Blue Duck Weather

December Blue Duck Weather 2011

2012-01-07T19:05:00.000-08:00

December 2011 Weather News!

For the first two weeks in December the West dominated the weather news, including Arizona. You will read about two remarkable snow survivals right in Arizona.
Unfortunately the deadliest weather in the world for the month happened in the Philippines by massive flooding and drowning of folks who had little warning to escape.

Also in this fine edition (as always) of Blue Duck Weather News you will read where 150mph winds occurred in the United States, rare shifts in the California Santa Anna winds cause pure hell, dog shoots his master duck hunter in the ass, man that survives on his trek to the wilderness on frozen beer, new record set this year for billion dollar weather disasters, mass suicide or crash landing of thousands of birds, a Russian team that will attempt to conquer the second highest peak in the world in the winter (a feat that has never been done), a contribution from DarrDuck that will show you the strange phenomenon of “Kelvin-Hemholtz” waves and the “South Pole Christmas miracle.”

But first let us get into the boring statistics recorded at the Blue Duck Weather station. December was a “cold” month for desert standards. Most high temperatures never reached 60 degrees, there was a week and a half of rain, clouds, fog and mud. There were also a number of freezing temperatures with lows bottoming out at 29 degrees. (I will take that compared to 14 degrees last February.)

The average temperature at The Land was 47.88 degrees. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 29.58 degrees.

Rainfall for the month at the Land was a respectable .74’’ but the year only finished at 4.92’’. Phoenix received “officially” 4.61’’.

Lake levels in and around the state, the ones that matter to our agriculture, survival and toilet flushing are as follows: Lake Mead is 56% full, Pleasant 65%, the mighty Powell 67% and Roosevelt 65%.

12-1- Eight inches of snow fell at the Snow Bowl in northern Arizona, five inches in Flagstaff and Prescott with two inches on the ground. Winter storm warnings are still in effect and I-40 is closed near Williams.

The high today at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 59 degrees at an elevation of 7400’.

The high at The Land, elevation 1100’ was 58 degrees.

A rare change in wind patterns is driving the Santa Anna winds in southern California east. Wind gusts up to 100 mph in southern California, 102 mph in Utah. Six tractor trailers blown over below the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino City. Pasadena schools are closed and 300,000 thousand without power.

Brush fires and emergency response calls every twelve seconds! Los Angeles Airport is closed. As these winds move east High Wind Warning issued for six states.

From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports at 3:30 p.m. twenty degrees and five inches of snow on the ground.

12-2- Flagstaff, Arizona schools close due to the snow and Show Low has two feet on the ground.

A thirty seven degree low on The Land with a dew point of 37 degrees and humidity of 93% caused dense fog even though there was little rain the night before.

At Mammoth Mountain in California 150mph winds were recorded. The wind instrument does not record anything higher than that!

200,000 homes still without power in Southern California. Pasadena was the heaviest hit with 40 buildings “red tagged” as being uninhabitable.

A fifty car pile up in fog and icy road conditions leave one dead in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Biologists have found an extremely rare albino dolphin off the coast of South America.

A dog in a boat with his “Master” shoots him in the ass with a shotgun. The gun was on the bow, the safety off, when the dog got excited while hunting ducks. The dog set off the gun with his paw.

12-3- Snow level drops to 4,000 feet in Arizona with snow in Oracle. I- 40 closed and hail reported in Gilbert.

One hundred thousand still without power in Southern California from hurricane force winds two days ago.

A respected wildlife biologist was a casualty form the high winds in Big Sur when a tree blew over and killed him instantly.

Arizona Game & Fish officials have verified a highly probable ocelot sighting in Cochise County. Photos of the sighting were provided by a homeowner yesterday. Verification included paw prints at the scene.

The Southern Arizona Cattlemen’s Protective Association is offering a reward for information about the killing and partial butchering of a cow on a ranch in Green Valley, Arizona. The beast was shot at least once and its front quarters removed.

12-4- First freeze temperature of the season on The Land at 32 degrees along with heavy fog. There is a Freeze Warning issued for Pinal County tomorrow morning.

Six days ago in a man in Nome, Alaska set out on a cruise in his 1990 Toyota Nacoma to see how far a road would take him. Forty miles north of town his truck plunged into a snow drift. He was wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a light jacket. The man had few supplies with no food or water.

His cell phone wouldn’t work and he knew he was in deep shit. He put on a fleece sleeping bag liner he had in the truck and wrapped a towel around his feet. Occasionally he started the truck to run the heater and listen to the radio. The temperature dropped to seventeen below zero by the second night of his ordeal.
He said the cold was more painful than the hunger but he found a few cans of Coors Light in the cab that were frozen. (He probably had more than a few before he went on his run with no provisions in Nome!) He cut the lids of the beers like you would a can of beans with a knife and ate the frozen contents.

He was rescued alive on the third day of his ordeal. Later he said he lost sixteen pounds in three days!

Earlier this year your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather reported about the small utility company that serves Maricopa and surrounding areas. They had the unmitigated balls to shut the power off for nonpaying customers last February when temperatures dropped into the teens. They were criticized by the Corporation Commission for shutting down power in a threat to life situation.

Today the utility company announced they are establishing an assistance fund based on customer and community member donations. Not a word about what they will donate or set aside to contribute to the fund!

12-5- Morning snow at an elevation of 2500’ in the north valley including Fountain Hills, Carefree and parts of North Scottsdale. (For the first time in thirty five years I had a subcontractor pull off of a job because of snow. He said there were flurries lasting forty five minutes and snow sticking on the ground.)
U.S. 60 closed between Superior and Globe due to snow.

Sun Rise Ski Resort in the White Mountains opens in three days with 26’’ of snow.

64mph Santa Anna winds in Santa Barbara, California.

Now Arizona Game & Fish are discounting the ocelot sighting in Cochise County. “Ocelot experts” studied the photos and determined that some markings were not consistent with an ocelot. They believe it was a serval, an African cat popular in the pet trade business.

A Bald eagle carcass was found in a paper bag with rocks on it by a hiker near Tucson on November 21st. Arizona Game & Fish has offered a five hundred dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer.

Because of the drought in Texas thousands of horses have been abandoned by owners due to the ever increasing cost of hay and feed. Twenty to forty calls a week about horses along the side of the road. Abandoning horses is against the law in Texas.

12-6- Eleven degrees below zero in Greer, Arizona this morning.
I-10 closed in the entire state of New Mexico from Arizona to Texas from wind and snow.

Officially the north Valley received one half inch of snow yesterday morning.

Los Angeles is asking state and federal governments to declare the region a disaster area after last week’s brutal wind storms. 15,000 are still without power.

Five months later two remaining bodies have been found and recovered after being swept over the Merced River fall in Yosemite last July.

12-7- Twenty five degree low on The Land this morning.

Snowstorms cause traffic jams and vehicle crashes from Amarillo to Austin, Texas yesterday. Today it hits Tennessee and moving up the coast with heavy rain.

“America smashed the record for billion dollar weather disaster with a deadly dozen and counting.” There were more weather catastrophes that caused the dollar amount than it did in all of the eighties even with figures adjusted for inflation. Extreme weather this year killed over a thousand folks.

“Scientists blame an unlucky combination of global warming and freak chance. The six large outbreaks of tornadoes can’t be attributed to global warming.”

In Pima County, Arizona a woman is sentenced to 10 hours of community service for unlawfully feeding javelina. She was cited after repeated requests by Arizona Game & Fish officials to stop. A state law makes it illegal to feed wildlife in Pima and Maricopa counties, other than birds and tree squirrels.

12-8- An elderly New Mexico couple left Chandler, Arizona last week to head home on U.S. 60. They made a wrong turn and ended up on a forest road before their transmission went out. Snow storms moved into the region and the couple survived in the car until two days ago when the vehicle ran out of gas and no longer provided heat. The two left on foot and the woman died shortly after. After trying to revive his wife the man stuck to the road leaving markers behind him so his wife could be found. He walked until evening and then took shelter under a tree. Yesterday he continued on and was located by a Game & Fish officer. The man is doing well in a Globe hospital. ( What a tough man in his eighties. I sure feel bad for his wife of sixty years but this man had a whole lot of luck and some survival skills, mentally and physically. A tendency to give up all hope after losing your spouse in the cold lonely woods shock most people literally to death.)

Schools closed in western and southern parts of Tennessee after four inches of snow fell yesterday.

Wind gusts up to 100 mph in Scotland. A wind speed of 151 mph recorded on a summit in Aberdeenshire. Many schools and major bridges closed.

A hillside loosened by heavy rains collapses on a bus killing six near Bogota, Columbia. 3500 homes flooded with water up to five feet deep. Rains since September have caused 140 deaths.

12- 11- North east states, due to budget cuts, will eliminate heating aid to the poor.

“We have a lot of terrified people who can’t see how they are going to survive.”

12-12- Winter Storm Warning for northwest Arizona above 5500’ to the White Mountains until 12-14. Six inches of snow has already accumulated in the higher elevations of Gila County.

12-13- Flagstaff schools closed with thirteen inches of snow in the last twenty four hours. 1.81 inches of rain recorded in Queen Creek, Arizona.

The most recent mudslide in Colombia has killed a child and fifteen are missing.

12-14- 17.6” of snow in Flagstaff, 33’’ at Forest Lakes and 9’’ in Prescott. The most rain was recorded in Apache Junction at 2.20’’.

A five mile stretch of the Hunt Highway was closed this morning in the San Tan Valley due to a six foot by ten foot sink hole in the road caused by heavy rain.

The biggest wave ever recorded off Ireland yesterday at sixty seven feet high.

Near St. George, Utah thousands of birds died on impact after mistaking a Walmart parking lot for a body of water. Two thousand surviving birds were rescued and released. Storm clouds over the top of city lights made the parking lot look like a nice, flat body of water to the birds.

12-15- Dense Fog Advisory issued for entire southern Arizona this morning south to the Mexican border and west to Dateland, California. It was so humid at The Land it registered as .01’’ of rain.

Warm temperatures in the Northeast have delayed many ski resort openings. Most are usually opened by Thanksgiving. As of yesterday 16 of New England’s 52 ski resorts were open.

12-16- The Snow Bowl in Flagstaff and Ski Valley on Mount Lemon in Tucson have enough hard pack snow to officially open today. Tomorrow the snow level is expected to drop to six thousand feet.

Near Lorient, France, high winds completely beach a cargo ship and 220 tons of fuel is leaking, threatening the beach.

Swiss airports canceled and diverted flights as a winter storm delivered 93mph winds and heavy snowfall. A severe avalanche warning is issued for the Swiss Alps.

Russian authorities are trying to rescue 100 endangered beluga whales trapped in the midst of large chunks of polar ice in the Bering Sea.

12-17- Twelve hours of nonstop rain in the southern Philippines have killed 436 people due to Tropical Storm Washi. Entire villages were swept to sea as a wall of water drowned many as they were asleep in their beds.

A team of fifteen Russians are attempting to climb to the top of K2, the world’s second highest peak, in the winter. This has never been accomplished before. The mountain range straddles Pakistan and China. The temperatures in the winter can be forty below zero with winds of 40mph.

The team will begin their ascent around Christmas, will not be carrying oxygen tanks and will have porters at base camp only. Their gear and food, including three fresh slaughtered yaks and a “little vodka” is being flown by Pakistani army helicopters charging 7,000 dollars per hour.

12-18- Winter Weather Advisory issued through tomorrow night in northern Arizona.

A Blizzard Warning has been issued for parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

A Blizzard Warning is defined as life threatening winter weather conditions are likely including wind gusts of 35mph and visibility less than a quarter of a mile.

“Typhoon Washi leaves 1400 dead or missing in Philippines. Flood washed away entire houses with families inside……”

12-19- Blizzard Warnings issued for seven states from New Mexico to Kansas.

Funeral parlors are overwhelmed in the southern Philippines from the death toll due to Typhoon Washi and officials organize the first mass burial of 700. They also say 80 are missing but the Red Cross estimates 800.

12-20- Forty one degrees plus ninety two percent humidity and a forty degree dew point at The Land produced enough moisture to record as .01” of rain. Hell, we’ll take what we can!

Six killed in deadly storm throughout the Great Plains. Snow drifts up to ten feet in southeast Colorado. Drifts five feet high on I-25, the main route between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Colorado. The interstate was closed. Ten inches of snow fell in western Kansas and in Amarillo, Texas rain and snow are a welcome sight with the prevailing drought.

Philippines typhoon death toll up to 957 with 49 missing. 38,000 people there are affected.

12-21- Winter begins in Arizona at 10:30 p.m. With this being the shortest day of the year there is 9.56 hours of sunlight.

From his secluded remote location in Colorado RyDuck reports that the chance for snow is 100%. The high temperature for tomorrow is forecasted to be 15 degrees at seven thirty in the morning. From there it will only drop.

This month we have an amazing DarrDuck contribution, one I have never heard of: A series of huge breaking “wave clouds” lined the horizon in Birmingham, Alabama on December 16th. Amazed, people took photos and sent them to a local weather station asking “What are these tsunamis in the sky?” The clouds are examples of “Kelvin-Helmholtz waves.” Whether in the sky or ocean, this type of turbulence always forms when fast moving layers of fluid slides on top of a slower thicker layer, dragging its surface.

12-22- An A.S.U. student has been rescued after being trapped for more than a week in a remote area south of Winslow, Arizona. She got stuck in the snow in her vehicle. The young woman had two candy bars and melted snow in a water bottle in the sun. Survival experts say she did everything “right” to stay alive.

Rescuers yesterday pulled a family of three from a car that had been buried in a snow drift for two days on a rural New Mexico Highway. They had to dig through four feet of ice and snow to rescue them. State police said they had received a distress call and launched a search two days ago. Both parents had pneumonia but the young child was fine.

A fifty one degree high at The Land with a 9mph wind left a wind chill of 46 degrees.

12-23- Drivers are warned of snowy conditions on I-10 near Wilcox, Arizona. (I’ve driven that stretch many times on my way to the beloved Mount Graham.)

Unconfirmed tornadoes injure seven in northern Georgia. Reported major structural damage to homes and 19,000 without power.

70 mph winds recorded at Warm Springs in the Angeles National Forest in California.

Twelve inches of snow in western New Mexico and blizzard conditions exist in other parts of the state. Every ski resort in New Mexico is open.

Snow welcomed in west Texas due to the prolonged drought.

Denver International Airport cancels flights due to heavy snow.

12-24. Bah Humbug! Maricopa County declares no burn days for Christmas weekend. (At least Santa won’t burn his ass coming down the chimney unless it is my house!)

12-26- “Flagstaff has notified the state that it has secured the needed water resources to accommodate demand and growth for the next one hundred years.” In part they have reached an agreement with the Navajo tribe to import as much as seven million gallons of water per day from the aquifer under the Red Gap Ranch forty miles away.

North Texas experienced a rare white Christmas especially with the severe drought conditions that have plagued the area the past year.

The death toll from the Philippines flood is up to 1236. Bodies have been found in the sea more than 60 miles from the worst hit areas. Officials have stopped counting the missing. 60,000 homeless for Christmas.

12-27- Despite issuing no burn days in Maricopa County over the Christmas weekend the county exceeded federal health standards for small dust pollution. Officials claim wood burning fireplaces were likely the primary cause of the pollution.

Ninety dead because of the cold in India that folks are not accustomed to. Forty degrees may seem mild by some standards but most of the dead were the homeless and the elderly.

12-29- Drought and bark beetles devastate New Mexico forests. The tree mortality rate is up 140 percent this year, especially in southern New Mexico.

Lack of snow this year is a big problem for ski resorts nationwide. The largest resort, Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine, had hardly any snow fall this month.

Wind gusts up to 50 mph force long flight delays at two major airports in NYC.

12-30- Dense fog or smoke may have caused a predawn pileup on I-10 in New Orleans that left two dead and sixty one injured. Twenty five were taken to the hospital.

Wind gusts up to 70mph in Denver.
Vermont reopens the last highway damaged by Hurricane Irene four months ago.

Eleven killed as Cyclone Thane strikes southeast India with 85mph winds and heavy rain. All deaths were caused by walls collapsing or electrocution.

12-31- Warmest day all month at The Land with a high of 73 degrees! There are actually patches of green grass growing on the desert. (Eat your heart out, you miserable snow and cold bound people in other parts of the world. This is why the deserts of Arizona are the dumping grounds for folks wanting a little paradise in the winter.)

Arizona Game and Fish is offering a one thousand dollar reward for information leading to the slaughter of five javelina, left to rot, near Pima on or about December 15th. A sow, boar and three piglets were found shot to death.

Warm weather and heavy, wet snow are creating avalanche conditions in western Canada. A backcountry skier was killed yesterday. He was injured two days ago but an air rescue was impossible because of night approaching.

With another calendar year of weather reporting, along with some misfits to keep you amused, your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather has made every attempt to keep you informed, updated and aware of new weather records on this ever changing planet. Some say the weather is getting more severe around the world due to climate change. Your Editor in Chief will only present you the facts, the conclusions are up to you. With that said we will leave you with the song of the month by Tony Joe White, “Run For Cover.”

Until next year remember Settlers took land. Pioneers took bullets.

The Distinguished, Honorable, Baffled, Full of Shit, MR Blue Duck.

November 2011 Blue Duck Weather News

2011-12-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

November 2011 Weather News!

November was a “quiet” weather month by and large. Thailand’s second month of flooding has people pissed off and impatient with the government clean up efforts. But what happened to people dealing with the weather on their own terms? The fucking governments cannot do a thing about weather. And only in America one state may “sue” due to prolonged power outages from a fierce storm. Sue who, Mama Nature?

In this exciting issue of Blue Duck Weather you will read about a fierce storm in Nome, Alaska and the after effects, sadly another animal officially declared extinct, a raging bovine in Chandler, Arizona, another rare jaguar spotted in southeast Arizona, record heat trapping carbon dioxide levels, and iceberg forming the size of New York City, new reports on the Mount Graham red squirrel, the strongest late season Atlantic tropical storm on record, the fast moving but destructive wildfire in Reno, Nevada and what drought stricken shrinking lakes in Texas reveal.

The average temperature at The Land was 60.34 degrees, perfect snow duck weather. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico was an ooshy 38.55 degrees.

The Land received a respectable (for the desert) .74 inches of rain in November. The total here is 4.16 inches. Phoenix to date had received 3.56 inches. Both are half of normal so the drought continues.

The “big” lakes in Arizona continue to shrink. Roosevelt has diminished to 64% capacity revealing camp sites I have not visited in five years I suppose. Pleasant is down to 53%. But the mighty Lake Powell is 70% full, quite an improvement over the last few years and even the piss hole Mead stands at more than half full.

Now let us get to all the news that matters in this ever changing climate world.

11-1- One and a half million people are still without power in the North East for a fourth day after the “freak” snowstorm. Schools are closed for the rest of the week. Half of the homes in Connecticut and have no electric or gas service. Fifteen other states have been asked for resources to help restore power.

The surfer that was bitten by a nine foot shark near Monterey, California has been released from the hospital. The bite just missed his jugular vein and carteroid artery.

11-2- Nineteen degree low at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico.

From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports that Halloween was a “balmy” evening but last night he received a foot of wet, heavy snow and powerful winds. He said depending on the wind direction one part of his roof had one inch of snow and another eighteen inches.

Denver received six inches of snow and I-25 is closed from Cheyenne, Wyoming to the Colorado border.

550,000 people still without power in the North East. Police are urging residents to chain and lock generators to keep them from getting stolen.

Thousands in Bangkok’s flood districts are ignoring government orders to evacuate. “ Many of Bangkok’s government shelter sit largely empty, even as the submerged streets in some of the city’s hardest areas are still bustling with a constant stream of people wading, floating or boating in and out.”

One thirty year old mother of three and her husband leave home for a “four hour slog through stinking water that shines with oil and littered with garbage as they head to dry ground in search for essentials to take home.”

11-3- A Dust Storm Warning is issued for south west Arizona and for the first time Arizona Department of Public Safety issues a separate warning other than the one from the NWS. A Wind Advisory is issued for the entire state and the snow level is expected to drop to 5,000’.

A tropical storm kills 14 in Oman with 200 injured in this largely desert area in the eastern Arabian Peninsula. Cars are swept away and some areas have six feet of water.

11-4- Wind gusts up to 55 mph in northern Arizona and I-8 near Casa Grande closed.

The high today at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 31 degrees, the low 19.

Thailand’s record flooding moves deeper into the capital city of Bangkok flooding a major intersection with 15’’ of water and threatens the subway system.

The global output of heat trapping carbon dioxide jumped by the largest amount on record in 2010. It is higher than the worst case scenario projected four years ago according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

NASA scientists are monitoring a huge crack forming over an Antartica glacier. They think it will soon break off into an iceberg the size of New York City. The crack is 18 miles long and averages 260 feet wide, and growing 6 feet per day!

11-5- After brutal wind and dirt last night the Land received one half inch of rain and the high today was 59 degrees, 25 degrees cooler than yesterday. Phoenix set a record with a low high of 63 degrees. Six inches of snow fell in Flagstaff.

Floodwaters approach Bangkok’s largest outdoor market today as government officials warn there are no major barrieres between the flooding and the city. The death toll is 450. Millions of acres of farmland have been destroyed and thousands of factories closed.

A Chandler, Arizona man took his five pound dog, Cissy on a stroll on a leash. A sixty five pound bulldog attacked Cissy clamping his teeth around the little pooch’s neck. The man shot the bulldog with a .22 handgun he was carrying. Cissy will be fine, the bulldog is in serious condition from extensive bleeding from the gunshot wound.

The endangered Mount Graham red squirrel population grew by 26 in 2010 up to 240. The population spiked to about 550 in the late nineties.

A reward of 1250 dollars is being offered for information regarding the poaching of a mule deer fawn in Hualapai Mountain Park in Mohave County. The fawn was shot and suffered a broken back sometime between October 27th and the 29th.

11-6- A Winter Weather Advisory is posted for northern Arizona.

In Connecticut there are still 112,000 without power more than a week after the “freak” snowstorm.

A landslide caused by heavy rains have killed 14 in northwest Colombia and 60 are missing.

“Thailands black “(polluted) flood waters march as death toll surges past 500.

11-7- Fifty seven degrees with winds at eleven mph equals a fifty three degree high on The Land this afternoon. .21’’ of rain fell before dawn.
I-17 is closed at the Sedona exit due to snow.

50,000 still without power in the Northeast. “Connecticut is keeping its legal options open in case there are grounds for a lawsuit to utility companies.” (Only in America.)

More mudslides in Columbia bury homes. The death toll is up to 37 with 20 missing.

11-8- There are 9 tornado reports in east Texas.

Eighty five mph wind gusts and “sideway snow” in Nome, Alaska. The storm is traveling at 60 mph with ten foot surges possible with thirty foot seas. According to the NWS this storm will be “life threatening… one of the worst on record.”

Tropical Storm Sean forms between Bermuda and the Bahamas.

Thailand’s minister says the flood crisis could easily last another month. Another evacuation advisory is issued in northern neighborhoods of Bangkok.

11-9- Hurricane force winds damage Nome, Alaska. A huge storm surge is coming. “Forty years ago a big storm like this would come through and the sea ice would act as a sort of buffer…. What is different now is their potential destructiveness as you lose sea ice cover” according to the director of the Snow & Ice Data Center.

Tropical Storm Sean may send dangerous surf and rip currents to the South East U.S. coast and Bermuda. The Atlantic hurricane season is not over until the end of November.

11-10- In Oklahoma the governor declares a State of Emergency for twenty counties because of earthquakes, tornadoes and severe storms all in the same week. One woman said “Wanna experience the apocolypse before it happens? Visit Oklahoma.”

A no bullshit North Dakota weather alert: “It is fucking cold. You will freeze your balls off! This alert expires in May.”

11-11- The finality of this one is sad: The International Union for Conservation of Nature has declared that the western balck rhino of Africa is officially extinct.

11-14- We had a bit of rain on The Land yesterday but it caused heavy fog this morning. 47 degrees plus 93% humidity and a dew point of 93 degrees were the recipe. I knew it as soon as I got up and looked at the weather station at home.

Thailand’s prime minister is urging people in flooded areas to be patient. The flooding that began in July is slowly receding. The death toll stands at 562 and 22 of the country’s 77 provinces are still affected.

The Federal Climate Prediction Center has issued a report stating that there will be no drought relief for Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The forecast shows drought spreading along western Arizona leaving few parts of out state untouched.

11-15- “Chandler police kill raging bovine.” The eight hundred pound beast wandered into a neighborhood near Alma School and Queen Creek roads, charged a six year old boy and “trampled” two police cruisers. The cops first used their vehicles to try and corral the cow but the pissed off fucker jumped on them and head butted badly damaging one and leaving blood on another.

After that the cow charged into the road, running in traffic and tried to attack a dog. Finally an officer pulled up alongside the cow and killed it with a shotgun. The cow seemed emaciated, sick and did not bear any brands. No one has claimed the mad cow. (Would you?)

Jamie Pierre, a world record holding professional skiier died in a weekend avalanche in Utah. He was swept over a cliff at the closed Snow bird Ski & Summer Resort.

11-16- There are unconfirmed tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. One person is dead and fifteen hurt.

Fires have been burning in Texas in different areas continuously for one year. There is no end in sight due to the drought. Four million acres have been consumed, ten folks killed and 2900 homes burned.

The United States pledges ten million dollars for Thailand flood relief.

11-17- Severe storms and unconfirmed tornadoes have killed six in the South East and thousands are without power. Five of the dead are in the Carolinas including a 50year old woman and her granddaughter. In one area there is a debris field seven miles long.

553 people have died from tornadoes in the United States this year, the most since 1925.

