CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:22) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-28-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 28, 2016. MUSIC - ~12 sec That music is part of “Drive the Cold Winter Away,” by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, Va., accompanied by Phillip Skeens.   It opens our annual episode on winter preparedness. In 2016, winter comes to Virginia—astronomically—on December 21, whether you’re ready or not.  Here are some tips from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for staying safe from winter’s hazardous roads, power outages, and fire hazards. *Get road conditions from the Virginia 511 telephone system, Web site, or smartphone app. *Have a battery-powered or hand-cranked radio, especially one with a NOAA Weather Radio band. *Get fireplaces, wood stoves, and chimneys inspected and cleaned. *Install a smoke detector in every bedroom and on every floor level, and check the batteries regularly. *If you use space heaters, plug them into wall outlets, not into extension cords; keep heaters at least three feet from other objects; and don’t leave heaters unattended. *Generators, camp stoves, and charcoal-burning devices should be used outdoors only. *Use flashlights, not candles, during power outages. *And make a family emergency plan that includes a meeting place if your family can’t return home; an out-of-town emergency contact; and at least a three-day emergency supply of food, water, and medications. More information on preparing for severe winter weather and other emergencies is available online at vaemergency.gov. Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and until next spring comes along to “Drive the Cold Winter Away,” here’s hoping that you can stay warm, dry, and safe. MUSIC – ~21 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 “Drive the Cold Winter Away” is a traditional tune performed by Timothy Seaman and Phillip Skeens on the 1998 album “Celebration of Centuries,” copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Mr. Seaman’s music is available online http://timothyseaman.com/.  This music was previously featured in Episode 300, 1-25-16, on winter words. IMAGES Winter-weather preparedness poster from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, online at http://www.vaemergency.gov/prepare-recover/threat/winter-weather/. Icy tree limbs threatening to down power lines are a frequent winter concern in Virginia. Photo taken in Blacksburg, Va., January 25, 2015. EXTRA FACTS ABOUT WINTER PREPAREDNESS AND SAFETY INFORMATION Before A Winter Storm The recommendations below are from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, “Nov. 29-Dec. 5 is Winter Preparedness Week,” 11/24/15, online at http://www.vaemergency.gov/readyvirginia/winter/winter-preparedness-week.” Get a kit. Basic emergency supplies include the following: *Three days’ food that doesn’t need refrigeration or electricity to prepare it; *Three days’ water (a gallon per person per day); *A battery-powered and/or hand-crank radio with extra batteries; *For businesses and offices, bottled water, food bars, and a radio or TV to hear local information about whether or not it is safe to travel; *A power pack for recharging cell phones and other mobile devices. Make a plan

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:34) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-18-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 21, 2016. This week, we re-do an episode from November 2012 featuring a Thanksgiving-sound mystery.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds, and see if you know what this familiar call has to do with water. SOUNDS - ~15 sec You’ve been listening to a Wild Turkey call, and if you guessed that a full-grown domestic turkey may drink 1 to 2 gallons of water per week, you’re a poultry expert!  But we’ve used the call of this non-aquatic bird to make the point that all birds need water.   In fact, birds are largely water; studies have measured birds’ body mass at 60 to 70 percent water.  Birds get water from obvious sources like ponds and streams but also from less obvious places, such as dew and the water contained in birds’ food.  In addition, birds conserve water in several ways.  First, like mammals, birds use their skin covering, behavior, and internal anatomy to reduce the water used to maintain a constant body temperature.  Second, like reptiles, birds excrete nitrogen waste in uric acid, a substance that requires little water.  And third, again like most reptiles, birds use a shell to maintain a watery environment for eggs laid on land or other relatively dry surfaces. While the role of water is obvious for ducks, shorebirds, and other aquatic bird species, managing this fundamental substance is essential for all of our feathered friends. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  And we close with some original music inspired by Wild Turkeys, “Turkey Tune,” composed for Virginia Water Radio by Torrin Hallett, a student at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio.  Happy Thanksgiving! MUSIC - ~24 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 This episode is a slightly revised repeat of Episode 137 (11-19-12), which has been archived. The sounds of the Wild Turkey were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Thanks to Dr. Dean Stauffer of the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment for his help with this episode. “Turkey Tune” is copyright 2016 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  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 especially for Virginia Water Radio. PHOTOS Male Wild Turkeys in Ohio during fall in 2001. Photo by Steve Maslowski, made available for public use the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov, accessed 11-21-16. Wild Turkey at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts, May 31, 2011. Photo by Matt Poole, made available for public use the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, o

