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By Adam Geller AP National Writer Two miles down or more and darker than night, the ocean becomes a particu- larly challenging place for human searchers. If the wreckage of a miss- ing Malaysian airliner rests somewhere in the Indian Ocean's depths, then in- vestigators will likely need to entrust the hunt at least partly to robot submarines and the scientists who deploy them to scan remote swaths of the seafloor. Such unmanned subs, called autonomous underwa - ter vehicles or AUVs, played a critical role in locating the carcass of a lost Air France jet in 2011, two years after it crashed in the middle of the south Atlantic. The find al - lowed searchers to recover the black boxes that revealed the malfunctions behind the tragedy. That search keyed off crit - ical information: The search area for the Air France jet was much smaller than that for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and the first pieces of wreckage were recovered within days of the crash. Even then, it required two years and four deep water search missions before a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using an AUV equipped with side-scan sonar, located the jet about 12,800 feet under - water. "Air France 447 is a bit different from Malaysian Air 370 in that we had a few more clues to work with," said Dave Gallo, who led the search team from Woods Hole, located on Massachu - setts' Cape Cod. The inde- pendent research institu- tion has offered its services to investigators but has not been asked to join the cur- rent search effort. Before unmanned subs can be sent down to look for the Malaysian jet, the search zone must be narrowed con - siderably. That depends on finding wreckage on the surface. Officials cautioned Wednesday that search planes, which have scoured the ocean for more than three weeks without find - ing any sign of the downed jet, aren't certain to find any wreckage and that investiga- tors may not be able to deter- mine the reason for its disap- pearance. The size of the search area changes daily because of factors such as currents; on Wednesday it was 85,000 square miles. But if investigators can zero in on an approximate crash location, they will likely turn to AUVs to be - gin the methodical task of tracking back and forth across miles of ocean floor in search of anomalies that might be wreckage. "I like to think of it as mowing the lawn. You want to cover every bit of it," Gallo said. "You need a little bit of luck and a lot of prayer that the oceans are going to co - operate, and then off you go." The unmanned subs used by the Woods Hole team were developed as tools to research and monitor rel - atively shallow coastal wa- ters, measuring variables like salinity and temper- ature over wide areas for hours on end. But AUVs are increasingly harnessed to perform some of the most demanding underwater jobs. The U.S. Navy uses them to search for underwater mines because they can stay below the surface of even very cold water much longer than any diver, without the worry of exposing a human to danger. Energy compa - nies employ unmanned subs to survey the floor at under- water drill sites. In 2009, California's Waitt Institute sent down a pair of AUVs that surveyed more than 2,000 square miles of South Pacific ocean bottom over 72 days in an unsuc - cessful search for Amelia Earhart's plane. The area off western Aus- tralia where search planes and aircraft are looking for the Malaysian jet slopes from about 2,600 feet to about 9,800 feet deep. But part of the zone drops into the narrow Diamantina trench, about 19,000 feet (5,800 meters) down. "Let's hope the wreck