Thousands of piranhas have infested a river beach in western Brazil and have bitten fifteen swimmers. The area is popular with tourists on the Parguay river. One firefighter said “People have to be very careful. If they’re bitten they’ve got to get out of the river rapidly and not allow the blood to spread. “

11-18- Reno, Nevada declares a State of Emergency after 60mph winds fan a wildfire that has consumed 2,000 acres. Ten thousand have been evacuated in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Fifteen homes have burned.

A new record low of 41 degrees below zero in Faribanks, Alaska.
1.8 million people across Cambodia and Vietnam are suffering from prolonged flooding.

11-19- The wildfire in Reno, Nevada has burned 2,000 acres, destroyed 32 homes and damage 40. The fire is 65% contained but 10,000 evacuated allowed to return home.
One firefighter has sustained first and second degree burns.

The cause of the wildfire is believed to be arcing power lines during high winds.

One degree below zero was reported in Casper, Wyoming today and five degrees in Billings, Montana.

11-20- Thirty two homes have burned in the fire near Reno with forty damaged.

The flood death toll in Thailand has risen to 602, most from drowning.

Tropical Storm Kenneth forms in the eastern Pacific and forecasters say it is a rare late season event. The storm is centered 525 miles from Manzanillo, Mexico. The eastern Pacific hurricane season ends November 30th.

11-21- Parts of the West Valley, Chandler, Gilbert and Scottsdale, Arizona are some of the most populated areas affected by new flood insurance maps issued by FEMA. Affected homeowners may be required to purchase costly flood insurance.

After heavy rains in Los Angeles yesterday a section of a street and coastal bluff fell into the ocean in the San Pedro area. It had been creeping toward the ocean for months moving four inches a day recently. The mayer said “My greatest concern is that all the homes right here are going to end up in the water.”

The fire in southwest Reno is now fully contained.

Shrinking, drought stricken lakes in Texas reveal a prehistoric skull, ancient tools, fossils and a small cemetery that appears to contain the graves of freed slaves.

Kenneth becomes a late season hurricane.

“Up to 360 migrating bison would be shot to death by Montana hunters, captured for slaughter or shipped elsewhere this winter under a proposal from Yellowstone National Park.” Biologists claim fewer animals would prevent the spread of disease to livestock. (Kill the fucking cows and raise more buffalo.)

11-22- A weather travel advisory is issued for Thanksgiving travelers up and down the Eastern Seaboard. One foot of rain fell in Arkansas last week and rain and snow are expected from Florida to Boston.

Kenneth is now a Category 4 hurricane, the strongest late season hurricane on record in the eastern Pacific. It is centered 750 miles from the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico.

And this is a contribution from the lovely Mrs. BlueDuck just in time for Turkey day: In Atlanta investigators were at a car crash and noticed a huge tom turkey waddle into a conveninece store. The turkey was thirsty and drank some water given to him by the store employee. One cop was so impressed by the size of the turkey he is holding him in “protective custody.” No one knows where the prized turkey came from.

11-23- A study by a Congress “investigative arm” has found thirty fires that began in a five year period in a border region of Airizona came from people crossing illegally. Fifteen of those fires were thought to be signal fires, cook fires to fires to stay warm.

Arizona Game & Fish has confirmed a hunter’s report last weekend of a jaguar spotting southeast of Tucson. The report was received by an experienced hunter using dogs to hunt moutain lions. The hunter was able to obtain photos of the cat when it was treed. Biologists believe the jaguar is an adult male, healthy and weighing 200 pounds.

Torrential rain batters eastern Sicily today and mudslides have killed three folks. Muddy floodwaters have swept away cars and washed out bridges. Some of the flooding has been blamed on failure to regularly clean storm drains. (?)

Hurricane Kenneth weakens to a Category 1 storm.

A federal appeals court keeps the grizzly bear in the Yellowstone area on the endangered list. The reason is a decline of one food source. Some bears rely on white bark pine nuts and millions of trees that produce the nuts have been damaged or killed by beetles. Government biologists argue that grizzlies can adapt and find other food sources.

11-24- Near Perth, Australia twenty homes have been destroyed by a “controlled burn” that got out of hand while trying to thin forests.

A female Mexian wolf found dead in eastern Arizona was killed by a lightning strike last August. Members of a field team were initially alerted to the wolf’s condition whene they received a mortality signal from its telemetry collar. The wolf was one of the most consistent breeding females in the Mexican wolf reintroduction project.

Seventy seven elephants have died in a three month heat wave that has dried up watering holes in western Zimbabwa. The temperatures in the National Park where the animals died have been 104 degrees since September. There is no year round rivers and barely any natural surface water. They depend on wells to pump water into collection watering holes. An adult elephant needs fifty gallons of water per day.

Happy Turkey Day! I’m glad it is not Happy Duck Day!

11-25- The worst drought in seventy years affects 70% of Mexico. 450,000 cattle have died.

In the Finnish town of Sodankyla, north of the Arctic Circle, snow cover appeared on November 17th, the latest date in one hundred years.

11-27- Receding floodwaters in Bangkok reveal escaped crocodiles and some of the world’s most dangerous snakes. Thailand has long been a center for breeding, exporting and trafficking these animals. 3,000 crocodile farms were flooded.

11-28- Atlantic hurricane season ending with 19 named tropical storms, the average is 11. Irene was the only one to make U.S. landfall.

11-29- Rare November snow in the south. Two to four inches fell in western Tennessee. Memphis has had only three days with an inch of snow in Novemember since 1875. Tupelo, Mississippi has had only three days with measureable snow since 1930.

11-30- Winter Weather Advisory issued for northern Arizona. The barometric pressure at the land four days ago was one of the highest I have seen, 28.82 and this morning it had plummeted to 28.02. Changes are coming!

The massive storm that hit Nome, Alaska earlier this month prevented a 1.6 million gallon barge delivery of diesel and gas to Nome. Now the city is iced in and fuel will have to be flown in six thousand gallons per delivery. Gas prices today in Nome 5.98 per gallon and could rise to 9.00 per gallon.

And there you have it my fine feathered readers. Another mind blowing edition of Blue Duck Weather. The song of the month is “Dirty Rain” by Ryan Adams.

The Honorable, Distinguished Professor MR BlueDuck.

October 2011 Blue Duck Weather

2011-11-06T17:33:00.001-08:00

October 2011 Weather News!

The quote for the month is so good your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather chose to begin this month’s introduction with it. When asked a question by a reporter in the Rose Garden in 1948, President Harry Truman responded “Son, remember this: Never kick a cow turd on a hot day.” Can you imagine anyone saying this in today’s p/c bullshit world?

October weather was fairly mild worldwide. It seems there are more animal stories reported than weather ones. The big weather story is the severe, month long flooding in Thailand and the other is “Snow-tober”, the freak storm that paralyzed the North East at the end of the month with many towns cancelling Halloween.

However in this somewhat boring edition of Blue Duck Weather (aren’t they all?) you will read about more news from Japan’s deadly tsunami last March and the lingering after effects, why Arizona was the number one state last year for insurance claims due to weather, the slow agonizing death of a whale shot by some idiot in New Jersey, NASA dispatches rubber ducks for science, a red tailed hawk survives being shot by a nail gun (how did the bastard get that close?), PETA accuses Sea World of violating captive killer whale’s 13th amendment rights, a young dog that survives a gas chamber, an amazing underground wildfire in Georgia and yes, shrinking animal sizes in the last half century due to “global warming.”

The average temperature on The Land was 73.80 degrees. Some folks would call that ideal weather I suppose but fourteen days had highs over ninety degrees. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico was 50.90 degrees. There were two mornings there in the twenties.

The Land received .11 inches of rain on October 4th. The total rainfall for the year is 3.42 inches. Phoenix stands at 2.75 inches.

The big lakes that matter in Arizona are looking pretty dismal and we better get some much needed rain this winter. Pleasant is down to 38% and my beloved Roosevelt has shrunk to 62%. Thankfully for the Southwest Mead is growing from a pisshole to a toilet at 51% and the mighty Lake Powell is at 72% capacity. Now let us get to all of news that makes news!

10-1- This summer’s monsoon season brought 1.06” of rain officially to Phoenix. The average is 2.71”.

Ophelia is now a hurricane with 120mph winds. It is expected to pass east of Bermuda.

Japan lifts some evacuation advisories around the tsunami devastated nuclear plant to reassure tens of thousands it is safe to go home. A twelve mile banned zone still surrounds the plant.

Southern England’s high of 85.8 degrees was the hottest on record for this date. The average maximum temperature is 59 degrees.

Typhoon Nalgae, the second in a week pounds the rain soaked Philippines.

10-2- Because of the hailstorm last October 5th Arizona is the number one state among those suffering insured natural disaster claims losses in 2010. 150,000 cars, homes and other property was damaged to the tune of 2.7 billion dollars.

The death toll from Typhoon Nalgae and Nesat combined is 59 in the Philippines.

Hurricane Ophelia is has sustained winds of 110mph and is expected to pass over Newfoundland, Canada.

10-3- A hail storm in Flagstaff three weeks ago has resulted in millions of dollars in damage to buildings and property.

10-4- A deadly dust storm in southern Arizona made national news today. Being a local I thought it extremely rare and unusual that it happened at noon instead of late in the day. It seemed to come out of nowhere and the clouds followed dropping some rain late in the day. “A blinding” dust storm today caused three different pileups along I-10 in southern Arizona near Pichacho. 25 vehicles were involved. One person dead, two extremely critical and 15 hurt. Near zero visibility prevented rescue helicopters and the injured had to be transported by ambulance.”

The Tanner Fire that began on August 20th near Young, Arizona has burned 5500 acres and is nearly 72% contained. It was allowed ,for the most part, to be a controlled burn without aggressive fire fighting.

Near Boise, Idaho a passerby and his daughter fought off a mule deer buck attacking a woman on a stroll. The two grabbed its antlers and beat it with a hammer after the buck raked her body with his rack and gored her legs.

Two grown mountain lions are filmed in a yard in a L.A. suburb outside the San Gabriel Mountains. (They looked like they owned the place and I doubt if anyone living in the house would argue.)

10-5- First snow of the season on the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. Eight inches expected tomorrow.

More national news coverage of yesterday’s deadly dust storm in southern Arizona. “Looked like war zone.”

A strong storm in Fresno, California dumped more than an inch of rain in a short period of time. 40 to 50% of raisin crops exposed to mold from the rain and may damage them.

Federal officials are looking for the person who shot a whale at sea near New Jersey. The whale wandered around for a month before it beached itself in New Jersey and died. It starved slowly due to a bullet lodged in its jaw causing and infection that left the poor beast unable to eat.

10-6- Three inches of snow at the Snow Bowl in northern Arizona. The high in Phoenix was 76 degrees. The last time that happened (for a high this low) was in 1916. The high on The Land was 70 degrees. The temperature on Mount Graham with the wind chill was 27 degrees.

First freeze of the fall at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill with an average temperature of 37 degrees.

20,000 acres of farmland has burned in central Nebraska near the town of Stapleton. The fire began two days ago by exhaust heat from a combine harvesting beans.

Tropical Storm Jova forms in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico while Tropical Storm Irwin “swirls” around in the Pacific.
Hurricane Philippe is far off the U.S. coast and not expected to threaten land.

10-7- Wolf Creek, Colorado receives three feet of snow. The earliest opening on record for ski resorts tomorrow.

A biologist in Alaska said this is the first time in history three killer whales have been spotted in fresh water in the state. The three swam thirty miles up the Nushagak River.

10-8- The prime minister of Thailand is warning that rising floodwaters have done much damage across the nation are now threatening the captial city Bangkock. The death toll from monsoon rains since July is up to 253. “The water volume is extraordinary and is beyond expectations.

10-9- Two hundred factories have been closed due to floods in Thailand. 261 folks are dead, 2.3 million affected and the worst flooding in 50 years.

Hurricane Jova is strengthening in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

“Scientists stunned as birds power through hurricane.” They just couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Two shore birds, the size of pigeons, tracked with tiny transmitters flew through 115mph winds of Hurricane Irene.

10-15- Heavy rains in Central America and mudslides and flooding kill 36 this monsoon season. In El Salvador 4,000 people are evacuated. 6 folks are dead in Honduras.

The United States sends Marines to evaluate Thailand’s “worst” ever flood killing 297. Two thirds of the country has been deluged by rain since July.

10-16- The death toll from six days of heavy flooding up to 66 in South America. El Salvador has received 7.9’’ of rain in twelve hours. In Honduras 9 dead, 2500 homes damaged, eight bridges and twenty nine roads.

Efforts to rescue an ill engineer from the South Pole have been delayed by a bad storm. She may be suffering from a stroke.

10-17- Engineer rescued after seven weeks by a cargo plane that could fly in “warmer” weather.

One of the worst places to be this year for a farmer is west of the Mississippi River. Arkansas and Louisiana experienced both drought and flooding and the cost of inclement weather could reach one billion dollars.

A new study suggests many of Earth’s species are shrinking in size. The authors believe it is probably due to global warming. 38 of 55 animal and plant species showed a documented reduction of size in the last 40 years, including the massive polar bear.

And here is a story warm to my heart: “Nasa Dispatches Rubber Ducks For Science.” When an elaborate and sophisticated science probe failed to return any data about whether pools of melted glacial ice were showing up in the ocean a NASA researcher turned to a decidedly low tech solution; a brigade of rubber ducks!

10-18- Rainfall is way below normal for the year in Phoenix with a deficit of 3.56 inches, Flagstaff 1.56 inches.

A Haboob in Texas? 70mph winds kicked up dust 8,000 feet high near Lubbock with zero visibility today.

The death toll from heavy rain in Central America this past week is up to 84 folks.

In Thailand the Flood Relief Operation Center has ordered all factories in the oldest part of Thailand, north of Bangock, to halt all work and prepare for evacuations. Of the 307 folks dead most have drowned.

A bear cub is caught on video walking on top of the produce section in a grocery store in Alaska. The brute was caught and set free. (Smart bear.)

10-19- 60 mph winds and ten foot waves on Lake Michigan blows windows out of one building in Chicago.

The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado damaged twenty homes in West Broward, Florida today.

Three hundred and seventeen are dead and Thailand’s prime minister admits the government is overwhelmed by the flooding.

The town of Zanesville, Ohio is in lock down after dozens of wild animals are let loose from an animal farm. The owner let them go before committing suicide. Forty eight animals have been shot by authorities including 18 endangered Bengal tigers, 17 lions and 2 grizzlies.

10-20- So far 14 days in October have been above ninety degrees in Phoenix.

Death toll from sixty inches of rain in ten days up to 105 in Central America.

A wildlife rescue group in San Francisco has spent a third day trying to capture a red tailed hawk that has been shot in the head with a nail gun. Observers got close enough to see the nail extending from a cheek through the front of the head. Even wounded severely the hawk was eating a gopher.

10-21- Floodwaters are encroaching into Bangkock’s outer districts and some areas are knee deep in water. The government took a risky chance and opened several key floodgates to let built up water flow through the capital’s cananls toward the sea. The prime minister has warned the city of nine million to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground if necessary.

A bear broke into a candy store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee by knocking a hole in a glass door. The bruin feasted on pecan logs, carmel apples and spread candy wrappers on the floor.

10-22- The Dobson family of Chandler, Arizona has ended its one hundred year old tradition of taking thousands of sheep twice a year to the White Mountains. Each year they would walk the 220 miles with the sheep on the Heber- Reno Trail for the cooler climate and wool production. Overhead costs for the expidition have become so high that the tradition is over.

A federal appeals court has upheld a law prohibiting roads on 50 million acres of national forest lands. The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule was challenged by lawyers for Wyoming and the Ccolorado Mining Association.
10-23- Baseball size hail plummets Ada, Oklahoma.

The governor of Bangkok has issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thailand capitol to prepare for floodwaters to come deeper into the capital from suburbans that are already flooded.

A California man has been shot and killed in Oregon by a hunter after being mistaken for a bear. He and a friend were hiking through a field on the way to Silver Creek Falls Park.

A Great White shark has killed an American diver off the coast of southwest Australia. It is the third of a string of fatal attacks since September 4th.

10-24- Record high of 80 degrees in Denver today. In two days the high is predicted to be 30 degrees with snow.

Hurricane Rina forms and is growing faster than expected. It is moving toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and beach resorts.

A massive amount of debris, the size of Texas, from the Japan tsunami in March is headed toward the United States in the Pacific with millions of tons of trash.

The Red tailed hawk that was shot in the head with a nail gun last week has been captured and is recovering “very well.”

Volunteers will be turning over the Zanjero Park in Gilbert as a home for displaced burrowing owls. Nobody knows the number of owls that have been impacted by development in the Valley. The rescue efforts work in partnership with home developers.

10-25- Rina is now a Category 2 hurricane headed for Cancun.

Floodwaters seep into a second airport in Bangkok, closing it. “ A five day holiday is declared to allow residents to prepare to evacuate.” The floods have caused seven industrial parks to close leaving 650,000 people without work.

10-26- After two days of record high temperatures up to eight and a half inches of snow has fallen in the Denver area today causing wide spread power outages to 87,000 people. Up to twenty two inches in Rocky Mountain National Park and roads in the mountains and eastern plains are closed.

Flash floods kill nine in Italy and six are missing. Flood waters cut off roads and bridges and several towns in Liquria are cut off from the outside world.

And from the we don’t make this shit up file: PETA is accusing Sea World of keeping five Killer Whales in conditions that violate the 13th amendment ban on slavery. Peta’s counsel has spent eighteen months preparing for the case to present to a federal court. (What has this fucking world come to?)

First windchill of the season at The Land! 74 degrees plus a 13mph wind= 72 ooshy degrees!

The governor of Thailand urges evacuations from Bangkok and tens of thousands are fleeing the capital city. Water from two to six feet expected.

Hurricane Rina moves toward several Mexican beach resorts causing evacuations. The local government has advised vistors to stay away. A huge storm surge is expected to raise the levels seven feet above normal along the coast. (Surfers get ready!)

10-27- 50,000 armed forces are standing by in Bangkok with one thousand boats and vehicles to help evacuate people. There will be evacuation centers in eight provinces that could take up to 200,000 people.

Rescuers in Italy search for survivors in mud filled villages.

10-28- The country band Sugarland returns to Indianapolis to honor the people that were killed by a powerful wind storm last summer.

Rina weakens to a Tropical Depression after knocking out power and downing trees on the Caribbean coast.

Panic causes Bangkok residents to buy all available life jackets and 3,000 rubber boats. (How about rubber ducks?)

10-29- A rare October snowstorm has knocked out power to 1.5 million in the densely populated North East. New York City broke an October snowfall record with 1.3’’ in Central Park. It has only snowed four times in October there in over a century of record keeping.
Remnants of Hurricane Rina pushing up moisture from the south triggered much colder temperatures to swing down from the far north.

Twice as much radioactive substances were released by the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan last March than previously estimated.

A stray dog was dropped outside an Alabama pound. His young life was supposed to end in a gas chamber. Instead the dog emerged scared but healthy. Now he is being called a miracle dog. He has been relocated to New Jersey where a rescue group hopes to find him a home.

10-30- Due to heavy snow in the North East some cities are urging residents to delay (?) Halloween trick or treating. Three million are without power from Maine to Maryland. Record rainfall with 27’’ in Plainfield, Mass.

A six month old wildfire sparked by lightning has burned 309,199 acres in Savannah, Georgia. Being swamp land most of the fire is burning below ground. (Something I have never heard of.) The undergound fire is fueled by dead and decaying plant matter. It’s burning deeply enough that a tree will simply fall over when the peat is burned out around it.

A surfer in Monterey, California is treated at a local hospital from shark wounds in the neck and arm.

10-31- Half of Central Park in New York City damaged by snow downed trees.

Two million are still without power in the North East. Not have this many people been without power at once since Hurricane Katrina. Halloween cancelled in some cities due to the “freak storm.” Sixty million people have been affected. Snow accumulations are 31’’ in north east New England. Eleven people have died as a result of the storm.

Parts of Florida have received seven inches of rain in last two days.

Angry Bangkok residents argue with security forces to attempt to open a flood gate that has flooded their homes. The tensions at the Klong San Wa floodgate shows the rising anger in some neighborhoods that have been allowed to flood to keep Bangkok’s business district dry.

An elk hunter is injured by a bear attack in the Grand Teton National Park. The 32 year old man tried the common safety recommendations including carrying pepper spray and dropping to the ground and covering his head. He had not fired upon the bear and he had not killed an elk which would have possibly provoked the attack.

And there you have it my faithful readers. The song of the month is appropriately titled “Weather Beaten Soul” by Reckless Kelly.

Until next month remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The distinguished, honorary, full of shit, Professor MR Blueduck.

September 2011 Blue Duck Weather News!

2011-10-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

September 2011 Weather News!

What’s a poor duck to do and what can I say? Record heat, record drought, flooding, typhoons, hurricanes and it just seems to be the same old weather shit.
But if you read between the lines and go farther around the world than “our back yard” there are some serious weather woes. Take Pakistan for example. The amount of lives lost this summer, let alone millions of acres of farm land due to flooding is unfathomable. If this happened in the United States it would be twenty four news coverage seven days a week. And so it goes.

In this exciting feature of Blue Duck Weather you will read about record heat in Phoenix for August, heartless utility company in Maricopa Arizona, the “guard” of JFK’s grave destroyed by Hurricane Irene, pot plant farm spared by massive wildfire, a man that attacks and bites a python (we don’t make this shit up), continuing Texas wildfires, when I recorded the date for the last gasp of the monsoon season not the “official” end, bees kill a thousand pound hog in Arizona, a grizzly kills a hunter in Montana (or so it seemed at first), 9-11 recording released of another fatal bear attack, record numbers of scorpion stings in Phoenix due to the heat and a stinky problem in Illinois.

The average temperature on the Land for the month was 84.87 degrees. Talking Trees and Antelope Hill saw 61.91 degrees.

The Land received .60” of rain for the month bringing the yearly total to 3.31”. Phoenix has recorded 2.64” for the year.

Lake Pleasant is drying up from nearly 100% full last spring to 36% and my beloved Roosevelt Lake is at 70%. Powell is getting impressive at 73% and even the piss hole Mead is recovering at 50%

9-1- Phoenix had the hottest August on record. One day had an average temperature of 109 degrees, the highest average low temperature of 87.5 degrees, and the highest August temperature of 117 degrees.

Although the dew points were high during the month there just wasn’t enough moisture to bring the storms that generate rain cooled air.

Thirty nine homes are destroyed in a north Texas fire with 6200 acres burned.
Central Oklahoma is under a Red Flag Warning.

Katia becomes the second hurricane of the season.

“Scientist is speechless” at the scale of ice melt in two years at the Peterman Glacier in Greenland.

Yesterday your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather reported about the mysterious chest wounds of brown pelicans in California. Game wardens now say sea lions attacked the birds as they were both competing for bait fish.

Almost a week has passed since Hurricane Irene and almost a million people are still without power. In Connecticut police are protecting utility workers from angry residents. Crews have been brought in from several states to help restore power. The problem is old, outdated snapped power poles.

9-2- Two lightning caused fires near Globe, Arizona are growing. The Frio Fire has burned 1,000 acres in the Pinal Mountains and 650 acres have burned in the Superstition Mountains. The fires are not being fought but “managed” as natural burns as long as the wind remains favorable.

A small independent electric company serves Maricopa, Stanfield and Hidden Valley (us). They shut off the power to 96 customers in this heat for non payment of electric bills. This power company is not regulated by the Corporation Commission. The Commission prohibits utilities from cutting off power to delinquent customers when weather is “especially dangerous to health.”

The general manager of the utility company said “It's difficult out there but we have a fiduciary responsibility and ultimately have to do what is in the best interests of the utility.”

Tropical Storm Lee approaches and flood warnings are issued from Mississippi to Texas. Heavy rain, not wind, this time is the main concern. One half of all oil production in the Gulf is closed. The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi issue emergency declarations.

Hurricane Irene destroyed a two hundred year old oak tree in Arlington National Cemetary. The tree “guarded” JFK’s grave.

595,000 acres have burned by wildfires in Brazil since June.

9-3- This summer’s Los Conchas Fire was the largest in New Mexico history but somehow spared 9,000 pot plants. It is a sophisticated growing operation in a remote area of the Bandelier National Monument. No arrests have been made.

There are 100,000 “silent” nuclear refugees in Japan after the tsunami and earthquake disaster on March 11th. One town that had a population of 16,000 now has a population of one who refuses to leave. Tokyo was quick to establish evacuation zones but slow to relocate refugees.

In Sacramento, California a python underwent emergency surgery after a man took two bites out of his “pet.” The man later said he had a drinking problem.

9-4- With heavy rains Tropical Storm Lee knocked out power to thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi yesterday and prompted evacuations in low lying bayou towns. Thirteen inches of rain fell in New Orleans.

President Obama visits New Jersey in the aftermath of Irene.

Hurricane Katia has sustained winds of 105 mph.

9-5- Despite drought and wildfires Arizona eagles produce record number of young this year.

The Skinner Fire near the Grand Canyon has burned 3500 acres and fall archery elk hunters in Arizona are warned.

Twenty tornadoes are spawned by Lee in Mississippi, one foot of rain in Jackson and 16,000 without power this afternoon. One man was swept away trying to cross a rain swollen creek in his car. He is presumed dead.

Sixty three new fires reported across Texas today. Fires destroy 470 homes in Austin with zero containment, five thousand families evacuated. Texans hoped Lee would bring some much needed rain but only delivered 40mph winds.
A twenty year old woman and her infant are killed in their home by a fast moving wildfire in east Texas.

Hurricane Katia is now a Category 3 storm.

Three fires are burning out of control in Southern California. The largest is the Wagon Fire.

9-6- One thousand homes have burned in central Texas near and in the town of Bastrop. 25,000 acres have burned and 5,000 people evacuated.
3.5 million acres of land have burned in Texas this year.