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:15) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-11-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 14, 2016. This week, we explore how virtual-reality technology is being applied to research into tornadoes. We start with an audio creation that’s being used in public presentations of that technology. Have a listen for about 30 seconds. SOUNDS - ~32 sec You’ve been listening to part of “Tornado,” a creation of Dr. Ico Bukvic, of Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts. Using a recording of the April 3, 1974, tornado in Guin, Alabama, Dr. Bukvic created, as he stated it, “an artistic rendering of a tornado.” The resulting audio has been used to accompany visualizations of tornado data in Virginia Tech’s high-technology theater known as “The Cube.” For an introduction to The Cube and its use in severe-weather research, have a listen for about two minutes to part of a Cube tour on October 27, 2016. The speakers are tour leader Zach Duer, of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology; and tour participant Kathryn Prociv, a meteorologist and producer with The Weather Channel in Atlanta. GUEST VOICES – 2 min./10 sec Zach Duer - We’re in a room called The Cube. In this room, we have put a whole bunch of technology to do research and artistic work as well. We have 148 channels of sound in here. We also have 24 motion-capture cameras. The motion-capture cameras use infrared light to see things. And so these little balls—these little markers—are highly reflective in the infrared spectrum. So the cameras track these, and if you put these onto a virtual reality [VR] headset, it knows where you are and where you’re looking, so you can just walk through a space naturally and see it in VR. So right now, we are in the middle of a tornado—our perspective is in the middle of a tornado. This is the tornado in Goshen, Wyoming, from, I believe, it was 2003. With this tornado, they have amazing data. So they were able to get Doppler radar on trucks, and they put them at 90 degrees to an ongoing storm. This isn’t a simulation—this is real data. We’re using these little particles to represent wind—the little dots, blue and green and red. And they’re just moving through the tornado like they would. The purpose for this [use of The Cube for viewing data] is to have more theories about tornadogenesis. Kathryn Prociv – For research applications, why is this important? We’ve never modelled wind flow like this before. And when you see it at such a fine scale, you can see terrain interactions, you know, how did the terrain impact the strength of the storm [and] the development? Temperature is important; wind speed is important; and this gives us a way to actually see both of those variables in a space that we’ve never seen. Zach mentioned the El Reno tornado [May 31, 2013, in El Reno, Oklahoma]. That was a storm where several storm chasers were unfortunately killed. And what will make that research important in this space is that we can stand where those meteorologists were caught and see why were they caught there, why was the storm behaving like that, and how did they get caught off-guard. And so that type of research is potentially life-saving for the future. END GUEST VOICES Thanks to Ico Bukvic, Zach Duer, and Kathryn Prociv for permission to use this week’s sounds and voices, and we close with a few more seconds of “Tornado.” SOUND - ~17 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 sh

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:13) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-4-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 7, 2016. SOUND – ~ 11 sec This week, that sound of a World War II-era plane during Military Appreciation Day at the Virginia Tech football game on September 17, 2016, opens our focus on the U.S. Air Force, in honor of Veterans Day on November 11.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds to that service’s familiar anthem, played by the Air Force Band. MUSIC - ~ 31 sec The U.S. Air Force became a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on September 18, 1947, but perhaps its earliest historical roots were the use of balloons during the Civil War.  In 1892, the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps organized a permanent balloon section.   That evolved into an Aeronautical Division in 1907, the Army Air Service in 1918, the Army Air Corps in 1926, and the Army Air Forces in 1941, the last precursor to today’s Air Force. Virginia’s Hampton Roads area and its waters are a significant part of the Air Force’s past and its present.   In 1916, when the federal government was seeking to purchase open, flat land near water for its first aviation research and testing facility, it chose 1650 acres of forest, wetlands, and agricultural land between the branches of Back River, a Chesapeake Bay tributary in what was then Virginia’s Elizabeth City County, now adjacent to the City of Hampton.  Starting in 1917, the Army Air Service and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics—the predecessor of NASA—constructed Langley Air Field; 100 years later, the facility is Langley Air Force Base, occupying over 3100 acres between Hampton and NASA’s Langley Research Center.  Since 2010, Langley Air Force Base has been part of a joint base with the Army’s Fort Eustis in Newport News, and together the facilities support between 15 and 20,000 active-duty personnel and civilian workers. Thanks to Air Force veterans and current personnel everywhere for the service and sacrifices, past, present, and future. We close with another few seconds of the Air Force song. MUSIC - ~ 18 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 U.S. Air Force” (instrumental), informally known as “The Air Force Song,” was taken from the United States Air Force Band Web site, online at http://www.usafband.af.mil/recordings/.   The Web site states that the Air Force makes this and other recordings available to the public for certain purposes, including educational activities. PHOTOS Three historical photos from Virginia’s Langley Field, then Langley Air Force Base.  Upper: Observation balloon over Langley Field in 1925. Middle: Runways at Langley Field in 1941. Lower: Rescue boat tested in the Chesapeake Bay off Langley Air Force Base in 1953. All photos taken from Langley Air Force Base/633rd Air Base Wing Public Affairs, “A Century of Airpower/Langley History,” online at http://www.airpoweroverhamptonroads.com/langley-history (photos on that Web site are available for public use, according to that office, 11/7/16). EXTRA FACTS ABOUT THE AIR FORCE SONG Following is a short history of the U.S. Air Force’s official song, quoted from MSgt. Peter D. Forman, “History of the U.S. Air Force Song,” 1/29/07, online at http://www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:55) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-1-16. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week leading up to Election Day, November 8, 2016. MUSIC – ~ 8 sec This pre-election week, music by a Blacksburg- and Roanoke-based band sets an ancient stage for some observations on water’s potential place in voters’ decisions.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds. MUSIC - ~34 sec You’ve been listening to part of “Waters of Babylon,” performed by No Strings Attached, on the 1999 album, “In the Vinyl Tradition Volume II,” from Enessay Music.  The tune and its title trace back to Don McLean and Lee Hays on the 1971 album, “American Pie”; then to an 18th-century song by Philip Hayes; and finally to the Bible’s Psalm 137.  That psalm was a lament by Jews exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem about 2600 years ago.   At the time, Babylon was the principal city of Mesopotamia, a region centered in the area of modern-day Iraq in the fertile floodplain between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Throughout human history, water has been at the center of civilizations and human interactions. In the 21st Century, water remains a focal point in international affairs.  According to the United Nations’ Global Water Forum, “Water security has become a central feature of the global policy agenda” and “a source of conflict not only within countries but across international boundaries.”  As a recent example, some observers believe drought in Syria—part of which is in the Euphrates River basin—was one factor increasing unrest that eventually became the country’s current civil war.  Oregon State University’s Water Conflict Management program notes that the world has 286 river basins crossing international borders, as well as shared groundwater aquifers, generating a range of transboundary water issues.  And the United States has big impacts on several global issues related to water—climate, energy, food, public health, and biodiversity. Add that all together, and water’s clearly on the agenda in U.S. leadership choices.  In fact, when Scientific American asked 20 science questions of the four U.S. presidential candidates on the ballot nationwide in 2016, at least eight of the questions were about water explicitly or about issues directly tied to water, nationally or globally. U.S. elections at all levels have implications for water policy and management, from federal water-quality laws to local drought-management ordinances. But in national elections, U.S. citizens’ choices can also have implications for waters far beyond our shores. That makes water one more reason to use your citizen voice and vote, however and for whomever you choose. Thanks to No Strings Attached for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Waters of Babylon.” MUSIC - ~15 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 “In the Vinyl Tradition Volume II,” containing “Waters of Babylon,” is copyright 1999 by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.  More information about No Strings Attached is available from their Web site, http://enessay.com/.  The No Strings Attached piece was based on "Babylon" by Don McLean and Lee Hays on the 1971 album, "American Pie," from United Artists Records.  According to vari