de - bris has not landed over this escarpment. It's a long way to the bottom," said Robin Beaman, a marine geologist at Australia's James Cook University. mAlAysiAn Airliner Deep water search for jet could turn on robot subs AssociAted Press this 2011 photo provided by sylvain Pascaud shows the ship Alucia and the reMUs 6000 robot sub during the search for Air France Flight 447. Unmanned subs, also called autonomous underwater vehicles or AUVs, played a critical role in locating the wreckage of the lost Air France jet, two years aer it crashed in the middle of the south Atlantic. the find allowed searchers to recover the black boxes that revealed the malfunctions behind the tragedy. Washington 67/52 New York 57/42 Miami 84/73 Atlanta 81/59 Detroit 44/34 Houston 82/61 Chicago 44/41 Minneapolis 38/29 Kansas City 69/39 El Paso 66/ 48 Denver 42/24 Billings 44/30 Los Angeles 68/54 San Francisco 60/48 Seattle 56/42 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: FRIDAY 64° 43° SATURDAY 71° 46° Nic e with some sun Variable clouds with a shower SUNDAY 81° 51° Sunn y and ve ry wa rm MONDAY 79° 51° Sunn y and ve ry wa rm TODAY 63° 40° Some sun, then increasing clouds. Cloudy and chilly with a touch of rain tonight. High ....................................................................... 56° Low ........................................................................ 39° Normal high ......................................................... 68° Normal low ........................................................... 45° Record high ............................................. 91° in 2000 Record low .............................................. 31° in 1955 Humidity noon today ........................................ 57% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.01" Month to date ................................................... 0.12" Normal month to date ..................................... 0.11" Season to date ................................................ 11.63" Normal season to date .................................. 21.37" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .................................................................. Good Napa ................................................................... Good Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ............................................... Not available Yuba City ........................................................... Good Allergy, dust and dander today: Neutral Grass ....................... Low Mold ......................... Low Trees ...................... High Weeds ................ Absent 5 Highest at 12 p.m. Today 6:50 a.m. 7:35 p.m. 9:24 a.m. none Friday 6:48 a.m. 7:36 p.m. 10:10 a.m. 12:01 a.m. 12 hr., 45 min. Apr 7 First Apr 15 Full Last Apr 22 New Apr 28 at Bend Bridge 27 2.80 -1.50 at Hamilton City 148 130.70 +0.10 at Ord Ferry 114 98.70 +0.20 at Red Bluff Diversion Dam 253 238.90 -0.50 at Tehama Bridge 213 201.80 -0.20 Lake Shasta...................969.92 2,224,621 48.9% Lake Trinity .................2286.46 1,308,239 49.4% Weather Trivia ™ What was the worst tornado outbreak of all time? April 3-4, 1974; 148 tornadoes from Michigan to Alabama. Today Friday Anaheim 69/51/pc 69/52/pc Bakersfield 69/49/s 68/48/pc Chula Vista 66/53/pc 68/57/pc Crescent City 54/43/r 54/45/c Death Valley 80/61/s 82/52/pc Eureka 54/42/r 54/41/c Fremont 63/46/pc 63/47/c Fresno 68/48/pc 71/50/pc Glendale 69/51/pc 67/50/pc Huntington Beach 64/53/pc 64/52/pc Irvine 66/52/pc 65/52/pc Lake Tahoe 46/25/pc 45/25/c Long Beach 67/52/pc 68/52/pc Los Angeles 68/54/pc 68/52/pc Mammoth Mountain 46/27/pc 45/23/sh Modesto 67/46/pc 69/46/pc Monterey 60/47/pc 