9-7- An eighty nine year old woman in Phoenix has gone all summer without a working air conditioner. She has even slept outside at nights to try and stay cool. Neighbors and a local air conditioning company have chipped in to replace her ducting and swamp cooler with a brand new air conditioner. (What a tough woman!)

In one of the many fires burning in Texas police are looking for four teens after a wildfire caused 1.4 million dollars of damage to an Austin suburb.
The Bastrop Fire is 33% contained but is twenty four miles wide and twenty miles long.

Remnants of Lee bring welcome relief to farmers in the Southeast but flooding to an already soaked Northeast.

Tropical Storm Maria forms, the 13th named storm of the season.

Endangered rattlesnakes and copperheads stall the expansion of a Quincy, Massachusetts cemetery. The over crowded cemetery wants 18 acres of woodland that is home to the serpants and the state must grant permission.

9-8- Since June 10th, Phoenix has had only one day with a high temperature under one hundred degrees.

A strong storm in Yuma two days ago lifted a chapel off of its foundation and slammed it onto the ground sixty feet away.

The massive fire burning near Austin has destroyed 1386 homes, more than any other fire in Texas history. Five thousand have been evacuated and the fire is 30% contained.

A fire near Tehachapi, California began five days ago when a single engine Cessna crashed, killing both occupants. It has burned 14,802 acres and is now 83% contained. Twelve homes have been destroyed and 200 evacuees are allowed to return home.

Lee has washed up tar balls thought to be left over from the BP oil spill off Alabama’s Gulf Coast.

From New York to Maryland 100,000 people are told to evacuate as the Susquehanna River is flooding to an expected crest of 41’. It is from the rain Lee brought. In Binghampton, New York the river broke a flood record and flowed over retaining walls after eight inches of rain fell. People are told to get out NOW!

Tropical Storm Nate develops off of Mexico’s coast while Maria is in the Atlantic with 40 mph winds.

Katia is a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic moving north between the U.S. and Bermuda.

9-9- One dead and two others hurt after a bee attack at a home south of Prescott, Arizona. The men were working on the home and aware a beehive was in the area.

Pennsylvania levees are in “extreme stress’’ after the Susquchanna River crested at 42.66’, beyond the design capacity and higher than the record set in historic flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. 350 homes are damaged.

The Bastrop Fire in Texas is 30% contained with 1400 homes damaged.
Ten oil rig workers are being searched for when they evacuated a platform in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Nate. The missing were aboard a life raft.
A Hurricane Watch is issued for parts of Mexico as Nate increases in strength.

Mudslides from heavy rain south of Sedona, Arizona. Highway 89A closed.

9-10- Tornado Warning issued north of Apache Junction, Arizona with 70 mph winds and quarter inch hail.

A wildfire has burned 64 buildings near Goldendale, Washington with tinder dry conditions.

Fifteen deaths have been associated with Tropical Storm Lee. President Obama declares States of Emergency in Pennsylvania and New York.

With the massive fires in Texas Pesident Obama signs a declaration declaring a major disaster exists in this state.

9-11- Severe Thunderstorm Warning near Wickenburg, Arizona. Pea size to silver dollar size hail.

The Bastrop Fire in Texas has destroyed 1554 homes and 34,000 acres.

Air and sea search teams intensified their hunt yesterday for ten missing oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico as Nate intensifies.

9-12- Two thirty year old male hikers from Missouri ran out of water on South Mountain yesterday. One died and the other had to be airlifted out. It is believed they became lost. ( Relatively speaking it wasn’t that hot yesterday but the oppressive humidity does little to help the skin cool through sweating.)

A Tornado Warning is issued south of Tuba City, Arizona.

The Comanche Complex Fire in central California was sparked by lightning this past weekend. It has grown to 23, 866 acres in a few days and is 30% contained.
Tropical Storm Katia strikes Ireland and the United Kingdom packing 80 mph winds. One dead, roads closed and 10,000 without power.

Most of the missing oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico have been rescued. Three are dead and one is still missing.

9-13- A storm with strong winds hit Maricopa, Arizona yesterday damaging 80 trees at the Duke at Rancho El Dorado golf course. Winds were recorded at 40-45 mph but one NWS meteorologist said it would take winds of 60-65mph to do that much damage to trees.

The Comanche Fire Complex is a series of four fires in central California has burned 29,338 acres and is 60% contained. 4100 firefighters are on the ground there.

Tropical Storm Maria prompts a Flood Watch in Bermuda. The storm is bringing heavy rain to Bermuda also.

The latest flooding in Pakistan leaves 300,000 homeless, 1.2 million homes destroyed since August. 800,000 folks still don’t have permanent shelter from the 2010 country wide floods and one million need food assistance. Monsoon rains this year have killed 226 and 4.5 million acres have flooded.

9-14- Due to record breaking heat in August Phoenix Banner hospitals reported treating 1600 scorpion stings, up 40% from the year before. The scorpions sneak in valley homes around windows and under doors trying to seek cooler shelter and eat the bugs who crawl in before them.

Flash Flood Warnings posted for parts of Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties yesterday. Some areas received two inches of rain in an hour. There was heavy rain and flash flooding in Joshua Tree National Forest. Half inch hail fell in the Pine Valley area in San Diego.
Lightning stikes set palm trees on fire in Palm Springs, California.

A massive wildfire in Minnesota has burned 100,000 acres and the smoke blows all the way to Chicago prompting an air pollution warning.

Extreme flooding today in the Schultz Fire burn area near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning posted for Tucson and quarter size hail.
9-15- A two year old boy in Prescott, Arizona is recovering from a rattlesnake bite after he tried to pick up the snake.

“Frostbitz Falls”, International Falls, Minnesota is often referred to as the ice box of the nation has its earliest low temperature on record of 19 degrees this morning.
Minesotta firefighters get a break with sleet and light snow today. The 102, 400 square mile blaze began on August 18th by a lightning strike.

Maria becomes the 3rd named Atlantic hurricane this season. It is headed for Canada’s Newfoundland as a category 1 storm.

South Korean heat wave knocks out power to 820,000 in Seoul and other big cities.

9-16- Thirty two degrees this morning in Alpine, Arizona. The monsoon is over.

Bees attacked several farm animals and even killed a thousand pound hog near Bisbee, Arizona. Farmers were trying to remove a two hundred pound hive when an estimated 250,000 pissed off bees began swarming!

Monsoon floods have killed 98 in Thailand since July. 300,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, sinking parts of the resort city of Pattaya and prompting the evacuation of 79 elephants. 1.3 million acres of land are underwater.

9-17- A man’s body has been found after being swept away in the normally dry Santa Cruz River in Tucson after heavy rains two days ago. He was last seen alive clinging to a bridge pillar.

A group of hunters in Licoln County, Montana on a black bear hunt mistakenly wound a grizzly. Thinking the bear was dead they went to recover the bear. It attacked and killed one of the men before being shot to death by another in the group. (It is illegal to shoot a grizzly bear and charges may be filed.)

9-18- Today the United Nations pleads for 357 million dollars to help millions affected by Pakistan floods.

9-19- Two cousins in Federal court plead not guilty for starting the massive Arizona Wallow Fire in late May.

Landslides caused by heavy rain destroys two small factories in north west China killing ten with twenty two missing.

9-20- Heavy rain and flooding across southwest China has left fourteen dead.

1.3 million people in central Japan are told to evacuate as Typhoon Roke approaches. A nine year old boy and an eighty four year old man are missing after fallen into flooded rivers.

A Kansas man has died during a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Two men were washed out of their boat at Lava Falls and one was swept away.

9-21- The largest fire in Texas history earlier this month was ignited by sparks from power lines coming into contact with dead tree branches.

Typhoon Roke with 100 mph sustained winds in Tsunami ravaged area of Japan. Six are dead with 200,000 without power.

Tropical Storm Ophelia heads toward the Caribbean and is the 15th named storm of the season.

Recordings of 911 calls from a pair of hikers attacked by a Grizzly in Yellowstone have been released. The couple was screaming before the man was killed. The investigation shows that screaming and running possibly triggered the fatal attack.

9-22- Tropical Storm Hillary forms in the Pacific south of Mexico and may become a hurricane later today.

Two hundred tourists are rescued by helicopters at a temple in Cambodia due to extreme flooding.

9-23- First full day of Fall with a high of 102 degrees at The Land and 108 in Phoenix, tying a record set in 2008.

Flood Watches and Warnings are issued from North Carolina to New England. Many areas on the East Coast have not dried out from Hurricane Irene and later Tropical Storm Lee.

Hurricane Hillary, eighty five miles south west of Acapulco, Mexico, has sustained winds of 135 mph and is a Category 4 storm.

Tropical Storm Ophelia re-strengthens as it heads for the Caribbean.

9-24- Hurricane Hillary moves away from Mexico’s southwest coast but search teams have recovered the bodies of three fishermen caught in the storm. Despite hurricane warnings the men went out to sea in their boat.

A ten year old Idaho boy comes face to face with a mountain lion in rural Boise County. He escaped with minor scratches and Fish & Game tracked down the cat and killed it.

The hunter who was attacked by a wounded grizzly earlier this month in Montana was not killed by the bear. He died from a single gunshot wound to the chest by his companion trying to save him from the charging bear. The autopsy also found bite wounds to the man’s legs by the bear. The bullet that killed the man may have deflected off of the bear. No charges are expected to be filed.

9-25- A micro burst in west Phoenix knocked down 22 power poles.

Moisture from Hurricane Hillary may reach Arizona by end of the week.

“ A dry winter and a weak monsoon fueled record wildfires, record heat and a succession of dust storms that played like a broken record, pushing Arizona deeper into a drought that has persisted since 1999.”

Tropical Storm Phillippe forms over the far eastern Atlantic.

An elk hunter in Idaho came across a bear’s resting spot and was attacked by the bruin. He is hospitalized with a broken right arm, puncture wounds and an injured left hand. The bear is thought to be a grizzly.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife will kill two wolves after they are “blamed” for a livestock kill. (Seems one has a gps collar for tracking. This does not seem right in the natural order of things to me.)

9-26- Monssoon rains destroy homes and flood wide areas of northern and eastern India. Forty eight folks are dead and hundreds of thousands stranded by flooding. Many take shelter in trees, hills and rooftops. Rescue helicopters drop food to the stranded.

As Typhoon Nerat approaches the Philippines with 106 mph winds 100,000 people are evacuated with 50,000 in shelters and six people missing.

9-27- Nerat isolates the capital of Manilla in the Philippines with major flooding and wind gusts of 106 mph. Sixteen souls are dead.

A Lake Havasu City man in Arizona is recovering after being gored by a seventy five pound “wild” pig. The man apparently approached the pig before it lashed out at him.

The City of Maricopa mayor is interviewed on local news and as asked ED3 not to shut off power to people during extreme weather conditions. (You read it here first in Blue Duck Weather.)

An unexpected dust storm causes a major pile up on I-10 near Pichacio, Arizona. Seventeen are injured.

9-28- Bluebonnet Electric Cooperation in Texas is being sued for the largest fire in Texas history, The Bastrop Fire. It alledges that the utility had the right and responsibility to remove dead trees and branches that came into contact with live wires igniting the blaze.

Tropical Storm Ophelia causes widespread flooding and cuts off communities in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. 1600 are stranded and twelve cars washed away.

Hurricane Hillary weakens to a Category 1 storm and is not expected to strike Mexico’s coast.

9-29- Flash Flood Warnings are posted for the Catskill Mountains in New York to northeast Pennsylvania. Rivers are swollen with rain and three inches expected today. Rain from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic Coast “parked like a car tire.”

With no signs of weakening Typhoon Nerat hits eastern China with 94 mph winds and heavy rains. 58,000 people are evacuated.

India’s monsoon death toll up to 335 since June and twenty eight more bodies discovered today.

Illinois skunk population rose 46% from February 2009 to January 2010. 6700 of the stinky bastards were removed from the northeastern part of the state last year. Many of them were living under, around or near people’s homes.

9-30- The “official” end of Arizona’ monsoon season is today.

In Chicago today strong winds caused 10-16 foot waves on the popular Lakeshore Drive on Lake Michigan. Bikers and joggers were knocked down by the breached waves. 27,000 without power due to the wind.

Typhoon Nerat now beats the shit out of Vietnam with flooding and 120,000 evacuations.

Typhoon Nalgae forms and heading toward northern Philippines.

The quote of the month comes from a book called Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles. “Droughts come and stay for seven years and in those seven years the weak are driven away; mistakes and miscalculations grow into catastrophes, there is no margin for error. Drought is a lack of something, a vacuum, an empty place in danger of implosion.”

The song of the month is “Before the rains came I was snootin’ sand instead of good corn liquor” by the Blue Duck Harmonica and String Band.”

Until next month when a skunk sticks its ass, tail pointed up, in your horror filled face remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Distinguished, Honorable, Award Winning Professor MR Blue Duck.

Blue Duck Weather - August 2011 - Special Anniversary Edition

2011-09-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

August 2011 Weather- Special Anniversary Edition.

What began as a simple journal to record temperatures at The Land and 6400 feet higher in New Mexico has turned into the mindless monster Blue Duck Weather has become. My sole purpose (in the beginning) was a microscopic look at “global warming” as evidenced by the average temperatures recorded in a single year in two different geographical areas, one home to me. After four full years of weather keeping I was amazed at the temperature decline on The Land and a bit alarmed at the temperature climb in the high country. Being in the open desert The Land has some respite from the “urban heat island” effect of Phoenix. Also 2008, when this experiment began was one of the hottest years on record. What has caused the increase in temperatures in New Mexico at our other properties is a mystery to me unless heat rises. The only problem with this theory is there are no “urban heat islands” within two hundred miles from Talking Trees and Antelope Hill.

2008- The average temperature on the Land was 77.21 degrees, New Mexico 67.51 degrees.

2009- 71.36 degrees and 49.15 degrees.

2010- 71.16 degrees and 48.25 degrees.

2011- 69.04 degrees and 50.43 degrees.

There are some changes beginning with this new and exciting edition of Blue Duck Weather. We have decided to omit the boring statistics of humidity, dew point, average temperatures from beginning to end of months, wind and barometric pressure. (I mean who really gives a shit?) Average temperatures for the month, rainfall and lake levels will continue to be a fine feature of this exciting weather news however.

Tropical storms, both in the Atlantic and Pacific popped up like flash cards in August, so quickly one would begin and die out while another was being reported to spawn. And then along came Hurricane Irene.

Much has been said about how “overblown” this weather event was by the media and the warnings. However in a region of the U.S. that rarely receives hurricane activity and the damage associated with it Irene ended up in the top ten of major financial natural disasters. From a weather reporter’s view your damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Not enough warnings and thousands could be killed, too much and it’s all called “hype.”

Other points of interest in this month’s Blue Duck Weather are heat related injuries and deaths in the Phoenix area, record heat around the country, Federal charges filed against two cousins for accidentally starting the largest fire in Arizona history, more effects this much later from the BP oil spill, a piece of a doomed space shuttle found in a receding lake in Texas, Polar bear attack, Arizona utilities get a hand slap for mishandling the record cold of last February and two outdoor concerts that become weather nightmares.

The average temperature on The Land for August was a sweltering 94.70 degrees, with one day with an average of 100.50 degrees. At Talking Trees and Antelope Hill the average temperature was 70.06 degrees.

The Land received a dismal amount or rain, .09 inches with a yearly total of 2.71 inches. Phoenix has received 2.62 inches for the year.

Our two big lakes of the desert are showing the effects of lack of rainfall this year. Pleasant is down to only 48% full and Roosevelt has shrunk to 75%. Mead is still rising at 48% and the largest lake in the South West, Powell is at an impressive 76%.

And now let’s get to the weather reporting for the month that you hunger for:

8-1- July was the hottest on record for Oklahoma City, Washington, D.C. and Wichita Falls, Texas.

The body of a Wyoming deputy who jumped in the North Platte River to rescue a girl last week has been found. The girl survived but the man was swept away in the river flooded with snowmelt. (This my faithful readers was a Hero.)

Last night’s storms knocked down power poles in the Phoenix area. State’s computer mainframe also knocked out by power surge. 675 people are still without power today in this brutal heat and humidity.

8-2- Excessive Heat Warning issued for Maricopa County for the next three days.

Chili’s Atacama Desert, the driest region on earth received four years of rain and snow in one day. Three feet of snow fell in an area that normally receives zero precipitation during the southern winter. 400 people are rescued in snow drifts with 50mph winds.

8-3- Seventy three percent of Arizona at risk for water shortages.

The temperature in 18 states is above 100 degrees. Dallas has had 33 days in a row with temps over one hundred.

A piece of the space shuttle Columbia which broke apart during re-entry 8 years ago has been found in a lake drying up in Texas due to the prolonged drought.

8-4- More violent storms knock out power in the Phoenix area last night and 500 hundred still without electricity.

Regarding the recent heat wave in the Dallas and other areas one Weather Chief says “I can’t remember any year with the magnitude and length of this heat wave.” In the last two days 15 cities have had all time highs, mostly in the South and Central U.S.

8-5- The Wallow burn area in Alpine and Nutrioso, Arizona is experiencing extreme flash flooding.

Arizona highway 261 reopens 63 days after the Wallow Fire. Crews repaired guardrails, cleared debris and reseeded the 18 mile stretch in the White Mountains.

Coconino County, Arizona is offering free weather radios to residents east of Flagstaff prone to flooding. These radios give weather information faster than conventional radio and television news.

A 64 year old woman visiting the Grand Canyon with a tour group dies when lightning strikes the ground near her. Five others received minor injuries. Grand Canyon officials recommend people seek shelter if thunder is heard within 30 seconds of seeing lightning.

8-6- The flooding in Nutrioso, the sixth in two weeks, has destroyed one home in the Wallow Fire burn area. Less than one inch of rain caused the flooding due to lack of ground cover.

The Arizona Game & Fish Department is warning people not to hike or hunt in burned out areas due to burned out trees that might fall unexpectedly and unstable ground.

A lightning caused wildfire has burned 8,000 acres in northern Arizona in the past three days. The New Water Fire fueled by grass and brush quickly spread to the Grand Canyon National Park. Containment is hoped for in two days.

In Wyoming the BLM is backing away from a plan to capture and castrate wild horses. Instead they will use a birth control drug on mares to reduce the growth of wild horse herds.

A polar bear has attacked a group of British students camping near a remote Arctic glacier in Norway. A 17 year old was killed, four others injured before a group member fatally shot the bear. Two of the four injured are in very serious condition.

8-7- Seventy six mile per hour winds clocked in Tucson today during a Dust Storm Warning.

The body of a California man has been recovered nearly three weeks after he was swept over a waterfall at Yosemite National Park. Recovery teams spotted the body two days ago pinned against a boulder 240’ from the base of the fall. Searchers lowered down from horizontal ropes crossing the river to recover the body. His two missing companions have not been found.

400,000 of coastal residents in eastern China have been evacuated as Typhoon Muifa bears down. Thousands of ships were called back to port yesterday.

Tropical Storm Emily dumps heavy rain in the Bahamas but is dying out.

8-8- The New Water Fire near the Grand Canyon is contained at 10,000 acres.

Heavy rain causes a mudslide killing seven in an “indigenous camp” settlement in Malaysia.

65’ waves from Tropical Storm Muifa threatens a Chinese chemical plant. A dike near the plant has been breached and one official said “If the breach cannot be blocked up, toxic chemicals will spill.”

8-9- Lightning caused Beale Fire has grown to 2,000 acres near Williams, Arizona.

Heat Advisories are posted in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Residents in Kemp, Texas are without water as the city’s tanks go dry.

8-11- Arizona wildfire headline: “Nearly one million acres of forest and grassland have charred, surpassing 2005 as the worst year on record.” The record was set yesterday by the fire near the Grand Canyon.

The 18 mile McMicken Dam has protected the west valley in Phoenix area communities since 1956. It was built to protect Luke Air Force Base from flooding. It will begin a ten year 98 million dollar “face lift.” The dam begins north of Sun City and stretches south through Surprise and unincorporated areas near Luke.

“In parched west Texas it’s often easier to drill for oil than to find new sources of water.” Years after diminishing water supplies communities are starting a plan to turn sewage into drinking water. The city manager in Big Springs, Texas (it probably once had big springs) said “Any water is good water as far as I’m concerned.”

8-12- Arizona Game & Fish offficials have tracked down and killed a mountain lion that wandered across a Prescott golf course. Residents of the area were “concerned.” A Game & Fish supervisor said “protocal directed the decision to put the animal down because the agency does not remove and relocate mountain lions.” ( There is something horribly wrong with this.)

Three quarters of Texas “unprecedented drought” driest past ten months ever in a century of record keeping.

8-13- Finally some rain in parched north and west Texas. The town of Del Rio received four and a half inches of rain in two hours! ( Flash flood city I can only imagine)

Tropical Storm Franklin forms today northeast of Bermuda and is strengthening.

8-14- Five die and dozens injured when an outdoor concert stage collapses at the Indianapolis State Fair. Sugarland was set to perform and the first band had already finished their set. 70mph winds were reported at the scene.

A new Tropical Storm forms. Gert will brush by Bermuda tomorrow.

8-15- New York City receives an all time record amount of rain in one day, eight inches.

How clean are the waters a year after the BP oil spill? Four hundred dolphins have died and infant mortality is high. Dolphins are being captured by scientists and tested for lung function and neurological functions, tagged and released.

8-16- All time daily records set for rain; Philadelphia five inches and 3.51’’ in Cleveland. Flood Warnings are still in place for New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

Amtrak closed rail service through Baltimore due to water on the tracks.
Nineteen public beaches are closed in Long Island due to bacteria from storm drain runoffs.

This weather system was the same one that collapsed the concert stage in Indiana, killing five, three days ago.

Food prices are spiking in the U.S. due to floods and drought. Corn prices hit record highs in June.

Medics treat nine with two hospitalized in Tempe, Arizona. The idiots were painting the “A” for ASU on the infamous hill when they were overcome by heat. There were even misting stations, a half ton of ice, and cold water on site for them!

Almost half of the sacks of grain and other foods meant for starving drought stricken Somalis are being stolen and sold in markets. (Where I ask is humanity?)

A nineteen year old student visiting from Japan is swept over Niagra Falls and presumed drowned. She climbed over the railing and straddled it holding an umbrella. She then lost her balance. ( What an awful final photo shoot if that is why it happened.)

8-17- Heat and overuse causes 700 water main breaks in Houston in one day. This is the 15th straight day of 100 degrees or higher breaking a record set in 1980.

Lightning strike injures eight people at Sea World’s Discovery Cove.

One school began on time in Joplin, Missouri after the devastating tornado destroyed schools three months ago. The local high school was destroyed but reopened today with all of the eminities in a vacant big box store.

Tropical Storm Fernanado forms in the Pacific today 1400 miles southeast of Hawaii. It could become a hurricane by tomorrow.

A joint task force from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission warned south western electric and natural gas companies need better winter preparations after last February’s bitter cold left tens of thousands without gas to their homes. The problem affected 65,000 SRP customers and 19,000 South West Gas companies in Arizona. Most SRP customers had power restored in hours but some gas customers were out of service for days. “Shedding electricity or gas load in the winter places lives and property at risk” according to the task force.

Dozens gathered to mourn the death of a 45’ gray whale in the Klamath River in California. She had been stranded for over a month. The whale swam into the river with its newborn calf in June. The calf swam out to sea after it was weened on July 23rd.

8-18- Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for Maricopa and Pinal counties in Arizona. 45-60mph winds recorded in the Sun Lakes area.

Intentional fires are set to try and containe the Beale Fire near Williams. The fire has burned 3900 acres.

A storm slammed into the Belgian open air music festival as the American band Smith was performing. The musicians were spared but three people were killed and seventy injured.

Hurricane Greg gains strength in the Pacific. (Hell, I didn’t even know it formed as a tropical storm and what the hell happened to Tropical Storm Fernando?)

8-19- Arizona makes national news with yesterday’s weather: “Third Haboob hits Phoenix this summer.” 70 power lines knocked down, flights delayed at Sky Harbor, 60mph wind gusts in the south valley near SunLakes. However Eloy was hit the hardest. One roof top air conditioner torn off and ended up in a neighbor’s yard. One home had its entire roof torn off including the trusses. For that to happen winds had to be 113-160mph, the same as a F-2 tornado. One resident said it “felt and sounded like a tornado.” One business sustained a quarter of a million dollars worth of damage and the junior high school was damaged. Microbursts suspected but not confirmed.

It was so hot and humid yesterday the Lovely Mrs. Blue Duck reported that all out door activity was cancelled for her little quacklings at school, the first time in two years that she has been teaching there. (this went on every day for 10 days)

Heavy rain and flooding in the Schultz Fire burn area near Flagstaff. Although that fire happened over a year ago the ground is still scarred and unable to absorb rain causing massive runoffs. There is a Flood Advisory for Gila and Yavapai counties.

8-20- Enough rain has fallen in southern Arizona fire works ban has been lifted in Santa Cruz County.

An unconfirmed tornado reported in Marinette County, Wisconsin leaving one person dead. The storm dropped hail two inches in size.

The flash flood that engulfed a city street outside of Pittsburgh yesterday came “out of nowhere”. Drivers were overwhelmed as water rose up to nine feet deep on Washington Boulevard. The area received 2.1” in an hour. But an earlier storm the same day meant the area was flooded with three inches of rain. Eighteen vehicles stranded with eleven water rescues. Four are killed.

Tropical Storm Harvey forms in the Atlantic off the coast of Honduras and makes landfall in Belize.

8-21- Excessive Heat Warning issued for Phoenix for the next four days. And with that said I shot a rattlesnake literally at our back door today at three thirty in the afternoon! 105 degrees and the bastard was looking for a place to cool off. The door stoop was shaded and the beast must have felt the cool on the other side of the door, the wrong side for his slithering ass!

The Beale Fire in the Kaibab National Forest has grown to 5600 acres. Most of the growth is due to back burning.