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, 200

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:20) 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 l

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/nea

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.

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:58) Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-23-16 TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 26, 2016. MUSIC – ~ 7 sec This week, we feature music and mystery sounds, about a creature whose calls and migratory flights are well-known signs of seasonal change.  Have a listen for about 25 seconds, and see if you can guess this long-necked creature. MUSIC -- ~ 10 sec SOUNDS - ~ 13 sec If you guessed geese, you’re right!  You heard the sounds of the Canada Goose, along with “Geese Piece,” music composed especially for this episode by Torrin Hallett, a student at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio.  The Canada Goose is found particularly near shallow water bodies with good supplies of plant food.  It’s the most widespread of seven goose species that breed in North America, six of which occur at least occasionally in Virginia.  Within the Canada Goose species, scientists recognize at least 10 subspecies, varying in size, color, and breeding location.  As the name implies, many Canada Geese migrate to Canada, or the Arctic, for summer breeding, flying in characteristic V-shaped flocks that, for some people, symbolize seasonal turning points.  For example, in the book Life in the Chesapeake, authors Alice and Robert Lippson remark that “the early fall arrival of the Canada goose...heralds the oncoming winter like no other species in the Bay.” From its traditional northern breeding areas, however, Canada Goose populations have spread south, with nesting populations now in all 48 continental states.  These populations, including those in Virginia, take advantage of food and water in agricultural areas and increasingly in city parks and ponds, where large numbers of resident geese can cause problems for human visitors, aquatic habitats, and smaller waterfowl.  High above, though, in fall and spring, this big bird’s flying formations and distant honking still alert humans to change in the air. Thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for this week’s sounds, and to Torrin Hallett for this week’s music.  We close with a few more seconds of “Geese Piece.” MUSIC - ~ 19 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 “Geese Piece” is copyright 2016 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Many thanks to Torrin, a fourth-year horn performance, music composition and math major at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.”  More information about Torrin is available at his Web site, http://www.torrinjhallett.com/. The sounds of Canada Geese were taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Digital Library, http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/ (for sound clips specifically, see http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/search/searchterm/%28mp3%29). PHOTOS Canada Geese at Morven Park in Leesburg, Va. (Loudoun County), March 22, 2008.  Canada Goose at Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Va. (Montgomery County), March 31, 2007.   Canada Geese flying above Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Va., (Montgomery County), January 6, 2012. EXTRA FACTS ABOUT GEESE IN VIRGINIA According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at http://vafwis.org/fw