60/47/c Moreno Valley 68/47/s 66/47/pc Napa 62/45/pc 63/40/c Needles 75/56/s 78/55/pc Oakland 62/48/pc 62/48/c Oxnard 62/48/pc 62/47/pc Redding 60/41/pc 62/42/c Riverside 69/47/s 67/45/pc Sacramento 66/41/pc 68/44/pc San Bernardino 68/49/s 67/47/pc San Diego 65/58/pc 66/57/pc San Francisco 60/48/pc 60/48/c San Jose 64/46/pc 64/47/c San Luis Obispo 65/46/pc 63/45/c Santa Ana 67/53/pc 66/52/pc Santa Barbara 62/48/pc 64/46/pc Santa Clarita 69/47/s 67/50/pc Stockton 67/42/pc 69/45/pc Ventura 62/48/pc 63/47/pc Yosemite Valley 58/40/pc 59/36/pc Today Friday Albuquerque 57/36/s 62/44/s Atlanta 81/59/pc 75/51/t Baltimore 60/47/c 56/47/r Boston 49/34/pc 44/38/pc Buffalo 43/35/c 55/38/r Chicago 44/41/r 53/30/sh Cincinnati 71/54/r 70/36/t Dallas 84/47/t 70/46/s Denver 42/24/sn 56/30/s Detroit 44/34/r 59/34/r El Paso 66/48/s 72/54/s Fargo 39/26/sn 39/24/pc Honolulu 84/72/s 83/71/s Houston 82/61/t 79/51/pc Indianapolis 67/54/r 64/33/t Kansas City 69/39/t 51/32/c Las Vegas 67/55/s 68/54/pc Louisville 74/59/r 72/39/t Miami 84/73/pc 85/74/pc Minneapolis 38/29/sn 37/25/sn New Orleans 79/68/c 80/56/t New York City 57/42/c 46/42/r Oklahoma City 79/38/pc 65/40/s Severe thunderstorms, including the risk for tornadoes, will reach from Texas to Missouri, eastward to the lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys today. Drenching rain will reach north of the severe thunderstorm area from the central Appalachians to Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Meanwhile, a zone of heavy, wind-swept snow is forecast to expand from northeastern Colorado to central and northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Farther east, a chilly day is in store for New England, while summerlike warmth builds over the South. High ............................... 98° in Laredo, TX Low ............................. -11° in Hallock, MN High ........................ 110° in Yilimani, Mali Low .......... -38° in Shepherd Bay, Canada Bogota 66/48/t 66/49/t Buenos Aires 73/66/pc 79/64/pc Caracas 85/71/t 88/71/t Ensenada 66/48/pc 65/47/pc Mexico City 80/57/s 80/63/s Montreal 43/27/pc 46/37/r Rio de Janeiro 81/73/sh 82/73/pc Tijuana 66/52/pc 68/51/pc Toronto 41/35/pc 51/33/r Vancouver 52/43/r 51/43/r Orlando 86/65/pc 86/65/pc Philadelphia 57/44/c 49/44/r Phoenix 73/56/s 78/59/pc Pittsburgh 59/50/r 70/45/r Portland, ME 44/28/pc 42/36/pc Portland, OR 57/43/r 55/44/r St. Louis 78/48/t 58/34/pc Salt Lake City 50/38/pc 61/40/pc Seattle 56/42/r 54/42/r Tucson 68/46/s 76/52/pc Washington, DC 67/52/c 61/51/r Cairo 76/56/s 78/59/s Casablanca 64/45/sh 66/51/s Johannesburg 73/51/s 73/52/t Kinshasa 92/72/t 91/74/t Lagos 90/78/t 90/77/t Nairobi 84/60/pc 85/61/t Tripoli 93/61/pc 77/55/pc Baghdad 78/55/s 81/59/s Beijing 65/42/s 76/41/s Hong Kong 77/68/t 74/66/c Jerusalem 62/45/s 63/49/s Kabul 66/46/pc 66/49/pc Manila 93/74/s 93/75/s Melbourne 66/54/c 68/56/sh New Delhi 91/68/pc 93/68/pc Seoul 58/36/r 54/37/pc Singapore 90/79/t 90/77/t Sydney 86/68/t 73/68/sh Tehran 59/44/c 60/48/s Tokyo 61/55/r 68/46/r Amsterdam 66/51/pc 63/47/r Athens 71/52/s 68/58/pc Belgrade 73/50/pc 75/52/pc Berlin 66/42/pc 60/39/pc Budapest 61/47/pc 70/43/s Dublin 52/45/r 57/47/pc London 68/48/c 66/46/pc Madrid 60/39/sh 63/46/pc Moscow 39/28/c 39/23/sf Paris 70/53/sh 64/45/c Rome 66/56/pc 63/48/r Stockholm 45/30/pc 46/34/s Vienna 66/49/c 71/47/s Zurich 65/42/pc 69/45/s 55/32 59/37 58/36 57/33 58/36 66/41 66/44 62/45 63/39 65/45 64/44 52/30 53/28 53/32 60/41 63/40 58/37 56/45 56/46 54/42 60/40 53/33 58/33 54/43 60/32 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2014 Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. 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