The flood that overwhelmed a city street two days ago in Pittsburgh killing four is now being called a “fluke.” The heavy rain overwhelmed the city sewer system just as rush hour traffic jammed low lying streets. Washington Boulevard is lined with hills and the road slopes downward. When heavy rain hits water rushed in from three directions. The low lying area was once a creek bed. ( All the engineers in the world cannot change natural drainage. They plan for it, alter it, divert it but sooner or later water takes its course.)

In the Atlantic Tropical Storm Irene heads toward Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands causing heavy rain and winds that closes airports and floods the Leeward Islands.

8-22- Phoenix ties the record of 113 degrees

The first twenty days of this month have been the hottest on record for August in Phoenix. The average twenty four temperature has been 96.8 degrees and the average high has been 107.2 degrees.

The monsoon in Arizona, or lack of it, is not helping the drought. 98% of the state is abnormally dry or experiencing some level of drought.

Hurricane Irene pounds Puerto Rico and a State of Emergency is declared. One million people are without power.

Forty seven are dead and tens of thousands displaced in India’s west Bengal state due to monsoon flooding.

8-23- Record 114 degrees in Phoenix.

With excessive heat in Phoenix 70 scorpion stings were reported in twenty four hours. Bugs are looking for cooler temperatures, crawl into homes and scorpions follow them to eat them.

A 31 year old man in the west valley was barely breathing and unresponsive Sunday afternoon after collapsing while hiking a rugged area in the Estrella Mountains. Hiking with three other men they started at six a.m. When they were returning about noon the man collapsed. The group ran out of water and did not have any protection against the sun such as hats, pants and long sleeved shirts.

Temperatures of one hundred degrees and above In Oklahoma City for the 51st day this year breaking a record set in 1980.

North Carolina orders tourists to leave with the probable approach of Hurricane Irene. The growing storm is 700 miles wide.

8-24- The average twenty four hour temperature at The Land 100 degrees, the first of this long miserable summer.

Two cousins in their mid twenties face Federal charges for starting the Wallow Fire on Memorial Day weekend, the largest fire in Arizona history. They went for a hike and left the fire unattended. Both men claim to be avid campers and had their fire ring in an open, well used area. One man said he thought the fire was out since he threw a candy wrapper on the coals before the two set out for their hike. He said it did not burn or even begin to smoke and melt.

A seventy year old Surprise, Arizona woman is the latest victim of the brutal heat. After she died the temperature in her home was 107 degrees. An air conditioning technician had been at her home the night before she died. He wasn’t able to complete the repairs and offered to have the woman placed in a hotel. She did not want to leave her cat. When he arrived the next morning she did not answer the door. The cat survived.

The Excessive Heat Warning in the Phoenix area has been extended for two more days.

Hurricane Irene is now a Catogory 3 storm and on path toward the eastern U.S. It has 120mph sustained winds blowing two hundred miles from its center. There are twenty communities flooded and 12,000 in emergency shelters in the western Cuba and the Bahamas.

8-25- A new record high of 113 in Phoenix with a record high low of 92 degrees.

Sixty million people are in the path of Hurricane Irene. According to the Weather Channel “no one has seen a good model to divert storm.” This may be the hurricane of a “lifetime” for the Eastern Seaboard.

In preparation for Irene the U.S. Navy has ordered the Second Fleet in southeast Virginia, including the Norfolk Naval Station, to leave so ships will be safe. Yesterday’s order applied to 64 large vessels. Ships at sea can weather storms better in large storm surges with high winds.

8-26- Hottest recorded August temperature ever recorded in Phoenix today; 117 degrees. Excessive Heat Warning extended for three more days.

As Irene approaches President Obama makes a statement about being prepared, mandatory evacuations begin in New Jersey’s Cape May County. New York City is doing two things never before in history for a weather event; mandatory evacuations of all low lying areas and tomorrow at noon all mass transit will close. (That means if you are on the street without a ride you could well be fucked even if the storm doesn’t hit; in New York City without a ride?)

Irene is the size of Europe. Eleven states have declared emergencies, there is a extremely rare Hurricane Warning posted for NYC and Amtrak cancels rail service from Boston to Florida.

Flash floods triggered by heavy rain kills 16 in a village in northwest Pakistan. Several others are missing.

8-27- A seventy five year old Glendale, Arizona man is found dead in his home after no one had heard from him in a few days. The temperature in the house was over one hundred degrees and the air conditoner was blowing hot air.

A 1700 acre fire, called the Tortilla Fire, is burning in the Tonto National Forest near Highway 88 and Fish Creek. The fire started by lightning is being monitored for resourse purposes. (?)

The latest with Hurricane Irene: Two killed and 500,000 without electricity in Virginia, 2.5 million are under evacuation orders, 300,000 in New York City. Three are dead and one missing in North Carolina, 115 mile per hour winds and seven foot storm surges, and a surfer killed by huge waves in Florida. The East Coast is a “solid wall of red hurricane warnings today.”

The bands projecting from Irene extend from North Carolina to Canada. Boston and New York City canceling all air travel for the first time in history due to a weather event.

Authorities across the Balkans have issued emergency heat warnings. Temperatures in the capitol of Podgoreia reached 106 degrees two days ago, in the captiol of Bosnia, 113 degrees.

8-28- Excessive Heat Warning in Phoenix extended for two more days.

Storms knock out power in Dateland, Arizona yesterday and seventy still without electricity.

Irene dropped a foot of rain on North Carolina and Virginia yesterday. 1.5 million people without electricity. The storm is weakening but still has 50 mph winds.
Today Irene moved to New England as a Tropical Storm. An eight foot storm surge sent flood water flowing into lower Manhattan.

In total four million without power, eighteen dead and ten thousand flights cancelled. This storm has threatened 65 million, the largest number of Americans ever effected by a single storm.

Newly formed Tropical Storm Jose is moving past Bermuda, the 10th named storm of the season.

8-29- “One hundred year flood” in Vermont from the effects of Irene. Five all time record crests in Vermont rivers.

Five million still without power in the affected states. Two hundred roads are closed.

With a 112 degrees in Phoenix today and the relentless heat wave utility companies are showing some mercey and not shutting off power for non payment of utility bills.

Fire crews are fighting ten fires started by lightning along the Arizona, Utah border. The largest is 2,000 acres.

One hundred are evacuated as fire burns outside of Yosemite National Park. It began when a motor home caught fire. It is 35% contained at 4600 acres.

Residents evacuated as Typhoon Nanmadol hits Tywan with 68 mph winds.

8-30- Heat Warnings for Phoenix extended for two more days.
The 650 Fire is burning in the Superstition with 50 acres consumed. It began with a lightning strike.

Eight hundred acres have burned near Globe due to a lightning strike.

3.3 million still without power from Hurricane Irene. The death toll is up to 41 in twelve states. Food airlifts are being conducted for ten Vermont towns cut off by flooding.

Flooding from Hurricane Irene in northern New Jersey today and hundreds are evacuated. There have been 700 boat rescues in that state today.

There have been 66 major natural disasters in the U.S. so far this year and the Federal Disaster Fund is running out of money.

Tropical Storm Katia is forecast to become a hurricane by the end of the week.

Wildlife officers are trying to capture and kill a grizzly in Yellowstone National Park after it killed a 59 year old hiker.

8-31- Irene now falls into the top ten most costly natural disasters of all time at 12 billion dollars of damage. 300,000 still without power.

President Obama to tour ravaged Patterson, New Jersey. This state already had its wettest August on record before Irene came.

Tropical Storm Katia nears hurricane force with 70 mph winds.

In Morro Bay, California fifteen brown pelicans have died with huge puncture wounds in their chests. State Game & Fish officials speculate that the birds may be injuring themselves on rocks as the dive for bait fish.

And there you have it for the month of August my faithful loyal readers. The song of the month and the quote of the month are the same. “Goodnight Irene” is a bluegrass traditional standard done by many artists. My favorite happens to be by Leon Russell.

“Sometimes I live in the city.
Sometimes I live in the town.
But when misfortune and misery hit me
I believe I’ll jump into the river and drown.
Good night Irene, good night Irene.
I’ll see you in my dreams.”

Until the next Irene blows you over remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The world renowned distinguished Professor MR Blue Duck.

July 2011 Blue Duck Weather News

2011-08-07T22:23:00.001-07:00

July 2011 Weather News!

It’s that time again with another amazing edition of Blue Duck Weather! The big weather event was oppressive heat from Texas to Canada. At one point it affected thirty four states and one million square miles. Record highs and record high lows were shattered like hundreds of toothpicks falling out of a box. States with generally mild summer temperatures had temperatures with heat indexes that made Phoenix look mild. The humidity on top of one hundred degree plus temperatures had many towns with one hundred and fifteen degrees and higher. New York City shattered a record for the most electricity used in one day. Texas used so much power that rolling blackouts were threatened to conserve electricity.

As you will read New Mexico experienced its largest ever wildfire, just one month after Arizona.

Bear sightings and attacks seemed to increase in July. You will read about a deadly grizzly encounter in Yellowstone and a deadly black bear encounter right here in Arizona. You will also read about a grizzly spotted in an area that no grizz has been seen in fifty years. And you will read a first hand account of a black bear sighting in the wilds of Montana.

Also as you read deep into Blue Duck Weather other amazing reports will surface. What happened to the seven American fishermen lost in the Gulf of Mexico when their boat capsized? The last report was the Mexican government was extending the search and rescue operation and after that nothing else was reported.

You will also learn of the Montana oil spill in the pristine Yellowstone River and the aftermath, the heart breaking worst humanitarian crisis due to drought, massive chicken and turkey deaths due to heat in the U.S. (no word on ducks; they know how to stay cool), white bark pine tree facing extinction and three tourists who ignored guardrails and plunged over a raging water fall in Yosemite

But first let’s get to the boring statistics: The average temperature difference on The Land was 4.50 degrees warmer at the end of July than the beginning. At Talking Trees and Antelope Hill it was 9.5 blissful degrees cooler at the end of the month than the beginning. The average temperature at The Land was 91 degrees, the average at 7400’ in New Mexico was 67.25 degrees.

The average humidity at The Land this month was 34.87 percent, the average dew point just under monsoon of 54.33 degrees.

The Land received 1.56” of rain this month. The total for the year is 2.44”. With half of the year gone we have a long way to go to reach our “average” annual rainfall of about 8”.

You will read later that Lake Powell is recovering nicely from the ten year drought and the benefits for the piss hole Mead downstream. But Pleasant and Roosevelt Lakes are shrinking, the biggest water suppliers for Arizona agriculture and hydro electricity. Pleasant has shrunk to 67% and Roosevelt to 79%.

For the past few months your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather has been supplying barometric pressure readings for our local migraine headache suffers. In this edition you will find out empirical data by a doctor that concludes that the monsoon and rapid pressure readings brings on more headaches than at any other time.

And now let’s give you all the weather news that fits.

7-1- For the first time ever all electronic message boards along Arizona highways this weekend will warn of fire bans across the state.

New Mexico’s Los Conchos Fire has burned 93,000 acres and is a U.S. priority one fire.

A small Texas town uses “witching” to find water. The town’s only supply of water is a river nearly dry.

“Witching is a centuries old practice used mainly in rural areas to find underground water. Many farmers walked their property holding sticks or rods that they believed moved and crossed over each other when water was found underground. When that happened they dug or drilled.

(That is actually the method we used to find water on The Land many years ago. We paid some old fart fifty bucks and a case of beer to witch. Our well is deep by most standards, over four hundred feet. The old dude predicted three layers of water at various depths with the “goldmine” being the deepest. He was right as we found out when the well was drilled.)

7-2- The first 115 degree day at The Land. Phoenix set a new record of 118 degrees.

The Las Conchos Fire is now the largest fire in New Mexico history. It grew 13,000 acres overnight to 113,000 acres.

In Burnett County, Wisconsin a fierce thunderstorm surprises campers with 80mph winds and soft ball size hail. An eleven year old girl was killed by a falling tree, boats blown ashore and 36 people injured. A search in under way for a missing canoeist in the St. Croix River.

Tropical Storm Arlene is breaking apart but not before killing two in Mexico’s central gulf coast.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife has confirmed a hiker’s cell phone photo is a grizzly bear in Washington’s North Cascade Mountains. A grizz has not been seen in this area since the 1950s.

7-3- Unconfirmed Micro-bursts knocked down 17 power poles in north east Phoenix yesterday and east Mesa. 5500 without electricity.

Sixteen miles of the Apache Trail near Apache Junction, Arizona closed yesterday due to a lightning caused wildfire. The Fish Fire has burned 100 acres with zero containment.

Los Alamos evacuation orders lifted and 12,000 folks go home. Some rain helped the fire fighting efforts. The fire has grown to 120,960 acres.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued for Maricopa and Pinal counties in Arizona.

With the rising humidity and temperatures the first snake is spotted on The Land. A four foot bull snake came slithering by the picnic table where I was sitting and having morning coffee and sweating my ass off.

Snow ski resorts are still open from Colorado to California. Skiiers show up in bathing suits with the warm weather. But warm weather and left over snow make for dangerous conditions. At Yosemite one hiker is killed and another missing after being swept off of a bridge by higher than usual runoff.

An Exxon Mobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Monatana ruptured yesterday. 42,000 gallons of oil escaped before the pipe line was shut down. A twenty five mile plume of oil caused evacuations along the river.

Tropical Storm Arlene death count rises to 11 from flooding and mudslides.

7-4- Happy Independence Day! Five are injured by lightning during a Civil War re-enactment at Gettysburg.

Flash Flood Warnings issued for Tucson, flights diverted and five thousand without power.

With record snowfall last Winter Lake Powell is 70% full! It rose 25 feet last month alone.

Two hundred people are working on the Yellowstone oil river cleanup. 40,000’ of boom being set up. Strong floodwaters may have punctured the pipeline with debris.

A fishing charter boat has sunk in the Gulf of Baja only sixty miles from land. Eight American fishermen are missing.

7-5- This is the third day with average dew points at or above 55 degrees at The Land. With sweltering dew points in the mid sixties today, July 3rd was the meteorological beginning of the monsoon.

Man, did it hit in full force this evening. By 7:00 p.m. all natural lighting was obliterated by a black wall of dust. Visibility was near zero. A few minutes later it began raining so hard, almost three quarters of an inch fell in about forty five minutes.

I was flooded in and the Lovely Mrs. Blue Duck and Beck Peck were flooded out. It took them hours to get home from Phoenix with the dirt and the rain. It is a credit to Nancy with her experience in shitty weather driving to get home alive.

The Haboob that spread across the Valley was one hundred miles wide and eight thousand feet high. It caught the attention of journalists and weather people from around the world. Flights at Sky Harbor International Airport were postponed. The peak wind gust was recorded in Chandler, Arizona at 70mph. 9400 people were without power in the east valley.

Localized flooding in Tucson with an inch of rain. They haven’t had this much rain in a single event in nine months.

The victim of a black bear attack last week in the White Mountains is in a medically induced coma. Her scalp was ripped off and has severe artery damage under her left arm. The bear has been tested for rabies and did not have the deadly disease. ( I have read many times that black bear attacks are rare but more deadly than a grizzly attack. If you are lucky you can fake a grizzly by playing dead or rolling up in a ball. If a black bear attacks you have to fight for your life, there are no other options.)

Seven American fishermen are still missing near Baja, Mexico. There is hope for rescue and survival due to the warm waters. Thirty five men escaped the boat capsized by 40’ waves. One survivor swam sixteen miles to shore. The captain of the boat was warned not to set sail due to the weather.

Arlene is proving to be a deadly Tropical Storm in central Mexico. Even after breaking up the death toll is now up to 16.

Severe flooding in western China left 50 people trapped on a collapsed bridge over a torrential river. They were rescued by cable and huge tractor buckets to transport them over the river.

7-6- Our roving reporter TwinkyDuck reports this afternoon there is still no power in Quartzite, Arizona from last night’s storm.

All of the 1.78 million acres of the Coronado National Forest remain closed due to fire danger despite recent rains.

There are tough conditions for crews cleaning up oil on the Yellowstone River as it rises above flood stage with heavy snow runoff. The surging river could push crude into back channels vital to the river’s prized fishery.

There are still seven missing American fishermen missing near Baja, Mexico. The Mexican government will end the search in two days if they are not found.

7-7- Air quality since the Haboob two days ago is still so bad in the Phoenix area flights were delayed yesterday due to heavy dust at six thousand feet.
Quartzite, Arizona just now has restored electricity to residents after the strong winds knocked out power. (Two days without electricity in this humidity and heat!)

The Los Alamos National Laboratory re-opens after being closed for a week due to the massiv Las Conchas Fire. Residents of Los Alamos are warned about hungry black bears displaced by the fire wandering into town.
The fire is 40% contained and has burned 130,560 acres.

The Mexican government will continue searching for the missing American fishermen in the Baja Gulf.

A mother Grizzly kills a hiker on a Yellowstone hiking trail. All trails are closed. The bruin will not be trapped and killed as she was just protecting her young’uns.

7-8- Arizona Game & Fish is meeting today to consider greatly reducing the number of turkey permits issued next fall in the burned out Wallow area. It is feared that many turkeys were killed by the fire.

7-9- The Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona is fully contained at 538,049 acres. It began on May 29th.

Calmer winds and higher humidity help fire fighters save a sacred Pueblo Indian mountain in New Mexico from the Las Conchas fire. The Chicoma Mountain is 11,560 feet high and said to hold an elliptical shrine with seven exits opening toward tribal regions. The mountain is considered to be the “center of all” by New Mexico Pueblo Indians.

Two inches of rain falls in less than an hour in the north east Denver area.

The Missouri River is near historic flood levels for 800 miles from South Dakota to the confluence with the Mississippi River. 560,000 acres are flooded in seven states and 447,000 acres of farmland.

Tropical Storm Calvin forms in the Eastern Pacific.

7-10- Calvin fizzles out with no damage caused.

Peak wind gusts at Phoenix International Airport recorded at 66mph.
Flash Flood Warnings are issued for Coconino and Cochise counties.

The head of the United Nations refuge agency says that the drought in Somalia is the “worst humanitarian disaster in the world.” Ten million people need aid. Two million children are malnourished and in need of life saving actions.

7-11- Two inches of fast rain in the Sierra Vista burn area causes mudslides and road closures with an unknown number of homes damaged by mud.

Heat Advisories posted from Georgia to Illinois and down to Oklahoma. It was 110 degrees in Wichita, Kansas yesterday.

7-12- The Hidden Fire began two days ago by lightning in northwest Arizona. It has burned 17,000 acres of cheatgrass.

Valley Fever expected to triple from last week’s Haboob in the valley.

A new weather radar is being tested at Chandler Gateway Airport. It can detect rainfall and hail even through dust and clouds. (You read about this used in other parts of the country right here in Blue Duck Weather.)

Twenty four states are under an Excessive Heat Advisory. 106 degrees is a new record in Joplin, Missouri. Owensburg, Kentucky reached 123 degrees today factoring in humidity. Six people have died from heat related stress.

The drought is so bad in 14 states it could rival the Dust Bowl period in the 1930s. Five months from February to June so dry it shattered a Texas record set in 1917. Shrinking cattle herds due to lack of food and water will be the major impact on the U.S.

From his secluded location in Colorado Ryduck reports up to four and a half inches of rain this month in areas. This morning it was 63 “balmy” degrees and foggy.

More oil is found along sections of the pristine Yellowstone River after flood waters recede. Forty five locations have been found, an increase of fifteen from two days ago.

7-13- A break in the miserable monsoon humidity and dew points at The Land this morning. I woke up to a blissful 68 degree low with a dew point of 35 degrees instead of the mid sixties.

The Nation’s high today was in Fort Smith, Arkansas with 108 degrees. The heat wave now extends to the North East setting new records; Newark, New Jersey, 99 degrees, Islip, New York 93 degrees and John F. Kennedy International Airport 97 degrees.

7-14- Oh how your Editor in Chief is so brilliant! Your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather in the past months have been giving you barometric pressure fluctuations to see how they compare to poor migraine headache sufferers.
Now there is imperical data from one valley physician. He said “headaches are out of control “during the monsoon season due to dust and barometric pressure. (I fucking amaze myself sometimes.)

A Kingman, Arizona man has been arrested for shooting and killing several cows and a calf near his home. ( Get a rope!)

Agricultural losses in Texas due to the drought near three billion dollars!

Three quarters on an inch of hail falls in Denver in fifteen minutes. Denver International Airport is closed with 40 planes damaged.
This month Denver has received 2.12’’ of rain. The average is .80’’.

The heat has been so bad in some states 50,000 chickens died at a couples farm when the power was off less than an hour.
A Kansas couple lost 4300 turkeys due to the heat.

7-15- Several areas of the Coronado National Forest have been opened after being closed to all travelers due to the extreme fire danger. My beloved Mount Graham is open but no fires of any kind are allowed.

A Florida couple is convicted of third degree murder in the death of their baby stangled in its crib by a “pet” python. The eight and a half foot snake wrapped itself around the baby’s head. Testimony revealed the snake had not been fed in a month before the strangulation occurred.

7-16- There have been nine heat related deaths in Kansas City, Missouri this summer, three this week.

Due to heavy rain a 40’ wide by 30’ deep sink hole opened up on a Utah highway near Tabiona. One car was swallowed by the massive hole and the driver injured. Another vehicle swerved to miss it, crashed and a fifteen year old occupant killed.

7-17- The Mighty BroadDuck takes remote reporting to an entirely different level, roaming around the desert in the night like a fool. He sent amazing photos of a bobcat encounter with a rattlesnake on the Peralta Trail in the Superstition Mountains. I told the quack he needs to arm himself.

A massive heat wave extends from Texas to Canada. The heat index with humidity in some states reach 120 degrees!

This one is right out of the 1800s; two men in Alaska accused in participating in a walrus ivory and polar bear hide trading ring have plead guilty to the charges. They were accused of trading tobacco, guns and other items to Native Americans in exchange for federally protected animal parts.

7-18- Another massive dust storm blankets the Phoenix area. The term Haboob, rarely used, is now the most popular weather word and soon to be worn out and over used.

The extreme heat buckles concrete on a bridge in Oklahoma as steel reinforcement expands with the heat. This is the 28th straight day for triple digit temperatures in that state.
There are 42 states with temperatures and humidity levels in the nineties.
It was 115 degrees in Minneapolis today.

A helicopter search team has rescued an injured Arizona climber after a twenty foot fall from El Diente Peak in Colorado. He was descending the 14,159’ mountain alone in the dark when he fell onto a snowfield. The next morning he crawled to a slope where he was found by two other climbers. They activated a personal locator beacon which summoned an emergency rescue.

A powerful storm blows down most of a rock stage in Ottawa, Canada. Cheap Trick were twenty minutes into their set and managed to escape without injury. Others were injured.

Tropical Storm Bret forms in the Atlantic near the northern Bahamas.

7-19- The U.S. Forest Service has crews spreading grass seed in the burn areas near the Horseshoe Two Fire in the Coronado Mountains. It is hoped the monsoon rains will help spread the seed.

Tropical Storm Dora is rapidly approaching hurrincae strength with sustained winds of 70mph. It is 265 miles south of Puerto Angel, Mexico.

The Fish & Wildlife Service announced yesterday that the white bark pine, a tree found on mountains across the west, faces an “eminent” risk of extinction. For the first time ever the agency cites on the factors is climate change.

7-20- Ninety five degrees in Bismark, North Dakota today, an area known for summer cool temperatures.

This heat wave covers one million square miles in 34 states and has killed 20 folks. With the heat index it was 131 degrees in Knoxville, Iowa and a 124 degrees in Madison, Minnesota.

Three tourists have plunged to their presumed deaths over the 370’ Vernal Falls in Yosemite in a chain reaction of events. A man and woman crawled over a guardrail to get a better view of the falls. One slipped, fell in the rushing river and the other tried to rescue. When he slipped a third person tried to rescue both of them and fell into the river and was swept over the falls. The river was swollen with snowmelt.

Four members of a family killed and two others injured after their vehicles were swept away by flash flooding in south central Wyoming. The accidents happened after heavy rains prompted mandatory evacuations of campgrounds in the area. The family had left camp when they later hit a swollen stream over a roadway.

The nuclear reactors in Japan damaged by the March 11th earthquake have finally been declared stable. The entire plant is on track for a “cold shut down” in six months.

19 oiled animals have been seen since the Yellowstone River oil spill. An oiled hawk was captured yesterday for rehabilitation yesterday.

7-21- A man in Scottsdale, Arizona finds a bobcat in the hollow of a grapefruit tree in his backyard. “Critter Control” (never heard of this outfit) set a trap in the man’s backyard and the cat was caught the next day.

A seven year old male giraffe at Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo has died in a “horrible unfortunate accident.” The giraffe ate toxic oleander leaves.

The National Weather Service report with the severe heat over half of the country, “Do not take threat lightly.”
3,000 separate records for overnight high lows have been set. At 3:00 a.m. this morning it was 90 degrees in Chicago.

Dora has turned into a category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds in the Pacific. Deadly surf conditions exist and a major shipping port in Mexico is closed.

A leopard mauls eleven people in a fierce fight at a village in India. It was finally tranquilized but died of its injuries during the battle.

7-22- A new record of 108 degrees in Newark, New Jersey and 105 degrees in Dulles, Virginia.

This one reads just like a typical Phoenix morning in the summer: “East Coast a.m. commute in the 90’s, triple digits coming.” 96 degrees this morning in Boston.
To add shit (literally) to the misery of the heat bathers are told to stay out of the Hudson and Harlem Rivers in New York. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the rivers after a fire shut down one of the city’s largest sewer treatment plants.

Hurricane Dora prompts Port authorities in Las Cabos, Mexico to suspend boat tours and other tourism services. Four emergency shelters in elementary schools are being prepared in case of flooding.

