isotopes of ce- sium and iodine from Fu- kushima. One, known as Rossi et al, shows the lead- ing edge of the plume hit- ting the West Coast from southeast Alaska to South- ern California by April. The other, known as Behrens et all, shows the plume hitting Southeast Alaska, British Columbia and Washington by March 2016. The isotopes have been detected at very low levels at a Canadian sampling point fa r ou t to s ea e ar li er t ha n th e models predicted, but not yet reported at the beach, said Kathryn A. Higley, head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics at Oregon State University. The Rossi model predicts levels a lit - tle higher than the fallout from nuclear weapons test- ing in the 1960s. The Beh- rens model predicts lower levels like those seen in the ocean in the 1990s, after the radiation had decayed and dissipated. west coast Traces of ocean radiation expected soon Scientists say public health risks are low from ongoing effects of 2011 tsunami that crippled nuclear power plant Washington 63/38 New York 57/32 Miami 79/70 Atlanta 67/52 Detroit 40/16 Houston 74/61 Chicago 42/15 Minneapolis 29/6 Kansas City 67/30 El Paso 73/45 Denver 52/24 Billings 52/35 Los Angeles 83/58 San Francisco 72/50 Seattle 56/47 AIR QUALITY FORECAST What it means: 0-50: Good; 51-100: Moderate; 101-150: Unhealthy for sensitive people; 151+: Unhealthy for all. Source: Airnow.gov City Today's air quality City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W CALIFORNIA CITIES National and world forecast Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Summary National Extremes World Extremes North and South America Asia, Australia Europe Africa Carson City Hawthorne Reno Herlong Lovelock Sacramento Yuba City Napa Ukiah Chico Corning Lakeview Alturas Susanville Redding Red Bluff Laytonville Fort Bragg Point Arena Eureka Redway Mount Shasta Yreka Crescent City Ashland Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows. Shown are today's noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. ALMANAC Precipitation Temperatures ALLERGY REPORT Pollen levels Source: National Allergy Bureau TODAY'S UV INDEX (The higher the number, the faster skin damage will occur.) 11+: Extreme 8-10: Very high 6-7: High 3-5: Moderate 0-2: Low SUN SETTINGS, MOON PHASES Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Hours of sunlight River Levels Sacramento River Flood 7 a.m. 24-hr Stage yest. chg. Lake Levels Elevation Yesterday Storage (acre-feet) Percent Capacity Q: A: SUNDAY 80° 47° MONDAY 74° 42° Pa rtly sunn y Mostly sunny and very warm TUESDAY 75° 42° Pa rtly sunn y WEDNESDAY 73° 45° Pa rtly sunn y TODAY 84° 40° Mostly sunny. A moonlit sky and chilly tonight. High ....................................................................... 72° Low ........................................................................ 44° Normal high ......................................................... 65° Normal low ........................................................... 44° Record high ............................................. 85° in 2004 Record low .............................................. 33° in 1953 Humidity noon today ........................................ 26% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.00" Month to date ................................................... 1.85" Normal month to date ..................................... 1.83" Season to date ................................................ 10.18" Normal season to date .................................. 19.89" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .................................................... Not available Napa ........................................................... Moderate Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ............................................... Not available Yuba City ........................................................... Good Allergy, dust and dander today: Beneficial Grass .................. Absent Mold ......................... Low Trees ...................... High Weeds ................ Absent 5 Highest at 1 p.m. Today 7:21 a.m. 7:16 p.m. 6:41 p.m. 6:36 a.m. Sunday 7:19 a.m. 7:17 p.m. 7:41 p.m. 7:06 a.m. 11 hr., 55 min. Mar 16 Full Mar 23 Last New Mar 30 First Apr 7 at Bend Bridge 27 1.40 -0.30 at Hamilton City 148 129.70 -0.42 at Ord Ferry 114 97.60 -0.45 at Red Bluff Diversion Dam 253 238.30 -0.10 at Tehama Bridge 213 200.90 -0.30 Lake Shasta...................959.14 2,031,824 44.6% Lake Trinity .................2282.46 1,265,287 47.8% Weather Trivia ™ At what temperature are large snowflakes most likely to occur? Near or just above the freezing mark. Today Sunday Anaheim 83/58/s 90/56/s Bakersfield 82/51/s 85/52/s Chula Vista 76/54/s 83/55/s Crescent City 59/43/pc 56/42/pc Death Valley 88/64/s 89/57/s Eureka 57/40/s 57/41/s Fremont 75/48/s 74/49/s Fresno 82/52/s 85/55/s Glendale 82/56/s 89/55/s Huntington Beach 73/58/s 77/57/s Irvine 80/58/s 85/57/s Lake Tahoe 59/24/s 64/33/s Long Beach 80/55/s 87/56/s Los Angeles 83/58/s 90/58/s Mammoth Mountain 60/29/s 66/24/s Modesto 81/46/s 86/47/s Monterey 72/49/s 74/52/s Moreno Valley 81/55/s 87/48/s Napa 74/46/s 75/41/s Needles 85/60/s 84/57/s Oakland 72/47/s 71/49/s Oxnard 76/52/s 82/52/s Redding 80/45/s 78/47/s Riverside 84/45/s 88/44/s Sacramento 82/43/s 81/44/s San Bernardino 81/55/s 87/50/s San Diego 74/56/s 81/59/s San Francisco 72/50/s 71/50/s San Jose 76/48/s 77/50/s San Luis Obispo 86/48/s 89/47/s Santa Ana 80/58/s 86/56/s Santa Barbara 79/47/s 83/47/s Santa Clarita 84/54/s 89/55/s Stockton 81/42/s 85/44/s Ventura 79/52/s 82/52/s Yosemite Valley 71/37/s 74/37/s Today Sunday Albuquerque 63/33/s 59/37/s Atlanta 67/52/c 65/50/t Baltimore 63/34/pc 45/29/pc Boston 50/24/pc 36/16/s Buffalo 37/12/c 20/10/pc Chicago 42/15/pc 28/17/s Cincinnati 56/32/pc 36/20/sn Dallas 70/50/t 55/37/r Denver 52/24/c 62/36/s Detroit 40/16/pc 25/12/s El Paso 73/45/s 63/43/pc Fargo 19/-4/c 27/17/sn Honolulu 80/67/sh 76/67/s Houston 74/61/t 67/43/sh Indianapolis 54/26/pc 35/18/sn Kansas City 67/30/s 36/23/sn Las Vegas 76/58/s 75/58/s Louisville 62/39/pc 41/25/r Miami 79/70/pc 82/76/pc Minneapolis 29/6/sn 24/17/pc New Orleans 71/63/c 75/53/t New York City 57/32/pc 39/24/pc Oklahoma City 66/41/t 49/28/r A front sweeping through the Northeast today will bring showers across the area. Snow will mix in with rain across western New York and into north- ern New England. However, mild air will remain in place. In the south-central part of the country, a storm will begin taking shape. Thunderstorms will turn strong and perhaps severe in the afternoon and evening from central Texas to the Louisiana border. Storms could be capable of large hail and damaging wind gusts, as well as an isolated tor- nado or two. Rain and snow showers will stretch to the Upper Midwest. High ............................ 87° in Thermal, CA Low ................... -15° in Saranac Lake, NY High ...................... 110° in Kolda, Senegal Low ... -65° in Summit Station, Greenland Bogota 63/50/t 64/49/r Buenos Aires 75/68/pc 84/68/s Caracas 89/74/s 89/74/s Ensenada 79/60/s 86/58/s Mexico City 81/55/pc 78/47/pc Montreal 39/10/sn 18/3/pc Rio de Janeiro 90/77/s 92/77/s Tijuana 77/55/s 82/52/s Toronto 36/10/c 21/10/pc Vancouver 49/44/r 49/39/r Orlando 79/58/pc 82/66/pc Philadelphia 60/34/pc 42/26/pc Phoenix 83/58/s 82/58/s Pittsburgh 47/23/pc 35/20/pc Portland, ME 45/20/sn 30/7/s Portland, OR 62/45/pc 59/42/r St. Louis 64/33/pc 39/20/sn Salt Lake City 55/37/pc 63/45/s Seattle 56/47/r 52/38/r Tucson 76/51/s 76/50/s Washington, DC 63/38/pc 46/31/pc Cairo 68/55/s 81/66/s Casablanca 69/43/s 72/48/s Johannesburg 75/55/pc 77/57/pc Kinshasa 92/74/t 91/73/t Lagos 91/80/t 90/78/t Nairobi 81/61/t 82/60/pc Tripoli 71/54/s 61/50/sh Baghdad 69/52/sh 73/54/s Beijing 73/38/pc 59/37/s Hong Kong 70/65/c 73/67/c Jerusalem 53/42/pc 64/56/s Kabul 50/43/sh 57/47/sh Manila 87/76/pc 89/76/pc Melbourne 82/54/r 68/57/c New Delhi 79/55/pc 84/55/pc Seoul 54/37/s 57/37/s Singapore 89/77/pc 88/78/pc Sydney 89/70/c 88/59/sh Tehran 55/42/sh 57/44/s Tokyo 53/39/pc 63/42/s Amsterdam 51/47/c 54/44/s Athens 64/47/s 66/52/s Belgrade 62/42/s 53/44/c Berlin 51/41/sh 52/42/r Budapest 65/38/sh 52/45/c Dublin 54/46/pc 57/43/pc London 57/43/pc 63/41/pc Madrid 64/43/s 68/45/s Moscow 43/34/sh 39/26/c Paris 57/44/c 64/42/s Rome 64/43/s 64/45/pc Stockholm 39/27/sf 40/30/pc Vienna 56/45/sh 56/47/pc Zurich 62/39/sh 56/36/pc 65/34 65/42 69/34 67/35 64/26 82/43 82/45 74/46 76/38 83/48 83/47 61/29 65/25 66/35 80/45 84/40 73/38 61/46 63/47 57/40 75/42 68/32 70/31 59/43 71/35 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2014 235 So. 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