In Mogadishu, Somalia soldiers with gun butts beat back desparate families as they fight for food supplies in front of a weeping diplomat. The worst drought in a generation is the cause for this desparation.

7-23- Fire restrictions lifted across all of the Coronado National Forest in southeast Arizona.

Lake Powell is nearing its highest level in ten years from record snow pack. It will peak this summer at 75% full and will have enough water to help Arizona and Nevada escape forced shortages this year. Downstream Lake Mead will rise 51’ above the record low level it reached last November.

A new record today at J.F.K. International Airport in New York of 102 degrees.

An eighteen year old landscaper dies in Louisville, Kentucky with a core body temperature of 110 degrees.

In Philadelphia fifty of the city’s pools operated on 45 minute cycles to give everyone a chance to get wet and cool off.

Chicago breaks the heat wave with the wettest calendar day on record, 6.86 inches of rain!

7-24. Severe Flash Flood Warnings issued for Safford and Wilcox, Arizona.

7-25- An injured man trapped in the Buckeye Hills area in Arizona was rescued after lighting a signal fire. The man has a bad leg, high blood pressure and was dehydrated. A Sherrif saw the fire and heard the man shouting for help. He reached the man but could not carry him out. The man was airlifted to a local hospital.

Desparate mothers are abandoning their dying children by the roadside as they walk to overcrowded emergency foo shelters in eastern Africa. A camp in Kenya built for 90,000 now has 400,000.

A grizzly that was with her cub attacked teens participating in survival skills in Alaska and two are badly injured.

7-26- The woman that was attacked by a black bear in Pinetop, Arizona in June has died from a brain hemorrhage.

New York City used a record one trillion watts of power during four days of the latest heat wave.
Dallas has a record high low of 86 degrees.

Rare and unusually heavy snowfall across South Africa. Ut to two feet fell with major transport delayed.

7-27- Landslides and flooding kill 32 in South Korea.

Storms leave the Philippines with 25 dead. Five fishermen missing.

7-28- Sixty four people and thousands of cattle have died from the latest heat wave in the eastern United States.

Tropical Storm Don headed for the Texas coast. Oil workers are evacuated from off sore platforms.

South Koreans are worried about unearthed land mines and explosives after deadly landslides around the capitol Seoul military sites. The mines were placed in the Korean War.

7-29- Record rains in part of the Mid West will cause the Missouri River to rise two feet. Ten inches of rain fell in Dubuque, Iowa breaking the old record of three inches in 1896.

Here is a first hand acccount of a very close bear sighting from the Lovely Mrs. Blue Duck’s sister from her spread in Montana: “ I’ve been fencing a lot the last few weeks but it all paid off today. When I was fencing along the creek and looked up, and about fifty feet away was a big black bear (well, cinnamon colored) sitting on his behind in the creek under a big tree! He knew I was there but I was down wind. He kept sniffing the air but didn’t move. I stayed near the 4 x 4 but watched him for about five minutes. It was really neat! (It’s also a good thing I wasn’t tromping around down there like I often am, with no thought of running into a bear!)

7-30- Tropical Storm Don fizzles out leaving less than an inch of rain in parched Texas.

Wettest July on Record in Chicago with 11.16” of rain.

The Missouri River flooding this year is equivalent to a one in 500 year event. The river will not even fall below flood stage in Omaha, Nebraska until mid September.

Floods wash North Korea land mines in South Korea. Two empty mine boxes have been found. The detonators and explosives are believed to have been swept away in a river.

7-31- Phoenix rain to date 2.38”. The Land received 1.56’’ in July for the year’s total so far of 2.44”. Halfway through the year and we haven’t recived even half of our yearly rainfall average of about 8’’.

It’s been over 100 degrees for over 30 days in a row in parts of Oklahoma. In the town of Altus the average high was 105 degrees, usually a mild town.

Tropical Storm Nock-ten has left 50 dead and 25 missing in Vietnam.

And there you have it my fine baked feathered friends. The song for the month is appropriate for the parched areas of the U.S.; “A Little Rain Will Do” by Cody Canada.

And equally fitting is a quote I stole from Cormak McCarthy; “The desert wind would salt ruins and there would be nothing, no ghost or scribe, to tell any pilgrim in his passing how it was that people had lived in this place and in this place had died.”

Until next month wind the desert sands scour your foot prints remember

Settlers took land. Pioneers took bullets.

The Distinguished Professor MR Blue Duck (a quack)

June 2011 Blue Duck Weather News!

2011-07-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

June 2011 Weather News!

According to one geologist “Recent wildfires could be at least as severe and maybe worse than anything we’ve seen since the last Ice Age.” June in Arizona produced the largest wildfire on record. At over 550,000 acre the Wallow Fire began on Memorial Day Weekend by an abandoned campfire.

There has been considerable debate why some of Arizona’s forests did not have fire bans that weekend. Some say it is because it had snowed the prior week in many areas. But only in Blue Duck Weather will you read the other reason. Even though it had snowed there were strong winds that blew almost daily during the month of June. It has baffled me as May and June have all been windy months, usually they are not. The humidity in June was also extremely low, and to coin a wore out saying, the perfect storm was brewing.

There were actually three major fires in Arizona in June, sadly all in the beloved Coronado Mountain range. One of the fires only burned itself out because it wiped out an entire mountain top forest. Officials are so concerned that two breeding pairs of endangered Mount Graham red squirrels will be captured and transported to the Phoenix Zoo in the hope of saving the species. Mount Graham is closed to all visitors and campers. I have never heard of this before, fire restrictions yes. There are other international interests on that mountain that must be saved at all costs but that is a different story.

This special “hot” edition of Blue Duck Weather is so intense and historical your fine staff has agreed not to include the usual boring local weather stats for the month. But there is much more to read than the blow by blow fire reporting from the staff on the road choking to death from smoke.

In this special edition you will also read about a rare white buffalo birth that has drawn Native Americans from the entire country to Texas, baggy pants that actually saved a young man from an alligator attack, a first hand account of flooding in Montana that has been overshadowed by other weather news, the flooded Souris River and the overwhelmed town of Minot North Dakota, a fact to remember when perceiving the amount of land consumed by fire, a dream home overrun by snakes, Hayduke Lives in Flagstaff!, three U.S. nuclear facilities threatened by flooding or fires, a town that will offer free food on cloudy days, a Buddhist retreat in Arizona that was left in the dark by the fires and why, the first elk crossing in the world constructed near Payson, Arizona, a scorpion sting that nearly kills a six month old girl in Arizona, a rare black bear attack on a human in eastern Arizona and turtles that bring a major U.S. airport to a standstill. And now award winning journalism awaits you.

6-1- Red Flag Warnings posted for northern Arizona. A new fire erupted in Coconino County today.

Flames jump the containment line of the Horseshoe Two Fire in south east Arizona. 73,000 acres have burned.

A powerful tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts killing three and damaging hundreds of homes. Tornadoes are rare in this region. The National Guard has been activated and 12,000 are without power.

The official first day of Hurricane Season. (just what we need!)

Ten thousand residents of Minot, North Dakota are told to evacuate along the Souris River, a tributary of the Red River.

Worldwide carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels reached a record 30.6 billion tons in 2010. China and India’s growth added 5% of the increase.

A 200 pound bear on the loose has a Portland, Oregon school in lockdown.

A rare white buffalo is born in Texas. Native Americans from around the country are converging to find the message. Black eyes and a black tip on the tail is considered the most powerful medicine of an albino buffalo.

6-2- This morning the Wallow Fire had burned 18,000 acres, by noon 40,000 acres with no containment. Big Lake is evacuated in eastern Arizona. Fire lines are built around Hannigan’s Meadow Lodge. U.S. 191 is closed and Alpine residents have two hours to evacuate.

There are eight fires burning around the state. The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 80,000 acres and is the sixth largest fire in Arizona history.
The Engineer Fire west of Flagstaff began today at noon.
It has not been this dry since the 1970s.

A woman has been rescued after spending three days in the Mingus Mountain area near Prescott. She was extremely dehydrated, sunburned and had cuts all over her legs. The woman and her boyfriend broke down in a pickup truck and began arguing. The boyfriend hitched a ride and the woman started hiking toward Mingus Mountain (?)

It has been confirmed that three tornadoes struck in central and western Massachusetts last week. 18 cities and village were damaged, 40 hospitalized in Springfield, 3 confirmed dead and 250 displaced. One tornado was ten miles high!

In Yosemite National Park Bridal Veils and Yosemite Falls are flowing fast enough to fill a gas tanker in two seconds! The photographs are stunning.

6-3- The Wallow Fire has blown up to 100,000 acres. Four summer homes have burned south of Alpine. Alpine residents are still evacuated and Nutriosa is evacuated. The rapid speed of this fire’s growth is being described to the 2002 Rodeo- Chediski Fire that burned 460,000 acres. There is no containment and residents of Springerville and Eager have been placed on evacuation notice.

The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 86,140 acres and is 50% contained
The Engineer Fire has burned 800 acres and containment is hopeful soon.

A Show Low man told police he started four eastern Arizona fires recently because it was his “duty to God.” Two of the fires were in brush piles and the other two under juniper trees. All were contained. Biblical literature was found in the vicinity of the fires. ( No word at all if these fires are connected to the big one but kind of ironic or fitting I should say.)

Three thousand people in low lying areas of Pierre and Fort Pierre, South Dakota are leaving ahead of upstream dam releases. The swollen Missouri River has to be relieved immediately.

6-4- From this morning to noon the Wallow Fire grew from 100,00 acres to 140,000 acres with no containment. It is now the third largest fire in Arizona history. The smoke is blowing all the way to Denver. Dry lightning is expected tomorrow in the region and erratic winds have not helped firefighters in the least.

The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 90,000 acres and is 50% contained.
A sixty five year old woman rafting the Colorado River drowns at the Needle’s Eye rapids.

A seventeen year old in Florida says his baggy pants saved him from an alligator. The boy was walking beside a pond when the bastard lurched out of the water. When the teen ran his pants ripped leaving the gator with nothing but a piece of cloth in its mouth.

The Mighty Mississippi flood begins to drop today.

6-5- The Greer Lodge and cabins are evacuated today as the Wallow Fire grows to 144,102 acres. It has jumped Highway 180. 40mph winds, low humidity and dry lightning are making it travel faster. There is a Red Flag Warning posted for tomorrow in north eastern Arizona. The fire is out of control and there are 1300 fire fighters on site. Folks east of Alpine are told to evacuate.
The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 100,200 acres and is 55% contained.
The Murphy Fire, south of Tucson has burned 23,000 acres and is 15% contained.

As the Missouri River rises in North Dakota the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased Oahe Dam releases to historic levels for the first time since the dam was completed in the late 1950s.
600 south west Iowa residents ordered to evacuate after the Missouri breached a levee.

A woman in Duluth, Minnesota was jogging alongside a road with something slammed into her. She found herself in a ditch with whiplash and extensive bruises. A pickup truck struck a deer which then collided with her. The deer is dead, the woman will survive her injuries.

6-6- The Wallow Fire in southeastern Arizona today; 6:15 a.m., 192,000 acres. By noon it had grown to 200,000 acres. At 2:00 p.m. 233,000 acres. It is now the second largest fire in Arizona’s history. Winds have blown it in every direction except south thus far. With 50mph winds it is still at zero containment. Smoke has blown a thousand miles east into Iowa. Sunrise and Greer are being evacuated. Eager and Springerville have been placed on notice. The governor of Arizona has signed an emergency declaration.

The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 100,075 acres and is 55% contained. There are 1,000firefighters on sight. This fire in southern Arizona has been burning nearly a month.

Six reservoirs along the Missouri River are filled to capacity. Seven states are on flood watch. 20,000 have been evacuated in the Dakotas.

Three more have died from their injuries from the Joplin, Missouri tornado. The death toll is now up to one hundred and forty one.

6-7- The Wallow Fire has burned 322,000 acres with no containment. Ash is falling on Springerville.

Beginning in two days the Coronado National Forest will be closed to all visitors. (I’ve heard of not allowing camp fires but I have not heard of this. Is this a reaction and safety precaution by the U.S. Forest Service?)

10,000 people are still homeless after the earthquake in Japan last March.

Flooding from heavy rains in southwestern China leaves 21 dead, 37 missing, 45,000 evacuated, 800 homes destroyed, 5,000 damaged and 13,000 acres of farmland under water.

Heavy rain for the seventh straight day in Haiti kills 23 from mudslides.

6-8- The Wallow Fire is now the number one U.S. priority fire. It has burned almost 400,000 acres. The fire jumps firelines and residents of Springerville and Eager are told to get out immediately. The size of the fire is now larger than Phoenix.

A new blaze near Flagstaff is burning. Seven to nine spot fires have been reported.

Roundup, Montana has flooded for the second time in two weeks just after cleanup efforts had begun. The Musselshell River came rolling in submerging cars and covering the ground floors of homes.

As the Missouri River continues to rise 260 miles have been closed to recreational boat traffic to protect newly constructed levees.

52 are dead in China flooding, 32 missing and 100,000 evacuated.

The first Tropical Storm of the season develops in the Pacific. Adrian is 345 miles south of Acapulco.

6-9- On the 12th day of the Wallow Fire it is only 5% contained. It has moved into Greer. 22 homes have burned. 11,000 people have been displaced and 200 miles of roadway closed. Power supply lines are threatened in eastern Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The President is sending 2500 National Forest Service firefighters.

A man has been arrested for setting the spot fires near Flagstaff yesterday. 50 people were evacuated and one mobile home burned. The man said he got into an argument with his girlfriend and that is why he set the fires. Thankfully they have been contained.

In one day Adrian has turned into a hurricane. A Storm Watch has been issued for parts of the Mexican Coast including Acapulco.

On a rampage in southern India two wild elephants have killed one man and injured others in the city of Mysore.

The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck has a sister who is a long time resident on a huge spread in Montana. Here is a first hand account of the severe flooding that is taking place: “The Winter from Hell to flood season. It’s been raining for months. We’re rained in…. all the people whos homes are under water now, or going to be, toward Agusta and along the Sun River toward Great Falls, along the Missouri River and many other parts of Montana are now under water. The end of the rain is nowhere in sight, and there’s still 5’ of snow in the mountains to melt. When it does it’s going to worsen along all the river corridors. So many places in Montana are now under water, roads closed and destroyed, etc. Unreal.

6-10- The Wallow Fire has burned 410,000 acres and is 5% contained. Twenty seven homes have been lost. There is a no fly zone over the fire due to the massive air attack. It began with an abandoned campfire on May 29th. There were 70mph winds that day.

A total of 600,00 acres of forest, grasslands and deserts have burned so far in Arizona. The Horshoe Two Fire is up to 116,000 acres and 40% contained. The Murphy Complex Fire has burned 67,000 acres.

A Phoenix Landscaper has been rushed to a local hospital with life threatening bee stings. He was working at a Phoenix home.

An undocumented but interesting tale: Some people believe the skeleton of a whale ws found along the Salt River in the Phoenix area in 1850s. Presumably the whale traveled up the Salt from the Gulf of Mexico during a major flood. It took a right turn at the Gila River and wound up dead in the Salt River.

In a strange weather phenomenon I don’t understand just after midnight last night Wichita, Kansas went from 85 degrees to 102 degrees in twenty minutes!, something about a collapsing storm. (I bet those folks thought it was the beginning of the end.)

The latest death toll from the hurricane in Joplin, Missouri has gone up to 151 with more dying from their injuries.

Hurricane Adrian has already strengthened to a Category 4 storm but is expected to remain off the coast of Mexico.

Forecasters say the cooling La Nina weather phenomenon from the tropical Pacific ocean is over. It may have boosted last year’s hurricane season and this spring’s tornadoes.

100 domestic animals have been killed by a pack of dogs in Washington State. The latest is a 350 pund llama. Law enforcement officials have not been able to capture or kill the mangy bastards. (Just turn loose TiptoDuck with his arsenal!)

6-11- The Wallow Fire has gorged 430,000 acres and is 6% contained. Thirty homes have been lost. The air quality is so bad it exceeds the National standard by seven times. 31mph winds in Greer today and the southern end of the fire is a huge concern. There is a Red Flag Warning for the fire area tomorrow.

“Despite windy conditions officials for the Apache Sitgrives National Forest decided not to impose campfire restrictions over the Memorial Day weekend because late spring snowfall provided moisture and because closing the forest would have created a hardship for the local tourism industry.

Emergency workers have ferried supplies to 300 people cut off yesterday by new flooding that has overwhelmed Montana towns. There is no way to get in or out of Roundup, Montana.

Hurricane Adrian has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm.

More flooding in central China kills 41 and 111,000 displaced.

Heavy rain and melting snow causes devastating floods across central Norway.

One thousand gather in Tokyo to protest nuclear power three months after the disaster.

You read it here in Blue Duck Weather when we reported about the out of control chimpanzee that attacked a woman and ripped off her face and hands. She has successfully received a face transplant, only the third of its kind in the U.S.

Six gray seals have been found shot to death on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

6-12- The Wallow has swallowed 445,000 acres and is 6% contained. Alpine, Nutrioso and Greer residents are not allowed to return yet. 7,000 people are allowed to return to Springerville and Eager. The fire has jumped state lines into New Mexico. 4300 firefighters are on site.

The Fort Apache Indian Reservation Tribe credits prayer, wind and fire prevention for dodging the Wallow Fire. They have done vast amounts of thinning and controlled burns after the Rodeo-Chediski Fire in 2002. 60% of that fire was on Indian land.

A Pinal County, Arizona rancher has been ordered to quarantine 199 rodeo steers after one animal tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. It is the first case of the highly contagious disease since 1978 in Arizona. The rancher must test each animal, expensive and time consuming, or kill the herd.

It has been confirmed that three nuclear reactor cores melted in Japan after the earthquake and subsequent Tsunami in March. Growers are extremely concerned. Farm soil forty miles away is contaminated. Volunteers have supplied some farmers with radiation meters.

A Japanese woman lost in the Nepal mountains for two weeks survived by eating grass, drinking river water, taking shelter in small caves and praying. She left her hotel on May 22nd for a short stroll, left the main road and could not find it again.

6-13- 445,000 acres consumed by the Wallow Fire with 10% containment and 36 homes burned. Three thousand homes and businesses are still at risk and residents of Alpine, Greer and Nutrioso are not expected to be able to return home for five more days.

A new fire near Sierra Vista, Arizona has ignited. The Monument Fire has burned 3,000 acres.

Peak flows in the Missouri are expected in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Tomorrow releases from five of the river’s dams will be at 150,000 cubic feet per second. This is twice the previous record releases. The river will rise 5-7’ above flood stage in Nebraska and Iowa, 10’ in Missouri.

6-14- Now the largest fire in Arizona history the Wallow has consumed 469,000 acres and is 18% contained.

A fire fact to remember, especially now; 640 acres equals one square mile. ( I have a lot easier grasping the magnitude when a fire is reported in acres instead of square miles, but maybe that’s just me.)

The Missouri River has punched a three hundred foot breach in a levee in Hamburg, Iowa. Farmlands are flooding quickly.

One hundred rare pygmy rabbits have been released in Washington State. They were believed to be extinct since mid 2004. It is the smallest rabbit in the United States and an adult can fit into a person’s hand.

An eight year old girl in Sacremento, California is a rare survivor of rabies without having the life saving vaccine. She is only the third person known of in the United States to survive. It is believed she was infected by a wild cat.

6-15- The Wallow Fire keeps marching on its destructive path to Hell. 478,000 acres have gone up in smoke. There is a Red Flag Warning for winds tomorrow and Friday. There is only 20% containment but Nutrioso residents are allowed to come home.
It has been confirmed that the fire began in Bear Canyon and “persons of interest” are being questioned.

The Monument Fire near Sierra Vista is burning out of control with only 10% containment.

Nationwide eleven new fires reported in the United States in the past day. The states with the largest fires are Texas with 13, Florida with 11, Arizona with 4 and New Mexico with 4.

The first new official day of the monsoon season begins for Arizona, of course your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather will let you know when the actual scientific date begins. It all begins with heat and the Land reached the first 105 degree day for the season and Phoenix hit 110.

More flooding in central and south China with 88,000 evacuated. 170 people are dead or missing since the beginning of the month.

6-16- The Wallow Fire total is up to 460,000 acres and a Red Flag Warning is in effect. After recently returning home residents of Gree are told to prepare for another evacuation.

The Monument Fire has burned 10,000 acres south of Sierra Vista and forty homes have been damaged or lost. This fire is more damaging than the Wallow Fire in the first forty eight hours.

The Horseshoe Two fire in Pima County has burnded 200,000 acres. It is so windy in areas of fires winds are causing spot fires out a mile. One resident crys “Pray for rain!”

The Murphy Complex Fire in the Coroanado National Forest began on May 30th and is fully contained at 68,078 acres.

Arizona Game and Fish has set up a mobile clinic in Eager to help injured wildlife from the Wallow Fire. So far a young bull elk has been treated for burned hooves and a starving red tailed hawk has been saved.

The Missouri River has flooded parts of Montana, North and South Dakota. So far most levees along the river are holding.

“April’s weather extremes never before seen U.S. experts say. The mix of single disasters in a month, flooding, fires, tornadoes and drought are unprecedented.”

Japanese whalers have found traced of radiation in two animals caught along the country’s northern coast.

A “dream home” bought by a young couple in rural Idaho has been discovered to be infested with hundreds of garter snakes. “The ground surrounding the home appeared to be moving at times, it was so thick with these snakes.” The couple would lie awake at night and listen to snakes slithering inside the walls.

6-17- At 495,000 acres the Wallow Fire is 30% contained.
The Monument Fire has doubled in twenty four hours to 18,000 acres with 50 homes damaged or destroyed. The governor of Arizona has issued a disaster decleration.

Hayduke Lives! “Six people have been arrested after chaining themselves to heavy construction equipment to protest snowmaking plans at the Arizona Snowbowl. All but one are Flagstaff residents.

On a side note water use may be restricted in Flagstaff this summer.

China has issued it’s highest level flood alert. 55,000 people in central and southern China have been evacuated. Although drought has plagued this region lately this is the worst flooding since 1955.

6-18- Residents of Alpine allowed to return home this morning. The Wallow fire is 38% contained with 500,409 acres burned. Luna, New Mexico has been evacuated.
The Monument Fire near Sierra Vista has grown to 20,000 acres and is 15% contained. Fifty homes have been damaged or destroyed.

The worst day for fire control is expected tomorrow as a Red Flag Warning for the entire state of Arizona has been issued. Fifty mph winds expected in the fire areas.
The Horseshoe Two in Pima County is 70% contained with 206,312 acres burned. All three of these major fires are in the Coronado National Forest.

Three people are cited for having an illegal camp fire at Lake Montezuma, Prescott, Arizona.

Floodwaters form the Missouri River have risen close to a nuclear reactor building in Nebraska. The plant is circled by a giant rubber barrier. In preparation for this flood the complex has been shut down since April. It will not be activated until flooding subsides.

Landslides trap 5,000 passengers on four trains overnight in China.

6-19- The Monument Fire has jumped Highway 92 and more emergency evacuations are underway.

There are Red Flag Warnings and Extreme Fire Danger posted for six states.

Levees breach in northern Missouri in Holt and Atchison Counties, flooding farmland, homes and cabins.

The severe flooding in China has displaced two million people, 170 missing or dead and 42,254 acres of farmland covered with water.

Tropical Storm Beatriz forms in the Pacific and may become a hurricane in two days.

6-20- Three thousand more people are evacuated from the Monument Fire. The National Guard is on the way to help and this fire is now a U.S. priorty one fire. Two restaurants in Nicksville destroyed.

A new fire burning near Payson, the Willow began near Bear Canyon Lake. It has burned nearly five hundred acres.

An extremely rare Gila Monster has been caught in a garage in north Scottsdale. The fucker, nearly two feet long was pissed when captured.

6-21- First day of summer and 107 degrees at The Land.

The Wallow Fire is 67% contained at 527,000 acres.
The Horseshoe Two Fire, stubborn as hell and burning for six weeks, is fully contained.

Hundred of evacuees are allowed to return to Greer and Sierra Vista as calming winds help firefighters control the blazes.

There are 67 separate fires burning in several states. Three million acres have burned since January 1st, a new record.

Two forest rangers were killed yesterday fighting a fire in Hamilton County in north Florida. The men died after being trapped by changing winds cutting a fire line.

The Souris River is about to top levees and 12,000 told to evacuate immediately in Minot, North Dakota.

6-22- First 110 degrees at The Land, 114 degrees in Ahwatukee. The first Excessive Heat Advisory is issued. (This may be hell, but it is the only way moisture can be brought up from the south to begin our annual monsoon season, hopefully with some drenching rain to soak this parched state.)

The bastard RyDuck knowing the forecast here reported a “cool “73 degrees at midmorning today from his secluded location in Colorado. I could just hear the sneer in his voice.

The Monument Fire is 45% contained with 62 homes burned and 27,000 acres consumed.
The Wallow Fire is 58% contained with 530,000 acres burned.

The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 222,000 acres and 95% contained.

A man has been charged with setting a brush fire on a hiking trail in north Scottsdale earlier this week. He was hiking with friends and lit “consumer fireworks” he purchased near the area. He thought it was legal. (Where the fuck is common sense?)

Army Corps of Engineers told Minot residents to “Get Out!, a historic flood is coming. The town’s sirens were signaling the emergency and 500 National Guard troops are deployed. One quarter of the town’s population has left.

The drought is so bad in east Texas seventeen fires are burning. One rancher said this is the worst conditions for his cattle business he has seen in his life.

Thunderstorms and heavy rains pound the upper Midwest. Thousands stranded at Chicago’s two major airprorts. Torando warnings issued.

A young penquin apparently took a wrong turn while swimming near Anctartica and ended up two thousand miles away in New Zealand. He is healthy and well fed.

6-23- The Monument Fire is now under control because it has burned through an entire forest in the Chiricahua Mountains. This mountain range is one of the state’s sky islands.
Residents are allowed to return to Luna, New Mexico.

The Wash Fire, ignited by a blown tire, has burned two hundred acres in Heber. (Talk about dry conditions!)

The Willow Fire near Payson is held at one square mile but Bear Canyon Lake and surrounding campgrounds are closed.

The Yuma Visitor’s Bureau has a new promotion. Hotel guests can dine for free on a cloudy day beginning August 1st. It is part of a tribute to Arizona’s centennial. In 1872 a local hotel offered free board every day the sun didn’t shine. Yuma averages fifteen days a year.

“Feeling of dread” as twelve thousand are evacuated in Minot, North Dakota. Nothing can stop the surge of water.

For the first time in 136 years The Kentucky Derby compound has been damaged by a possible tornado knocking down barns and chasing out horses. No injuries to humans or animals reported.

6-24- The Salvation Army’s hydration stations opened up two days ago due to excessive heat warnings in Phoenix for the first time this year.

Thirty nine Buddhists six months into a three year retreat south of Bowie, Arizona have not been told about the Monument Fire. They are in the process of separating themselves from the outside world and taking a vow of silence. Caretakers at the compound say to interrupt this journey would have ruined years of planning and resolve.

The first elk crossing of its kind in the world has been constructed near Payson. There is an electronic sign on Highway 260 that reads “Test Area Elk Crossing 1500’’. If elk are crossing the sign will read “Caution, Elk Detected.” A third sign near the crosswalk will start flashing and motorists will have time to slow down. The project cost was 700,000 dollars but vehicle and elk collisions have decreased from twelve a year to one.

The Souris River rises four feet in one day breaking a record set in 1881. 2500 homes are flooded in Minot, North Dakota.

A half million acres are burning in south Georgia, 380,000 in Florida and 1500 have been evacuated in Oklahoma. All of this is because of severe drought conditions.

6-25- The Horseshoe Two Fire is nearly contained.
The Monument Fire is 57% contained.

The new Watch Fire near Heber is 10% contained with two thousand acres burned.
There is yet another Red Flag Warning posted for northern Arizona tomorrow with 40mph winds.

4.6 million acres have burned in the U.S. this year, twice the annual average.

Flooding overwhelms Burlington, Sawyer and Minot, North Dakota. 11,000 are homeless in Minot with four thousand homes and businesses under water. One official said this is a five hundred year event, off the chart. The Souris River is flowing 170 times its normal rate.

One month after the terrible tornado in Joplin, Missouri hundreds of pets lost or missing have been reunited with their owners. There are still 600 orphans and folks come from around the country to adopt.

According to my National Wildlife Federation calendar today is “Great American Backyard Campout Day.” I’m sure whoever came up with this idea didn’t live in the desert in June. You have got to be kidding me.

6-26- The Horsheshoe Two Fire is fully contained. The Monument is 75% contained and the massive Wallow fire is 80% contained at 540,000 acres.

A fire began on June 18th near the Santa Fe Ski Basin in New Mexico. It has burned 9300 acres and is only 10% contained.

There are evacuations in Gulf Shores, Alabama because of wildfires.

The mighty Souris River finally crested in Minot, North Dakota. Floowaters are nine feet deep in some areas.

A four foot shark is caught on camera jumping over a surfer in Florida. (Talk about being in the right place at the right time.)

6-27- The first 115 degree day in Phoenix this summer. An Excessive Heat Advisory is issued for tomorrow.

Worried that wildfires could wipe out the remaining Mount Graham red squirrel population an emergency declaration will allow government biologists to try and capture two breeding males and two breeding females. The squirrels will be kept at the Phoenix Zoo’s conservative center.

A six month Phoenix girl is fighting for her life after being stung by a bark scorpion behind her ear. She stopped breathing twice and has pneumonia.

Emandatory evacuations are taking place near Los Alamos nuclear weapons facility in New Mexico. A wildfire has grown from six thousand acres to forty four thousand acres in a matter of hours. At zero containment thirty structures have burned.

The Souries River crested four feet above the highest record ever recorded. All city water use is banned due to contamination from the flood.

“Fire and water” threatening three nuclear sites in the U.S. Two reactors threatened by the Missouri River in Nebraska are in “safe, cold shutdown mode.”

6-28- A forty year old Phoenix man was found dead in a hospital parking lot yesterday from heat stroke. He had been outside all day and presumed to be homeless.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued for Springerville and surrounding areas. Flooding is a real concern in burned out areas. Residents are already preparing to sand bag. (I just hope there is no dry lightning.)

This is a “make or break” day for the Los Conchas Fire in New Mexico. The fire burned an additional 10,000 acres overnight and is up to 60,000 acres in two days. The Los Alamos nuclear facility has called in teams to track plutonium and uranium readings in the air as a precaution. The fire is within four miles of the laboratory and twelve thousand people are evacuated.

6-29- An Arizona woman has been attacked and severly injured by a black bear near Pinetop, Arizona. She was walking her dog when she got within sixty yards of a dumpster the bear was foraging in. The bear attacked her repeatedly and she was airlifted to a Scottsdale hospital. It is the 9th attack since 1990 when Arizona Game & Fish began records.

Flash Flood Warnings posted for Greenlee and Cochise counties.

Fire officials “throw everything” at the fire burning near Los Alamos. The nuclear laboratory reports that drums of nulear waste material can withstand the fire. There are 30,000 fifty five gallon drums of plutonium contaminated waste on site. The town of Los Alamos is closed and twelve thousand residents are gone.

The first tropical storm for the Atlantic this season, Arlene forms.

In the Annual State of the Climate Report it has been 25 years since global temperatures have been below average. There are 41 climate indicators used. “There is a clear and unmistakable signal from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean.”

150 crossing turtles brings flights to a halt at JFK Airport. They were moving from a bay to a beach to lay eggs. All of the turtles were picked up and transported to their destination. ( There is humanity and kindness to animals afterall.)

6-30- The Wallow Fire is 93% contained.
Five bodies have been found by the Border Patrol in the Arizona deserts. All died from heat exhaustion recently.

The Los Alamos lab and city appear to be out of danger but a Native American site has burned and the fire is threatening the town of Santa Clara Pueblo. By this morning the fire is 3% contained and has burned 92,735 acres.

Flood destroys schools in Minot, North Dakota. The big question is where 1,000 kids will be sent this fall.

Tropical Storm Arlene pounds central Mexico. Up to FIFTEEN INCHES OF RAIN EXPECTED.

Planning a swim at a beach this summer? Beach closures and advisories rose by 29% in 2010 compared to a year prior due to contamination. 11% of California beaches reported elevated levels of bacterial contamination.

And there you have it my fine readers, an historic yet sad month for Arizona. The song of the month is “Better Run For Cover” by Tony Joe White.

Until next month when there isn’t one single pine tree standing remember Pioneer took bullets. Settlers took land.

Professor MR Blue Duck

Hope you enjoyed Mr. Ducks original photo....yes, he actually has ducks.

May 2011 Blue Duck Weather News

2011-06-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

May 2011 Weather News!

It has been said that the attention span of a major natural disaster is four days through the media. I think this is remarkable given the attention span to this shit; open, click delete. When Osama Bin Laden was killed early this month tornado victims in the South worried that attention would go away from their plight. It did. One has to dig deep to see any coverage of Tokyo’s disaster of March. It’s as if it never happened or they have miraculously re-built with life being sunny and peachy. I suppose there are areas there that still resemble a war zone.

Last month was a cruel weather month. I had reported that it was some comfort to know that most of the natural disasters did not break records. But you will see in this month’s mind staggering edition of Blue Duck Weather that records are falling like tooth picks.

Typically April is the windy month for Arizona but May was probably worse. There were many Red Flag Warnings, the humidity dropped and everything low and high began to dry out rapidly. As a result, and as of this writing, there are two major wildfires burning in Arizona. One began in early May and is still not under control. The number of acres burned grows by the tens of thousands in several hours. Literally the newspaper reports of today are actually yesterday’s news. That is how fast these wildfires are spreading.

There is so much to read in this exciting edition of Blue Duck Weather, events that will “stagger you out of your mind and I ain’t drunk.” (my dad’s latest sentence to me every goddamn afternoon.) We will track the history making flooding the Mighty Mississippi River, described by one as a “pig moving through a python.” The deadliest tornado in history for Missouri. Other fine points of interest are a woman who survived after being stranded for almost four months, locusts on the rampage, smoke from the Alberta, Canada fires blankets the Phoenix area some two thousand miles away, “Endangered Species Day” (what the fuck?), the cause of all of these tornadoes, and how would you like to wake up with a rabid skunk on your face?

A mild month for the Land it was in May; the average temperature was only ten degrees warmer at the end then the beginning. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 27. 50 degrees warmer. The average temperature at The Land was 74.72 degrees, the average on the New Mexico Land was 55.38 degrees.

The average humidity on The Land was 21.66% and the dew point 29.66 degrees.

It was windy with an average wind speed of 8.80mph.

.01” of rain fell on The Land, a blessing in May.

Lake Mead is coming up with a level of 43%. Powell is contributing mightily to the rise in Mead but is maintaining 55%. Pleasant and Roosevelt Lakes stand at 93% full respectively.

On a relatively calm day the barometric pressure on the land is approximately 28.40 mercury inches. Most all of May it hovered around 28.30. As cold fronts came in with wind it would drop dramatically, the lowest on May 29th at 28.01 mercury inches.

As your Editor in Chief I began these pressure reports to see if our friends around the valley could correlate this with migraine headaches. I am here to tell you I can correlate the fucking pressure with achy knee joints. I previously wrote it off to age but why do some days have no pain? I wonder how many other ailments can be linked to rapid swings in pressure including back aches. But how about insanity?

And now let us get directly to the weather news that affected so many folks around this country and the world!

5-1- Twelve degrees at the Grand Canyon this morning.

Hundreds are still missing four days after the killer tornadoes hit the South. 650,000 are still without power.

The Ohio River is rising to record levels and threatening the town of Cairo, Illinois. “Catastrophic flooding” is predicted for the Ohio Valley.

5-2- A California condor has hatched in the Vermilion Cliffs north of the Grand Canyon. It is only the 13th hatched alive in the wild since the raptors were released in Arizona in 1996.

There were 312 tornadoes reported in 24 hours last week. This doubles the record of 148 set in 1974. A new record of 600 tornadoes in a single month set also.

With five more inches of rain the Ohio River has risen to 61.05’ at Cairo, Illinois breaking a record set in 1937. “This is a dramatic once in a lifetime kind of occurrence in the region” Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said after touring the area.

From his secluded location in Colorado Ryduck reports that two days ago it was 72 degrees and today it is snowing.

5-3- The Bull fire in the Coronado National Forest is 52% contained with 9700 acres burned.

A male bear cub is captured in Peoria, Arizona near the Lake Pleasant Parkway. (I remember when the “Parkway” was a dirt road.) The healthy young bruin weighs 80 pounds. The bear likely wandered from the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. The brute will be released in northern Arizona.

23,000 tornado victims in the South have applied for FEMA assistance to help rebuild.

5-4- The Lovely Mrs. Blueduck receives the rattlesnake badge for spotting the first bastard of the season this morning. Thankfully she was in her car on the way to work instead of feeding the dogs on our porch.

The Bull Fire is 89% contained. Now the human caused Greaterville Fire in the Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona has burned 5,000 acres and is 5% contained.

Record flooding is feared in the South. “High water is rippling down the Mississippi River like a pig through a python.” Areas near Memphis are already flooding.

In the same area where 20 people died in a flash flood last summer six Boy Scouts were trapped by rising water. They were able to keep a fire burning and had food. The boy’s adult leaders had them set up camp near a mountain they could climb if their trail became flooded. (This was part of a series of decisions that saved their lives.) They were rescued two days after the planned departure from camping by a helicopter in the Albert Pike Recreation Area in south western Arkansas.

A three mile path of destruction is cut by a tornado in Auckland, New Zealand with one killed and twenty injured. Tornadoes are rare in this region.

Extremely dry weather has sparked wildfires in Scotland and Ireland. Rainfall in England & Wales are at 21% of normal with the highest average temperature in April for 353 years of record keeping.

Arctic ice is melting faster than previously thought and could raise global sea levels by as much as five feet this century. It would submerge small islands, flood New York subways and inundate low lying areas in Florida. The report will be discussed with an international group of scientists this week. (Sounds like a fucking disaster movie.)

5-5- High ozone Pollution Advisory issued for the Valley today in Phoenix.

The Greaterville Fire in southern Arizona is 90% contained.

A 52 year old woman is rescued off Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale due to heat related stress.

From Illinois to Mississippi thousands have been forced from the their homes as the Big Muddy continues to rise. The Mississippi River rose above the 46’ flood stage mark set in 1937 in Caruthersville, Missouri. Contributing factors are massive amounts of spring rain and snowmelt from Montana. A third section of a Missouri levee is blasted open to offer some relief from the relentless pressure of the river.

“Exceptional drought”, the worst category, expands from Texas to parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. March rainfalls were the lowest on record in Texas. The last seven months in Texas have been the driest consecutive months on record going back to 1895.

5-6- A 25 acre, human caused, wildfire began today near White River in the White Mountains. All electric and phone service is off on the reservation community. Thankfully the fire is already 30-40% contained.

It occurred to me today I have not seen any quail chicks yet on The Land. It is not surprising as it has been so dry. Not a blade of new grass this spring except the small patches where I frequently pee. As my dad says “its dry, dry, dry, nothing but blowing sand.” However I am proud to note I still continue to feed the thriving quail population daily on The Land. But just once I would like to get out my trusty twelve gauge and pop seven or eight for a fine dinner. The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck will have nothing of it and threatens to leave my sorry ass if I do.

Barge traffic has been halted on parts of the flooded Mississippi River. 1100 residents of Memphis are urged to evacuate before the river gets higher. Parts of the famous Beale Street, home of the blues, is taking on floodwater.
Farther south parts of the Mississippi Delta are beginning to flood sending deer and wild pigs swimming for dry land, submerging yacht clubs and closing floating casinos.

5-7 The morning report was that the Locust Fire near White River was contained. The report at six p.m. was that a wind shift flared the fire back up with 500 acres burned and only 5% contained. 45 mph wind gusts with 10% humidity is not good news. 80 homes are still evacuated.
Red Flag Warnings are issued for the entire state of Arizona until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night.
Coconino and Kaibab counties impose fire restrictions beginning today, the earliest date since 2002.

What a fine Saturday on The Land. This morning while watering trees I saw a tiny horned toad. I haven’t seen one for years. And this afternoon I saw seven tiny golfball sized quail chicks traveling with their parents. (It’s the little things that keep madness and insanity at bay.)

The Mississippi River is starting to “wrap its arms around Memphis” as it rises to record levels. According to the NWS it will crest next Wednesday at 48’, just under the 1937 record.

A first grader on a field trip to a zoo in Wichita, Kansas was mauled by a leopard yesterday. The boy scaled a railing and approached the cat’s cage. The feline stuck its paw through the cage and grabbed the boy by the side of the head. The boy suffered serious gashes on his head and neck and is hospitalized in fair condition. (Boy do I smell a lawsuit brewing here. Where was the adult supervison that allowed a five or six year old to scale a railing and approach a cage?)

5-8- There are now three fires burning in Arizona; the latest two are the Pickett Fire near Superior with 30 acres burned and zero containment. Highway 60 is closed. The second is near Sierra Vista, with one house consumed and Highway 92 closed.
By nine thirty last night the Locust Fire near White River had burned 500 acres and was 30% contained.
50mph wind gusts reported at the Grand Canyon, 45mph winds in Flagstaff, and 38mph winds in Show Low.

A State of Emergency is declared in Memphis. Emergency crews have arrived in north Memphis to help people evacuate and go to shelters.

A Canadian woman has been stranded in a remote area of Nevada for almost two months. The van, she and her husband were driving, made a wrong turn before becoming stuck. Her husband is missing. Three days after getting stuck he left for help with a GPS. She survived by eating jerky and drinking snowmelt. The woman is experiencing severe starvation but is expected to survive.

5-9- No accumulations expected but snow level to drop to 7500’ in northern Arizona today. A Wind Advisory is posted for northern Arizona and a Red Flag Warning for south east Arizona.
Maricopa County bans all open fires beginning today.

The Pickett Fire has burned 1200 acres and is 40% contained. The Locust Fire is still only 30% contained.
The latest fire to flare up in Arizona is the Horsehoe Two Fire on the New Mexico border. It is 0% contained and has forced 200 evacuations.

A fire burning 70 miles east of Lubbock, Texas has burned 65,000 acres and brings the total for Texas to 2.3 million acres since last November.

The Big Muddy, normally one half mile wide in Memphis is flowing six times the normal width at TWO MILLION CUBIC FEET PER SECOND. Four million people in the South are in a flood zone that has been replaced by farms over the years.

Tropical Storm Aere kills 17 in the Philippines; three were buried in a house by a landslide and ten others have drowned.

5-10- Another Red Flag Warning posted for south east Arizona from noon to 8:00 p.m. today.
A half inch of snow and hail recorded in Flagstaff, snow and sleet in Greer.
A beautiful partly cloudy, breezy day at The Land with a cool high (for May) of 72 degrees.

April was a wild weather month (but we at Blue Duck Weather already reported this to you) for the U.S. and not just for tornadoes. Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virginia set records for the wettest April since 1895. The fire season for Texas and the South West is already the worst since 2000.

The Big Muddy crested in Memphis at 2:00 a.m. this morning just shy of the all time record. “Carnival like atmoshphere on Beale Street as tourists gape at the high water.”

Now Louisiana is preparing for the worst; Baton Rouge is warned to expect five to twenty five feet of water.

Tropical Storm Aere leaves the Philippines with 22 dead, 210,000 affected and 6400 in evacuation shelters. Agricultural areas were spared damage and farmers welcomed the rain.

5-11- The Pickett Fire near Superior is fully contained 1300 acres. However the Horseshoe Two Fire in the Coronado National Forest near New Mexico is only 5% contained with 8900 acres burned.

New Mexico is so dry there have been twenty seven wildfires in four days. The first three months of the year have been the second driest on record. 400 fires have happened since January 1st of this year and have burned 400 square miles. The Lincoln National Forest in south east New Mexico will be closed beginning tomorrow, not just fire restrictions, but completely shut down for visitors.

Eighteen year old twins are killed after a storm blew down a large tree onto their family’s house in North Carolina. The girls were watching television together when it happened.

5-12- The Horshoe Two Fire has burned 10,000 acres in the Coronado National Forest and is only 10% contained.
Fire restrictions begin today in that forest until July 18th.

A few days ago your fine staff at Blue Duck reported that the Big Muddy was flowing at a mind staggering two million cubic feet per second. Here is perspective of how much water that is: It is comparable to a football field of water at a height of 44’ per second.
“The relentless floodwaters of the Mississippi River surge into the poverty stricken Delta region, bringing misery to hundreds of people forced from their homes and swamping massive tracts of fertile farmlands.”
Saving some from flooding will mean flooding other areas. Five counties in Mississippi are declared distaster areas and up to five thousand people will be displaced.

One hundred dead endangerd green sea turtles have been seized by Philippines custom officials. The turtles were to be smuggled to various countries and their value was a half million dollars.

5-13- The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 13,000 acres with no word of containment as of this writing.
Federal engineers are close to opening a massive spillway that would protect Batan Rouge and New Orleans but flood thousands of acres in Louisiana. 25,000 people are packing, wondering if they will have homes to come back to.

An eleven year old boy in Iowa survives a tornado that demolishes part of his home by hiding in a clothes dryer. His panicked mother called from work when she heard a local tornado warning. She told him to get to the laundry room where there were no windows.

5-14- And yet another Red Flag Warning will be issued for all of Arizona tomorrow form 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

The floodgate is opened in Morganza, Louisiana for the first time in forty years. Some areas will be covered with twenty five feet of water. The Mississippi rising river levels “have shattered records set seventy years ago.

After falling two climbers are rescued and one dead on Alaska’s Mount McKinley.

From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports 38 degrees at 1:00 p.m. with snow on the ground.

5-15- The Horshoe Two fire had consumed 20,000 acres in the Coronado National Forest and is only 20% contained.

With the Red Flag Warning in effect for Arizona 48mph wind gusts reported in Kingman, 45mph in Flagstaff and 34mph in Phoenix. (I was remarking to the Lovely Mrs. Blueduck about the mild May weather but the trade off is wind and it is only drying out the vegetation faster. It is going to be a long fire season I am afraid.)

5-16- The Horseshoe Two Fire is still only 20% contained with 26,000 acres burned. Evacuations are ordered for the South Western Research station that has twenty structures.

The reward for two javelina shot in March in Tucson has been raised to two thousand dollars. One was found dead the day after it was shot by a pellet gun. The second finally had to be put down from its injuries.

More good news for the piss hole Lake Mead! With record snows upstream the total releases will be 12.46 million acre feet of water. The lake will raise thirty feet by early 2012. This will avoid water shortages (supposedly) for five more years.

Seven thousand people are evacuated In the town of Slave Lake, Alberta from a wildfire and high winds. A third of the buildings in town have been destroyed including a shopping mall. Ninety percent of the residents have left after winds turned the fire on the town.

As of today there are 116 fires burning in Alberta with 39 out of control. Warm, dry windy conditions have contributed with a total of 206 square miles burned. (When I think of Canada I certainly don’t think of wildfires. But I’m sure when Canadians think of Arizona they don’t think of snow.)

5-17- Snow level in Arizona drops to 7000’ with no accumulations expected.
Seventy seven degrees at The Land with a 15mph wind has a chill factor of 75 degrees, in May!

NAOA satellite images have confirmed 625 tornadoes in April across the south with 4-27 and 4-28 being the strongest.

Eleven of the twenty five Morganza spillways have been opened releasing 100,00 cubic feet per second of the swollen Mississippi and flooding 8,000 acres of farmland in Louisiana.

The Coast Guard has closed the Mississippi River north of New Orleans to cargo vessels to reduce the pressure of rising floodwaters. Barges transporting coal, timber, iron, steel and half of America’s grain exports will cost hundreds of millions of dollars every day that they don’t move.

5-18- A seventy five degree high at The Land with a 22mph wind chill made for a cool 71. (I know its May.) A brief shower even produced .01”of rain. Wind Advisory is posted for the entire state. The snow level is down to seven thousand feet in Arizona. Apparently enough rain fell in northern Arizona to lift fire restrictions in the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests.

The Horsheshoe Two fire has burned 26,000 acres and only 25% contained. There are 800 firefighters battling the blaze. All air support has been grounded due to 50mph wind gusts.

(As if the South hasn’t had enough to deal with in the past month.) Locusts have been living in the ground for 13 years. The largest population in the world will appear in thirteen southern states in five weeks. Their “singing” in mass can reach 100 decibils. They will sing, mate and die in a matter of a few days. (I would just shoot myself if I were there.)

5-19- 49 degree low on The Land this morning! When I stepped out it smelled like wood smoke and the air quality was terrible. As I traveled north for work I noticed it wasn’t any better. I heard later that the storm yesterday had such strong winds that the jet stream brought smoke from the wildfires in Alberta, Canada this far south, amazing!

Yesterday’s high of 72 degrees in Phoenix was only shy of two degrees of the lowest high ever set in 1921.

The Horseshoe Two Fire is 25% contained with 33,000 acres burned. It’s smoke is traveling as far east as Texas.

A 69 year old man has been claimed by the flooded Mississippi in Vicksburg. Two firefighters in a patrol boat saw him clinging to a flooded fence. It was too late when they reached the man.

4800 people have been displaced by flooding in Mississippi.

Spring storms have piled up snow on top of already record levels in the West and major flooding is expected in June. All western states except for Arizona and New Mexico have had record snow fall.

There is 23’ on the Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Wyoming’s snow pack is 250% of normal in areas above the state’s major river basins.

5-20- The Mississippi River crests in Vicksburg, Mississippi at a new record of 57.1’ above flood stage.

Osprey chicks are being rescued from their treetop nests as floodwaters rise in Lafayette, Louisiana. As the water gets closer to their nests they become vulnerable to alligators. Alligators can jump up to three feet out of the water. Their powerful tails can power them almost vertically while their hind feet skim the water.
A state alert in Louisiana has been issued to warn people to be careful of displaced poisonous snakes and bears on the move from flooding.

According to my National Wildlife Federation calendar today is “Endangered Species Day.” I don’t remember ever seeing this before or when it was proclaimed. It struck me a bit odd and out of place. What are we supposed to do, have a toast? Or maybe shoot a spotted owl and wipe our ass with the feathers? I mean what is there to celebrate or even honor? I know what I should do, hop on a plane for Siberia and hug a fucking polar bear.

5-21- High water causes three buried caskets to float at a Yazoo, Mississippi cemetery. This cemetery has not been flooded since it was built in 1859.

5-22- The Horseshoe Two fire in south east Arizona is a stubborn bastard. It has been burning since May 8th and as of today has consumed 37,000 acres and remains at only 25% contained. On top of that a Red Flag Warning for high winds has been issued for tomorrow.

An EF-3 tornado has been confirmed in Reading, Kansas. One man was killed and twenty homes destroyed in the small town. Some residents reported baseball size hail.

Landslides destroy a Malaysian orphanage killing fifteen boys and an adult. Nine other people survived.

Five baby bobcats have been photographed in a tree behind an abandoned house at Tatum and Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale, Arizona. (I wonder where mama is? I would hate to be taking “cute” pictures and see her come back totally pissed off.)

5-23- The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 40,000 acres and still is only 25% contained.
The Laguna Fire five miles north of Yuma has burned 751 acres along the Colorado River. Thanfully it is 90% contained.
A brush fire is reported near Highway 87 north of Punkin Center.

The deadliest single tornado ever to strike Missouri has killed one hundred and sixteen people. It is the strongest tornado in the United States since1947.
The EF4 tornado had winds of 198mph with a debris cloud 18,000 feet high. Papers and x-rays found sixty miles from Joplin where the tornado tore the town in half. Two thousand buildings destroyed.

5-24- Another deadly blast of tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas today. Four were killed in Grady Count, Oklahoma. One tornado may have been an EF5.
So far this year there have been 488 deaths nationally. The average is 50. The cause for the tornado onslaught is the Jet stream from the Rockies and the northern Plains colliding with warm air from the south.

More Red Flag Warnings for Arizona and a High Ozone Alert for Phoenix.

Recently there has been so much rain in Montana that broad areas in the south eastern part of the state are underwater. One person is dead and a fifty mile stretch of I-90 is closed. The Indian community of Lodge Grass is completely cut off from surrounding areas.

5-25- The latest tornado outburst kills fourteen in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. Forty five million people are under threat of severe weather across the Mid West and the South.

The death toll in Joplin, Missouri is one hundred and twenty five with seven hundred injured.

Relentless snow in Colorado prompt Aspen and Arapahoe Basin ski resorts to reopen as long as the snow keep falling.

5-26- Allergy season ain’t over yet! Ragweed pollen in Phoenix today the worst in the nation.

There have been various reports about the missing in Joplin, Missouri but the official count is 232. It is hoped that many are alive with friends or family in other homes that weren’t destroyed.

Tornadoes strike Memphis, St. Louis and Kansas City.

A rare tornado reported in northern California. Blizzard conditions in the Sierras.

In south east Montana, Crow tribal officials send search teams to remote parts of their reservation to look for stranded people due to flooding. 75 homes have been damaged and 150 are in shelters.

Thousands of people along the Philippine coast move to emergency shelters as Typhoon Songda approaches with 93mph winds.

5-27- The first 100 degree high at the Land for the season. The first 100 in Phoenix was on April 1st.

Three hundred thousand dollars in federal funds have been allocated by the Arizona governor for last summer’s Schultz fire victims near Flagstaff. Concrete barriers and sandbags will be constructed to help preven further erosion from flash flooding.

The death toll keeps rising in Joplin, Missouri and now is at 130.

The flooded Musselshells River covers portions of the small town of Roundup, Montana with as much as six feet of water. Eastbound I-90 lanes from Livingston to Springdale are closed due to flooding.

5-28- Red Flag Warnings posted in Arizona today. Wind gusts of 43mph in Flagstaff, 23mph in Sedona and 30mph in Kingman.

Boaters and campers are banned from a lake and dam near Yuma because of the recent Laguna Fire. It has burned 800 acres of prime riparian habitat along the Colorado River.

Pinal County, Arizona issues a rabies alert after four skunks have been confirmed rabid. The latest happened at a Mammoth home. A skunk used a doggie door to enter a home. The owner woke up to a skunk pawing at his face. He was able to get the skunk outside where he killed it with a shovel. “Rabies is basically 100% fatal once symptoms appear.” (The dude is lucky the skunk didn’t spray while he was getting it out of the house. That would feel 100% fatal.)

The confirmed dead in Joplin is up to one hundred and forty two people. One hundred are still missing or unaccounted for. One eighteen year old boy missing since the tornado was found dead in a pond yesterday. He was riding in his dad’s truck after graduation when the storm struck. He was either ejected or pulled out of the truck by the violent tornado.

Overnight violent thunderstorms swept from New England to Georgia, knocking out power and killing three in the Atlanta area.

Welcome to Memorial Day weekend for some unlucky wanna be campers. A key highway into Yellowstone National Park is closed due to twenty five feet of snow and only one campground in the massive park is open. Popular Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge road is closed due to seventeen feet of snow. Campers are urged to go to lower elevations in New Mexico or Arizona.

Snowmelt and warming rains spread flooding to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. All eyes are on the Missouri River for the next month.

In Indiana a couple found a receipt from a Joplin hardware store on their porch. It may have blown 525 miles, the longest recorded journey of debris from a tornado. In order to reach Indiana the receipt would had to have been sucked into the tornado and then carried by the jet stream for 125 hours.
The previous record was a cancelled check that traveled 210 miles after the 1915 tornado in Great Bend, Kansas.

5-29- Red Flag Warnings issued for entire state of Arizona. 64mph winds in Flagstaff, 59mph winds in Winslow. Several wildfires popped up; one north of Winona, one near Happy Jack and one north of the Pinetop country club. No word of cause or amount of acres burned as of this report.

The President visits Joplin today. At 5:41 p.m. a moment of silence will be observed. At that time one week ago the deadly monster swept through the town.

Areas of Monatana have received EIGHT INCHES OF RAIN in the last few days.

Ten inches of snow fell yesterday in the Sierras.

450 late afternoon flights cancelled in Chicago due to powerful thunderstorms.

Heavy snowmelt and the most spring rain on record have Lake Champlain in Vermont at its highest level ever. 500 homes have been destroyed by flooding.

Grand Coule Dam is releasing massive amounts of water to make way for late season snowmelt. In these releases deadly gas bubbles are killing hundreds of thousands of fish downstream in the Columbia River.

In New York a family pet dog attacks and kills a four year old boy. When the mother tried to intervene the Cane Cosso mastiff attacked her also. She was not seriously injured before emergency crews arrived.

5-30- A cool 82 degree high on The Land. Phoenix has a high of 87 degrees. This is due to a strong cold front that generated a lot of wind. The average temperature for this day in Phoenix is 99 degrees, the record is 114 degrees. Sadly we may not see these cool temperatures until next October.

Two wildfires have destroyed twelve homes near Amarillo, Texas.

5-31- The Horseshoe Two fire is turning out to be massive. It has burned 64,290 acres and is 45% contained. It is in terrain so rugged it can only be fought by air although nine hundred firefighters are on site.
The Wallow Fire near Alpine has burned 1450 acres and forces evacuations of campers. It began two days ago and is human caused.

Emergency phone service has been disrupted across most of eastern Montana because of record breaking rain in the past week.

A heat wave with temperatures in the nineties in Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Washington D.C.

Evacuations in North Dakota are eminent as the Missouri River begins to rise.

Well May is now nothing more than a memory or a nightmare depending upon which part of the country you live in. But this month’s quote is appropriate in a sad but uplifting way. No matter the blow people are resilient and rebuild their shattered homes and lives after Mother Nature takes all they own. “Trees are the most trusting of all living creatures because they trust enough to put their roots down in one place, knowing they will be there for life.”

The wistful song of the month is “High Sierra” by Boz Scaggs.

Until you are floating (or riding rapids) down the Mighty Mississippi with Huckleberry Finn remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Honorable, Award Winning, Distinguished, Undeterred
Professor MR Blue Duck.

April 2011 Blue Duck Weather News

2011-05-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

April 2011 Weather News!

From personal experiences in life I have always called April the cruel month, not necessarily from a weather point of view. The reasons are varied and unimportant. This month was cruel; from flooding in the Midwest, Texas burning down from border to border and the worst series of tornadoes the South has endured in eighty six years. A record number of tornadoes occurred this month. And now the disaster that killed so many in the South is being called the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina.

Perhaps it is just me, but it seems I have heard the term “of Biblical proportions” more in the past year then ever with natural disasters. If there is any sick consolation most of the severe weather is not unprecedented. One may have to go back nearly a hundred years but it has been worse. To me “Biblical proportions” would be a dream I had long ago. Sitting on the roof of our home I watched a wall of water coming in from the west. It stretched from as far north and south as I could see. It was taller then the hills surrounding Hidden Valley where we live. In my dream I set balloons free as I waited for the wall of water. That would be a flood of “Biblical proportions.”

Except for a beautiful day on April 9th with just an average temperature of 47 degrees and .29’’ of rain on The Land, the rest of the month was dry, dusty and windy. The average daily wind speed was 8.76mph. With low humidity and dew points Arizona is drying up into a powder keg waiting to go off. Appropriately enough this month’s weather song is “Arizona Dust” by Blue Rodeo.

Thankfully the average temperature on The Land was five degrees cooler at the end of the month than the beginning. On April 30th the high was 79. On April 1st it was near 100 degrees. Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 14 degrees cooler at the end of the month.

The average temperature on The Land for April was 70.68 degrees, 48.90 degrees in the mysterious mountains of western New Mexico.

The average humidity was 26.56% and the average dew point was 31.26 degrees. (Not bone dry yet.)

If our local friends get migraines from the fluctuations in barometric pressure this month would have had them shoot themselves. From April 15th through the 30th it bounced up and down daily resulting in strong afternoon winds.

Rainfall for the year on The Land is .82’’, Phoenix 1.03’’.

And just to once again remind you of our dependence on water the following are the lake levels for the month: Mead is rising due to “government donations” and is 43% full, Pleasant 94%, Powell 52% and our crown jewel of the desert, Roosevelt 94%

Your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather searched every nook and cranny to bring you news lighter if not stranger than the tragedies of the month. In this sobering, but not sober, addition of Blue Duck Weather you will read about “the perfect honeymoon”, a sacred 400 pound turtle, the best dog story ever, a new record low high in Phoenix, federal government to “give” water to Lake Mead, lizard smugglers, horses on fire (tragic), porcupines moved from the protected list to pests in one state, shooting ducks (Good God!), a multi-vortex tornado with three funnels, how a bathtub saved a woman from a tornado, armadillos pass leprosy to humans and finally, a kangaroo on the loose in Tempe, Arizona.

4-1- One hundred degrees in Phoenix breaks the old record of ninety six degrees set in 1966. This is the second earliest one hundred degree day on record. The average is May 2nd.

This is also the first day of Maricopa County’s ozone “season” which lasts through September. (It’s pretty bad when pollution monitoring is called a season.)

Heavy snow in the North East with a foot expected in eastern New York and New England.

The death toll from mud and rock slides in southern Thailand is up to 25. Twelve hundred and forty six schools have been damage.

Three skiers have been killed by a “huge” avalanche in southern Switzerland. It happened near the area where five others were killed last weekend. Warmer spring weather increases avalanche danger.

4-2- Wind Advisory issued for northern Arizona.

It has been confirmed by the NWS that nine tornadoes ripped through the Tampa Bay region two days ago. 18,000 people were still without electricity yesterday.

One foot of snow is on the ground from the latest storm in New Hampshire and Maine.

Radiation from the crippled nuclear plant in Japan is leaking directly into the Pacific Ocean.

4-3- 63 mph winds in Doni Park near Flagstaff, 56 mph winds in Winslow. A High Pollution Advisory is issued in Maricopa County due to dust. A wind driven fire breaks out near Buckeye, Arizona burning ten acres and threatening homes.

And yet another wildfiire in Colorado; this one is west of Fort Collins and 35 homes are evacuated. 50mph winds expanded the fire from 25 acres yesterday to a thousand acres today.

According to the United Nations severe drought and high food prices have left five million hungry across the Horn of Africa. A 110 pound bag of maize has increased 25% to 125% in remote areas. Cereal prices are expected to increase 50% in the next six months.

The massive search for those still missing in Japan is officially over today. Those not recovered are presumed to be buried at sea. But three weeks after Japan’s earthquake a dog has been found alive on top of a floating rooftop that had been swept out to sea. (Brother fate has no rhyme or reason.)

4-4- From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports that temperatures were in the record breaking eighties yesterday, 50mph winds last night and snow today!

The wildfire near Fort Collins, Colorado has now burned 15 homes.

A wildfire near Ruidosa Downs, New Mexico has burned 6500 acres and five homes. A race track and casino are evacuated. 1,000 homes are without electricity.

Seven hundred fishermen are missing in Myanmar after three days of storms tore apart their “rickety” boats in the Adaman Sea. 15,000 fishermen have been rescued! (You can bet these aren’t recreational fishermen by the sheer numbers. This is their livelihood and survival.)

A sick giant fresh water turtle has been captured near Hanoi, Vietnam. It will be given medical treatment as many believe the creature is sacred. It took fifty workers two hours to capture the 440 pound turtle, estimated to be eighty years old.

4-5- The latest storms in the South prompted 970 weather alerts in twenty four hours! Eight people are killed, most by fallen trees. A Georgia man and his young son were killed when a tree fell through the roof of their home. 167,000 are without electricity. One inch hail in Atlanta, wind damage in Tennessee, and unconfirmed tornadoes in Ohio.

Southern New Mexico residents evacuated yesterday because of a wind driven wildfire. With 6,000 acres burned it is only 20% contained.

A tropical storm kills thirteen and injures one hundred people in Bangladesh. Most of the dead was caused from collapsed mud thatched roof homes.

Water leaking into the ocean at 30 gallons per minute from the failed Japanese nuclear reactor is 7.5 million times above “safe” levels!

A two year old boy, dressed in light clothing, wandered from his home in Elgin, South Carolina. Frantic searchers had to postpone looking for him after the sun went down. Temperatures dropped to 40 degrees during the night. The boy was found the next morning with the familys part Labradour covering the boy to keep him warm. The boy and hero are fine.

A couple from Stockholm, Sweden set out on a four month honeymoon trip. First they were stranded in Munich, Germany due to one of Europe’s worst snow storms. Then they experienced the devastation of the cyclone in Australia, flooding in Brisbane and brush fires in Perth. Then they witnessed the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch and finally felt the tremors of the disaster in Japan. (Sounds like my kind of trip. However, after that experience, the lovely Mrs. Blue Duck would have run screaming, proclaiming me to be the Devil!)

4-6- Plastic water bottles make up one third of all litter on Grand Canyon trails. Water filling stations are being built on the upper trails. ( I have a much better idea. Post guards that watch for people tossing trash. When they do toss trash just toss the idiots over the edge into the abyss. The buzzards will clean up the rest of the “trash.”)

Strong winds caused the fire near Fort Collins, Colorado to flare up yesterday. At only 15% containment it has burned five square miles and destroyed fifteen homes.

An extreme drought still exists in 40% of Texas, mainly in the eastern part of the state. Some areas have not had a drop of rain since last fall and wildfires continue to burn in west Texas.

“Geiger counters are almost as common as lunch boxes now for schools in Japan.”

A team of physicists and statisticians set out to challenge the scientific consensus on global warming. The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project is producing results identical to those with the prevailing view that the planet is warming rapidly.

The depletion of the ozone layer reached an unprecedented low over the Arctic this spring because of “harsh” chemicals and cold water. There has been a 40% loss from the beginning of winter to March.

4-7- Winter Storm Warnings issued for northern Arizona. (But I thought it was spring.)

RyDuck issues a spring weather report from his secluded location in Colorado. At ten thirty in the morning it was 46 degrees, foggy and humid like a “San Diego morning.”

There is a severe drought from the Gulf Coast to Colorado. Parts of Oklahoma are so bad that “the grass is so dry it’s like gasoline.”

4-8- Snow Warnings issued at 6:00 p.m. for Winslow, Flagstaff and Munds Park, Arizona. I-40 closed due to blinding dust.

For the third straight year Fargo, North Dakota residents are preparing for massive flooding from the Red River. 2.5 million sandbags have been filled and stacked since February 14th. The river has risen seven feet in the forty eight hours and may crest forty feet above flood stage in two days.

4-9- Eight days ago the high was a few degrees shy of one hundred on The Land. This morning’s low was 42 degrees and the high was 52. A steady, gentle soaking rain for most of the morning produced three tenths of an inch. There was a dusting of snow on Table Top mountain when the clouds broke at four p.m.

Phoneix set a new record low high of 54 degrees. One foot of snow fell in Flagstaff with 28 inches at the Snow Bowl, two inches in Sedona and ten inches in Ashfork. The snow level dropped to 4’000 feet in Gila County. ( It was a welcome sight when April was promising hot temperatures to come earlier, and still is. But we’ll take whatever we can get for moisture and cooler temperatures. I thought my weekend morning fires outside were over several weeks ago and that was a real treat this morning.)

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is going to help Lake Mead by releasing 11.56 million acre feet of water from Lake Powell. An acre foot is 325,851 gallons. The bureau determined that Powell will rise above the “designated level” in which more water can be released into the Colorado River.

Firefighters from around the country are battling a wildfire in northern Texas that has burned 61,000 acres. It was caused by sparks from pipe cutting. 170 cattle have been killed and four homes destroyed. Temperatures in the 90s and winds of 35mph were helping the fire spread rapidly.

82,000 acres have burned in the past week across the state.

A family of four near Pasco, Washington survives after their car was totaled and nearly buried by an avalanche on I-90 five miles east of the Snoqualine summit. The force of the snow pushed their vehicle into a concrete barrier and shattered the front window. All of the airbags inside deployed.

A sand storm causes a pile up that kills ten mortorists and injures ninety seven in northern Germany; eighty cars were involved. (Sand storms in Germany?)

4-10- Afterday yesterday’s rain cleared out it was cool and breezy on The Land today with an average tempertaure of 49.50 degrees! On April 2nd the average temperature was 78.50 degrees, almost thirty degrees warmer!

A fifteen hundred dollar reward is being offered for the killing of a Hereford bull in southern Arizona near Sasabe. The bull was shot and left to die on or about March 21st. ( I seem to recall, from a past life, that stealing or killing someone’s cattle was a hanging offense.)

The massive range fire in north Texas is the largest in the nation burning portions of three counties and 125 square miles or 71,000 acres.

The Red River crested in Fargo yesterday at 38.75’, the fourth highest on record. Flood stage is 18’. The city hasn’t been damaged but residents are urged not to travel outside of it. Sixty miles of roads are closed due to flooding and water flowed on all four lanes of I-29 north of Fargo. This stretch of highway was actually raised recently to avoid flooding.

A tornado three quarters of a mile wide with 165mph winds injures fourteen people and flattens twelve city blocks in Mapleton, Iowa. There was baseball size hail and seven of the fourteen injured were struck by lightning at the fairgrounds. The governor has accepted a State of Emergency.

From Iowa to Wisconsin Severe Tornado Warnings” have been issued. This is a “very serious situation” exclaimed one meteorologist.

In Chicago high temperatures two days ago reached only 45 degrees but a high of 88 forecast for today. If it reaches that it would be the largest 48 hour increase in thirty years. But dramatically warmer temperatures in such a short amount of time may trigger strong winds, heavy rain and tornadoes.

Two million acres have been set aside in Alaska to try and help the endangered beluga whale habitat. Two days ago an additon three thousand square miles in the Cook Inlet were included. Since the area is so close to Anchorage critics say this could cripple the state’s development.

Eighteen hundred montor lizards being smuggled in a pickup are seized by authorities in Thailand. The Customs Department believe the lizards were bound for China to be eaten. This “delicacy” sells for seven dollars to fifteen dollars per pound in China.

4-11- Out of control wildfires in Texas have burned 400 square miles. FEMA is expected to respond. (I hope they do a better job than the pathetic response after Katrina.) Forest service officials are saying “the single most worst fire day this state has ever seen.” 50mph winds have grounded air support. Another said “It was unbelievable, just horrific. There were horses on fire, buildings on fire.”

“Unprecedented” flooding from the Red River in rural North Dakota. Cass County, north of Fargo is nearly inaccessible by vehicle.

One month after the disaster in Japan an aftershock of 6.6 is recorded. 13,178 are dead and as many missing. 150,000 are homeless. There is 14 million gallons of highly radio active water from the damaged nuclear facility that officials have no idea how to get rid of.

4-12- A Texas firefighter is in critical condition with third degree burns over 60% of his body while fighting a 60,000 acre fire north of Amarillo. Thirty three states have sent firefighting help. This year 654 fires have burned across Texas, consuming 916 square miles of land (one hundred thousand acres) and destroyed 189 homes. This past March in Texas was the driest since 1895.

It is being called the “Maple Miracle.” Storm spotters are credited for giving a critical fifteen minute warning before the devastating tornado hit Mapleton, Iowa earlier this week and destroying one hundred homes.

Up until now porcupines have been listed as a protected species in Pennsylvania. They have caused so much property damage the Game Comission is declaring an open season on the terrorist bastards.

4-13- A High Wind Advisory is posted for central Arizona and a Red Flag Warning for northern Arizona.

Two hundred residents who live near the Des Lacas River in North Dakota are ordered to evacuate because a nearby dam may fail from flood water pressure.

Residents in Valley City, North Dakota are sandbagging after forecasters predict the Sheyenne River will flood higher and faster than expected. The crest is set for tomorrow and will be two feet higher than initially feared.

The Red River is flooding in record proportions in rural Minnesota.

The Center of Biological Diversity in Tucson reports “BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed or sickened up to 200 times the number of animals estimated by the government.” (Does that surprise you?)

4-14- The town of Oslo, Minnesota is cut off by road access due to the flooding Red River. The only option is by boat for two miles at least for the next week.

Six people killed by lightning in Kathmandu, Nepal.

An avalanche of mud slams into a bus in Columbia killing twenty. The government says the recent LaNina weather pattern, which has killed hundreds and forced two million from their homes, is the worst natural disaster in the country’s history.

4-15- Ozone Health Watch issued for the Valley today in Phoenix. (‘Tis the season.)

A Glendale, Arizona man is being sought for shooting ducks and posting it on a You Tube video. The man’s girlfriend recorded him shooting the ducks at a Glendale apartment complex. The video shows the man dropping food on a sidewalk to lure the ducks before shooting them. The man said “this is what people do in Arizona when they get bored.” (Catch the fucker and shoot his ass Sheriff Joe!)

Unconfirmed tornadoes, one a mile wide, have killed nine people in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Arkansas. But to add to the misery more damage was done by deadly straightline winds, sudden violent downbursts that strike with hurricane force in the dark of night.

Two hundred and fifty confirmed tornadoes in the South already this year.

A spring blizzard dumps sixteen inches of snow in Paxton, Nebraska and closes the state’s main highway, 170 miles of I-80 for 17 hours.

A new wildfire west of Dallas, Texas has burned 30 homes, displaced 275 people and burned 20,000 acres.

4-16- A volunteer firefighter has died fighting one of the fires in Texas. He was overcome by smoke, fell into a ditch and was “consumed”. 400,000 acres have burned across the state so far.

Two years after an arsonist set the largest fire in L.A. County history the National Forest Service and other state and federal agencies will plant three million trees on ten thousand acres. The project will take three years and also involves removing invasive plants and restoring habitat on another forty thousand acres. The 2009 Station Fire burned 161,000 acres, destroyed 89 homes and killed two firefighters.

The Red River crests at Grand Forks, North Dakota at 49.87’ complicated by falling snow. Eight inches have fallen west of Fargo.

The death toll from deadly storms in the South rise to 17. North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma are the hardest hit. A State of Emergency has been declared for the entire state of Alabama. A “multi-vortex” tornado with two funnels reported in this state.

A Tornado Emergency is in effect from Raleigh, North Carolina and north to Pennsylvania. April has an average of 150 tornadoes. That many have been reported in the last three days.

4-17- There were 94 unconfirmed tornadoes in North Carolina last night. Eleven people are confirmed dead in Bertie County and four in Bladen County. Deaths in five other states the last three days bring the total to 45. The governor declares a State of Emergency with the most tornadoes since March of 1980.

4-18- Wind Advisory issued for northern Arizona and a Red Flag Warning for south east Arizona.

Texas governor asks for his state to be proclaimed a federal disaster area and subsequent federal aid.

A homeless man is being charged for a fire near Austin that has burned 100 acres and damaged 20 homes. He said he left his campfire unattended when he went to a store to buys some beer. There is a state wide ban on burning of any kind.

Late snow storm for Chicago leaves three inches on the ground.

4-19- Due to fifty feet of snow pack in the higher elevations Lake Powell will receive enough water to help the poor old piss hole known as Lake Mead. This lake will raise 23’ by summer’s end filling it half way.

“Wildfires have Texas under Siege.” So far this year 1.65 million acres have burned. Fires are burning across the entire state with forty active fires. 224 homes have been destroyed. (It is not even summer!)

A wildfire burning 70 miles from Fort Worth has grown from 63,000 acres to 150,000 acres in one day.

The drought is so bad in Texas one National Weather Service meteorologist compares it to a Category 5 hurricane for potential damage.

4-20- One survivor from last weekend’s tornadoes in North Carolina huddled in her bathtub for protection. She was found in the bathtub about seventy five yards from what was left of her home.

Rescuers searching for three hikers missing in Utah’s National Park actually found nine huddled in a remote canyon. “The conditions in the canyon were horrendous with swiftly moving freezing water.”

Another massive fish die-off has officials puzzled. Thousands of sardines turned up dead in Ventura Harbor in California apparently using up all of the available oxygen.

4-21- A Phoneix intersection at 43rd Avenue and Greenway is closed when a swarm of bees stung motorists, forcing them out of their vehicles. One man was hospitalized in serious condition and two others treated at the scene. Two dogs in the surrounding neighborhood were stung to death.

A two year old girl in the Cave Creek, Arizona area was bitten by a coyote last week. Since the animal got away she will be given precautionary rabies treatments. Coyotes in the area will be trapped and tested for rabies. It is extremely rare for a lone coyote to approach a human and the odd behaviour has Arizona Game and Fish concerned.

Light rain and higher humidity are helping firefighters west of Fort Worth. The fire is 25% contained and 160 homes have been destroyed.

4-22- Earth Day! Hayduke lives!

A landslide buries tents near an illegal mine shaft in a southern Philippines village killing three and twenty one are missing. Soldiers, police and miners used shoevels and their bare hands to dig out eleven surviviors from mud and rock. The landslide happened after heavy rain while the miners were sleeping.

4-23- First EF4 tornado with 200mph winds hits St. Louis, Missouri. Heavy damage was sustained at Lambert Airport with the entire roof of one concourse lifted off sending shattered glass within. There were several injuries reported at the airport and it is closed indefinitely. Called the worst storm in forty years 750 homes were damaged in St. Louis County.

Tornado Warnings are also posted from Texas to Ohio.

High winds cause a Red Flag Warning to be posted in south east Arizona and Wind Advisories in northern Arizona.

4-24- 45mph wind gusts in Flagstaff and a Wind Advisory is also posted for Maricopa County.

Firefighters are making progress battling fires across Texas. One fire near Fort Davis in west Texas has burned 205,000 acres and is only 25% contained.

4-25- One thousand people are evacuating in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The levee that protects the town from the Black River may burst. People in flood prone Kentucky are also packing up. Some areas have received 10-15” of rain in the past four days. The NWS reports “The levee is weakening by the minute and may fail at any time.”

The latest tornado in Little Rock, Arkansas sets an all time record for this time of year in the South; 292 confirmed tornadoes so far.

The bodies of two missing skiers have been found under fifteen feet of snow in the Grand Tetons. A park spokesperson said the two were in their tents and inside their sleeping bags when they were swept away by an avalanche last weekend.

4-26- Wind Advisories and Red Flag Warnings are posted across entire Arizona. Sustained winds in Flagstaff of 40mph, 25mph with a peak wind gust of 39mph in Phoenix. (Weather officials have expressed grave concern of the potential of wildfires in southern Arizona. With a dry winter, and now wind with humidity levels in the teens and dew points in the single digits, this area is as prime as New Mexico and Texas. Gulp!)

“Breaking News”: The levee protecting Poplar Bluff, Missouri has breached. Thirty areas have overflowed and too dangerous to sandbag. The entire state is under a State of Emergency. Fifteen inches or rain has fallen in some areas in four days!

“The town is gone.” Nine folks were killed in Vilonia, Arkansas and sixty unaccounted for after a tornado leaves of path of destruction 15 miles long and three miles wide. Winds were 135mph!

Six Tornado Watches have been issued in 13 states. When all is said and done this record extreme weather will have affected 150 million people in the Midwest, the South and East portions of the country.

4-27- The Phoenix area was rated the 2nd worst in the nation last year for fine particle air pollution. Maricopa County is whining because one of the pollution monitoring stations is in Pinal County. The stinking, dusty cow shit farms are skewing the pollution readings according to them.

Another night of severe weather in the South leaves one dead in Arkansas and three in Mississippi. One was a police officer camping with his daughter. They were in a tent at a state park. The man covered his daughter with his body to protect her. A tree limb struck him in the head, his daughter was not injured.

One hundred homes damaged by a tornado near Canton in East Texas.

A woman in New Mexico, out for a walk, has died after being attacked by four pit bulls. An officer said he found the dogs mauling the woman. He fired several shots at one of the dogs and managed to scatter the rest. Three of the dogs were caught and the one that was shot was found dead under a house.

4-28- Two hundred and ninety folks in five states lost their lives last night after killer tornadoes struck. Tuscalousa and Pratt City, Alabama have been virtually leveled. The President declares parts of Alabama a federal disaster and will travel there tomorrow. An EF-5 tornado with wind gusts over 200mph has not been confirmed by the NWS. Other states with lost lives and major property damage are Mississippi, Tennesee, Georgia and Virginia.

Red Flag Warnings and fire watches posted for the entire state of Arizona through eight p.m. tomorrow. A one hundred acre brush fire is 80% contained near Sunset Point north of Phoenix.

Louisiana researchers have concluded that armadillos can pass leprosy to humans. Up until this research it was thought the disease was only passed from human to human. Every year 100-150 people in the U.S. are diagnosed. Most of them are from Texas and Louisiana.

4-29- “Southern Storms: Worst disaster for U.S. since Katrina.” Deadliest tornadoes since 1932. The death toll is up to 328, two thirds of them in Alabama. Concord, Alabama is so devastated that authorities have closed the town to keep out gawkers with cameras. The President says he has never seen devastation like this. 2,000 National Guard troops are deployed to help.

One woman and her two daughters survived by climbing into a tanning bed and closing the lid. The woman’s tanning salon was destroyed.

A family of four, dining at a restaurant, hid in the cooler with twelve employees. The restaurant was leveled.

A baby was found alive in a crib covered by debris of a home knocked down to its foundation.

4-30- It just keeps getting worse in the South from the recent tornadoes. It is now called the second deadliest series of storms since 1925 with 342 souls lost. TEN THOUSAND buildings destroyed.

Residents of Tuscaloosa, Alabama are now dealing with looters. One woman said “The first night they took my jewelry, my watch, my guns. They were out last night doing it again.” Police have imposed a curfew and the National Guard is helping to stop the scavenging. (Just shoot the fuckers on sight!)

In Tuscaloosa one tornado left an 80 mile path, the longest in Alabama history. That tornado has been categorized as an EF-4 with 165mph winds.

It has also been confirmed that an EF-5 tornado with 205mph winds killed 13 in Smithville, Mississippi.

The Pull fire on the Arizona border with Mexico has burned 2300 acres in the Coronado National Forest. State wide humidity is in the single digits.

A wallaby was seen looking into a window of a home in Tempe, Arizona staring at the homeowner’s pet dog. Police responded with some disbelief. Sure enough “Wesley”, two feet tall and weighing 35 pounds was retrieved by his owner who lived nearby.

Your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather ended this dismal weather month on a lighter note, a fucking kangaroo in Tempe. I can just see the cops roll their eyes when they received that report. But what is the old saying? “I have to laugh to keep from crying.”

Hopefully the quote of the month that I stole brings some solace to the grim weather events of the last month. “Man must rise above the Earth- to the top of the atmosphere and beyond- for only then will he fully understand the world in which he lives.” (How about my rooftop in a dream?)

Until next month remember, Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Honorable, Distinguished Professor MR Blue Duck.

March Blue Duck Weather News 2011

2011-04-03T16:58:00.001-07:00

March 2011 Weather News!

On March 11th I was on the road for work. At six fifteen a.m. I turned on the news to hear the live coverage of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Tsunami warnings were issued in Hawaii, Alaska and down the entire length of the west coast. This really sounded serious, and just like I did on September 11th, I called the Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck and told her to check out the news.

The earthquake literally rocked the planet knocking it three inches off of its axis. The island of Japan moved six feet! At a 9.0 on the Richter Scale it was the strongest ever to strike Japan and the third strongest of recorded history on this planet.

Your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather rarely reports on natural disasters not associated with weather such as volcanoes, earthquakes and massive oil spills. But when they have the ability to effect the environment, weather and even life as we know it we have to do our just duty. When I read the words Radiation Alert after the nuclear reactors in Japan were in trouble I thought no weather alert could be this bad, even a massive hurricane. With weather you can feel it, see it and even taste it. But with radiation, nothing unless you are close enough to be burned to death.

The images of this tragedy unfolded before our eyes on the limitless media outlets and the Lovely Mrs. Blueduck told me the apocalyptic photos reminded her of Cormack McCarthy’s “The Road.” Although not as personal and close to home, the mayhem unfolding was every bit as profoundly disturbing as the morning of September 11th, 2001.

Our hearts go out to the fine people of Japan who have demonstrated the true spirit of helping one another in a grave time of need. Unlike the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when “fine” Americans murdered each other, looted and generally panicked, the people of Japan are demonstrating they know how to handle a tragedy and each other. After all it wasn’t that long ago two nuclear bombs obliterated hundreds of thousands of people in Japan.

Every thing else in this weather journal may seem trite and insignificant in the wake of Japan’s tragedy. But take it down to a personal level, meaning you and your family. It only takes one storm, one flood, one snowfall, one killer wind or one wildfire to either change or end your life or the lives of your loved ones. If that ever happens to you it will change your world every bit as profoundly as the disaster in Japan.

There is so much to read, digest, meditate and pass out from boredom in this fine edition of Blue Duck Weather. Included in the brilliant reporting you will find out what Wyoming ranchers really feel about the latest proposed coyote control, a troubling early fire season for parts of the U.S., heavy snow in the eastern U.S. actually tied to global warming (you have to rely on weather science and not political spin to draw your own conclusions), another United States animal officially declared extinct (this is troubling down to my soul), more mass wildlife extinctions (more troubling), a monkey in a woman’s bra (we don’t make this shit up), find out what a Rodenator is, mountain lions spotted in north Scottsdale, a “domestic” dog and a coyote running together and the latest weather radar break through called Dual Polarization.

Well, fucking summer is on the way for the vast desert of Arizona. It was twenty degrees warmer at the end of March than the beginning as average temperatures go. At Talking Trees and Antelope Hill it was eleven degrees warmer. The average temperature for the month at The Land was 63.50 degrees. The average temperature in the high country of New Mexico was 45.22 degrees.

The average humidity at The Land was 32.62 percent. The average dew point was close at 29.83 degrees.

If barometric pressure really affects our local migraine sufferers they should have had a “stable” month. It was fairly consistent but on March 5th through the 7th it dropped like a rock and meant a subsequent Wind Advisory.

The Land had a gentle soaking rain of .21 inches on March 21st, Phoenix received a trace. The total rainfall for the year at The Land is .52”, Phoenix .76”.

For some reason my reliable lake level source did not include Lake Mead or Powell (maybe their embarrassed.) this month. But Lake Pleasant is a healthy 92% full and Roosevelt a robust 93%

The quote of the month I had no shame in stealing is “In the wilderness is the preservation of the World.” (until us two legged’s came along.)

3-1- Crews in rescue boats have rescued thirty people from floods in Ohio. Melting snow and rain threaten all 88 counties in this state.

Speaking of Ohio, this report (true and verified and not just a bunch of shit) comes from my good friend TiptoDuck who is from the Ohio: The Sierra Club and the U.S. Forest Service were presenting, in a meeting with Wyoming ranchers, an alternative for controlling coyote populations without shooting or trapping them. The more “humane” solution proposed would be to capture the ‘yotes alive, the males castrated and then they would be set free.
One rancher in the back of the room stood up, tipped his hat back and said “Son, I don’t think you understand our problem here. These coyotes ain’t fuckin’ our sheep, they’re eating them.”
The meeting never really got back to order.

3-2- Downtown Findlay, Ohio is flooded from heavy rain. The Blanchard River crested at 5.5’ above flood stage.

Sixteen thousand acres have burned and one firefighter injured by fast moving wildfires moving through Florida’s central Atlantic coast.

A group of scientists attribute global warming for the massive snow fall in the U.S. this winter. New York and Chicago had record snow fall. At one point every state except Florida had snow on the ground. The old adage “It’s too cold to snow” has some truth to it one meteorologist said. A colder atmosphere holds less moisture limiting snowfall. In the Arctic temperatures were at record warm levels and the area of the Arctic Ocean covered with ice dropped to record levels for this past December, January and February.

3-3- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has officially declared that the eastern mountain lion is extinct. Some mountain lion enthusiasts have insisted there is still a small breeding population of the eastern cats. But after a lengthy review federal officials concluded there are no breeding populations and the species has probably been extinct since the 1930s. This cougar will be removed from the endangered species list where it was placed in 1973.
(The finality of this proclamation is beyond sad, beyond tragic. It turns the finite into the infinite in a space where we have no comprehension.)

The earth has undergone mass extinctions, during which more than 75% of existing species disappear, exactly five times in the past 540 million years. But researchers from the University of California say we may beginning the sixth extinction period. (What happens when 100% of the planet’s species are gone, a black hole?)

Seventy illegal immigrants are rescued off of the snowy San Diego Mountains in California. One has died and most of the others had varying degrees of hypothermia. This area is popular for crossings and these immigrants did not know the weather would be so brutal.

3-4- Thousands are evacuating areas in Bolivia where mud and rock slides continue to bury homes and rivers that are ready to spill their banks.

3-5- Violent weather strikes the South and an EF2 tornado has been confirmed in Rayne, Louisiana where one person was killed and eleven injured. Sixty homes have been destroyed there. Some have been evacuated for the threat of ruptured gas lines. Tornado watches are issued from Alabama to Florida. New Orleans is receiving two inches of rain per hour. There is more flooding in Ohio. Twenty six states are under flood warnings from Mississippi to Vermont.

3-6- First 80 degree day at The Land. Spring is on the way (and then hell according to the lovely Mrs. Blue Duck.)
A Wind Advisory is posted for northern Arizona with gusts up to 60mph expected.

The person that was killed in Louisiana yesterday from a tornado was a 21 year old woman protecting her toddler from the wind. Part of a huge oak tree crashed into her home. 1500 residents are still unable to return home in Rayne. Confirmed winds of the tornado have been established at 135mph! A State of Emergency is declared for the Louisiana town.

According to firefighters and weather forecasters the Southwest is in for an active fire season. The conditions are prime with dry vegetation, above normal temperatures and strong winds. Officials say conditions are expected to worsen in southeast Arizona and New Mexico.

Fresh grizzly bear tracks have been spotted in Yellowstone National Park. This means some of the bears are finished with winter hibernation and are searching for food. ( I bet the bastards are cranky and I’m certainly glad I am not on their menu.)

Ten pronghorn antelope are struck and killed by a vehicle in southern Wyoming. It appears it was intentional and an investigation is underway. ( Something about this makes no sense. How can you “intentionally” hit ten wild animals of any kind with a vehicle, just whistle and line them up in the middle of the road while you rev up your engine and gun it? Hell, it would be damn near impossible to shoot ten antelope on the run at one time. Oh, I got it. It was some whacked out trucker deranged from no sleep, on speed and buckets of coffee. He saw ten “ghosts” in the road and screamed “I’m coming through you sons a bitches” and gunned his eighteen wheel Freightliner for all it was worth.)

3-7- Dust Storm Warning posted for Tucson expires at three p.m. Most of the rest of Arizona is under a High Wind Advisory.
60mph winds in Winslow with snow and sleet.

A group of Flagstaff residents are pushing U.S. Service officials to ban camp fires from May 1st until monsoon rains begin. They argue that last year’s Schultz Fire could have been avoided. It started with an abandoned camp fire.

From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reported that the temperature at two p.m. was 60 degrees colder than Gilbert, Arizona at this time. (I could, for once, hear just a hint in his voice that he is ready for spring.)

21’’ of snow fell in Burlington, Vermont by this morning and upstate New York has 24’’ of snow with 30mph winds.

Cyclone Yasi last month caused severe but “spotty” damage to Australia’s Barrier Reef. Signs of recovery will show in five years, but it will take more than twenty years to regain complete coral cover.

3-8- The storm that battered upper New England with snow yesterday has deluged western Connecticut with so much rain parts of homes and cars floated down a swollen river.

A wind driven wildfire near Silver City, New Mexico has destroyed 15 homes with 200 evacuated and 1800 acres have burned. High winds have prevented air drops of water. Officials suspect the fire was human caused. Silver City has only received one tenth of an inch of rain since January 1st and fire conditions are prime.

3-9- Severe weather across the Southeast has caused three tornadoes in New Orleans area (Happy Mardi Gras) and SEVEN INCHES of rain in parts of Mississippi.

There is severe flooding in Little Falls, New Jersey from rain and melting snow. One river there is five feet above normal flows.

The Quail Ridge fire near Silver City, New Mexico is 50% contained. Thirteen homes and forty seven out buildings have been destroyed. New Mexico officials are worried about more fires this season due to drought and tender dry vegetation.

3-10- The fire in New Mexico is still only 50% contained. The cause has been determined as a vehicle’s hot catalytic convertor. (God, it must be dry!)

Record breaking rain falling in the North East. Most of New Jersey is declared a State of Emergency. The Connecticut River is running higher than in 41 years.

Alabama and Louisiana’s governors declared States of Emergency yesterday after five separate tornadoes were reported.

In the first ever census of marine predators there are 219 adult Great White sharks along the coast of California each fall. This is fewer than expected. (Seems like plenty to me, especially if I were a surfer, a swimmer or a “sitting duck”.)

One million sardine carcasses are found in King Harbor, Redondo Beach California. There are 65 tons of fish to remove! “The prevailing theory is that windy conditions, predators or perhaps a column of oxygen poor water in the ocean forced masses of sardines into the harbor. Their huge numbers in such a confined area caused oxygen levels to plummet below life sustaining levels.”

More rain and flooding in Brisbane, Australia. A huge band of monsoon rain along the coast has prompted Flash Flood Warnings for Queensland state.

A 1.5 million dollar marijuana growing operation inside of a house in California had a four foot long alligator named Willy guarding the plants. When the operation was busted police turned Willy over to wildlife officials. (Is this where the song “I’ll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again” came from?)

3-11- Flooded rivers are raging across the East forcing evacuations. Flooding has turned one highway into swimming pools for ducks. (I particularly liked this one.) One dead in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania. Some of the hardest hit areas are outside of New York City. 1300 homes have been evacuated in Pequannock, New Jersey.

(Your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather has been reporting for several years about the declining world bee populations. We don’t think many realize the drastic effect and how this could impact the world’s food supply. We would be in deep shit or eating shit! Here is the latest.) Honey producing bee colonies have dropped off in the U.S. from a population of 5.5 million in 1950 to 2.5 million in 2007. Bees are essential to pollinate crops to feed the world’s expanding population. Of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of the world’s food, 70 are pollinated by bees.

3-12- Today marks the first day of spring at the Land! I noticed brand new leaves on mesquite trees for the first time. That says a lot for me as I can’t tell the difference between green and brown. The Lovely Mrs. Blue Duck has to remind me when I am watering dead plants. It is amazing that anything is blooming after the painful freeze last month. Some of our trees and plants took a beating and may not return. But leave it to indigenous trees on the desert to thrive; from 17 degrees to 117 degrees they seem to flourish.

Crews are gaining ground on a wildfire near Boulder, Colorado. Driven by strong winds 200 acres have burned and forced the evacuation of 200 homes. The fire was human caused. The NWS had issued a Red Flag Warning across much of eastern Colorado before the fire began.

Red Flag Warnings are issued for Texas and Oklahoma.

800 people are rescued from their stranded vehicles during a blizzard in North Dakota. Military trucks and other heavy vehicles had to be used to get to the stranded motorists. Although only two to four inches of snow fell, 60 mph winds created white out conditions that made the situation much worse.

Hundreds evacuate as rivers rise from Maryland to Maine. Parts of flood prone northern New Jersey has had five inches of rain since March 10th on top of melting snow.

In Covington, Kentucky a floating restaurant broke away from a pier on the flooded Ohio River. 83 people inside the joint had to be rescued.

3-13- The Passaic River in New Jersey crests at five feet above flood stage and 2,000 homes are evacuated.

A woman walked into a Virginia court house with a tiny monkey, wearing a pink dress, tucked into her bra. When questioned the woman said the monkey was only seven weeks old and requires constant attention. (No comment.)

3-14- The worst city in the nation for pollen count today is Prescott, Arizona and Phoenix takes the dubious honor of 5th place.

Snow runoffs will flow into Arizona rivers at nearly record lows this spring. The forecast for March through May: the Little Colorado River will flow at 18% of the median, the Salt River at 22%, The Gila at 23% and the Verde River at 42% of median flows.

Two javelina have been shot illegally in Tucson’s Ventana Canyon area. Game and Fish officers responded to a call about an injured pig and another dead pig was found in a trash container. Both had been shot by a high powered pellet gun. A one thousand dollar reward is being offered by Game And Fish for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter(s).

Heavy rains in southern Brazil since March 10th have caused severe flooding and 20,000 people to evacuate. Two people have died from landslides and a third is missing.

3-15- Five thousand acres have burned in the Coronado National Forest in Arizona near the Mexican border. It is 65% contained but no information how it was started.

The evacuations from flooding in Brazil are up to 31,000.

3-16- The first official 90 degree day in Phoenix. The normal average for the first 90 is April 4th, the earliest is February 24th.

Icebreakers have been sent to free 160 ships trapped by sea ice in the Gulf of Finland near Russia. The area has not had this much thick ice since 1992.

3-17- High Wind Advisory issued for northern Arizona.

Three landscapers in Scottsdale, Arizona are stung by aggressive (or pissed off) bees. One is hospitalized.

Heavy snow in Sendai, Japan adds to the misery of last week’s earthquake and tsunami aftermath. With the snow and cold the chances of finding any more survivors is unlikely.

Torrential rain in the central Philippines causes a mudslide that buries a family of seven asleep in their home. 1360 people are evacuated.

3-18- The fire near Nogales in the Coronado National Forest is almost contained with 6,000 acres burned. Investigators say the fire “was likely caused by people.”

Spring flooding has begun and the greatest danger is in the Northeast and Midwest.

“Tiny amounts of radiation from Japan reach California by wind currents. The first reading are “about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening.” ( This pisses me off, the fucking press! Why report something that isn’t a problem ? I read later in the day there was no radiation readings. There is already panic and fear in the streets. It is understandable in Japan, but here? The press say they owe us the “facts”. The press are nothing but sharks in clothes and the dirtier the laundry the more they get off on it. Your award winning staff at Blue Duck Weather gives it to you straight, unbiased and to the point.)

Flooding and landslides have now killed ten and 14,000 evacuated in the Philippines.

3-19- Radiation detected in Spinich and milk in northern Japan. Traces are also found in tap water in Tokyo. “Amounts are very small” but exceed government standards.

The “Rodenator” is a Colorado state approved, since 2006, device to blow up prairie dog holes. It explodes burrows by igniting a propane mixture pumped into the holes. Residents in Boulder are complaining it is cruel, inhumane and extremely loud.

3-20- The “official” first day of spring.

The Valla Canyon Fire near Santa Fe, New Mexico is 10% contained at 70 acres.

3-21- The first full day of spring brings valley wide showers in the Phoenix area. The morning low was twelve degrees higher than the afternoon high. Dust Storm Warnings issued for Pinal county. I-17 is closed at the Sedona exit because of snow.

Spring storm brings flooding in southern California with two and a half inches in Los Angeles and TEN INCHES in parts of Santa Barbara county. I-5 north of L.A. closed due to snow in ice in the mountains. Rain, wind and downed trees leave 90,000 without power.
Four feet of snow fell on Mammoth Mountain in California bringing the season’s total to FORTY FOUR FEET, a new record.

The number one city with the most snow (for its region) this winter season is New York City. Two of seven storms had twenty inches of snow. It was the third snowiest winter on record for the city with 60.9’’. The average snowfall there is 22’’. It was the snowiest season in fifteen years and a record set in January with 36’’ for the month alone.

Milk, spinach and other leafy vegetable sales are suspended in northern Japan near the nuclear reactor.

3-22- The Duke fire in the Coronado National Forest, near Patagonia, Arizona, has burned 3500 acres and is growing.

One hundred homes west of Denver, Colorado are evacuated as strong winds spread a wildfire that has burned 1200 acres.

A north Phoenix family let their blind dog out in their front yard. The pooch was attacked by two pit bulls and was injured so badly it had to later be put down. Two members of the family tried to break up the attack, were bitten and sent to the hospital. The “killer” dogs were captured and will be put down in ten days if no one claims the convicts.

3-23- The Duke fire in southern Arizona has burned 4000 acres and is only 10% contained. Two hundred firefighters are trying to extinguish it.

Miles of beaches in Long Beach, California are closed from a sewage spill. With ten inches of rain in some areas the sewer system could not handle the run-off and 250,000 gallons were spilled into the L.A. River flood control canal. The stinking shit ran forty miles downstream before reaching the ocean.

Thirty two radio collared musk oxen were found frozen in the ice on the eastern coast of Alaska’s Seward Peninsula. They were killed by a tidal surge and floods from a storm blowing in off of the Chuckchi Sea. The fate of 23 others is unknown.

Thousands of endangered penquins have been covered with oil after a cargo ship ran aground and broke up on a remote British South Atlantic territory. 1650 tons of crude oil was released.

3-24- The Duke fire has burned 5,000 acres and is 15% contained. Two hundred firefighters are still on site.

The fire west of Denver is 80% contained and calmer winds are allowing air support to douse the fire.

A strong storm hits portions of eight states with Pennsylvania and Tennessee sustaining the worst damage. 90 homes are damaged in Greensburg, Pennsylvania from a tornado and hail. A foot of snow has fallen in the Dakotas and upstate New York.

Radiation in Tokyo drinking water “rises to dangerous levels” for infants. Milk, fruit and vegetable imports from there are suspended in the United States. Japan food imports are 4% of U.S. food supply.

3-25- You read about it first in the amazing Blue Duck Weather last year: A man was mauled by bears he was feeding while employed at a tourist attraction in Montana. The dude was high on pot at the time. Now the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that 65,000 dollars in medical bills for the idiot be covered by Worker’s Compensation.

3-26- A North Scottsdale, Arizona couple spotted three mountain lions, a mother and two cubs, on the fourth hole of the Desert Mountain golf course. The “kitties” hung around long enough to have their pictures taken by the couple.

The latest round of storms in California have residents evacuated in Santa Cruz County. A failed drainage pipe caused a 15’ by 100’ hole in the ground near homes and sent a three foot wall of water. In Monterey County farm workers are having a hard time getting to flooded fields to pick lettuce and broccoli. 40 miles of the Pacific Coast Highway is closed through Big Sur due to rockslides.

Just north of Sacramento, Califorina two “weak” tornadoes struck this week in Colusa County. With winds between 65mph and 85 mph these tornadoes are classified as EF-O. This county has not had one tornado from 1950 to 2010. They have now had three this year and four in the past five months.

One wildfire south of Denver is fully contained. The two and a half square mile fire near Frankton was completely surrounded by firelines yesterday. Just twenty four hours earlied 8500 people had to be evacuated. Another fire burning in the foothills west of Denver is expected to be fully contained by today.

2500 rubber ducks are stolen from an Illinois police academy. The toys were to be used for a “Duck Pluck” to raise funds for the academy. (They weren’t stolen, they were rescued! I have connections in the under duck world.)

3-27- Crews are getting closer containing a wildfire that has burned 14 square miles in North Carolina. It is 40% contained and cool, damp weather is helping the fight. No official cause has been stated but the fire is near a military base. Training with live fire was going on the day the fire started.

Four skiiers are dead and one missing after an avalanche in the Swiss Alps. The accident happened on the 12,200 foot Mont Velan.

Severe thunderstorms pound the Southeast for a second day with tornadoes, hail and high winds. Hail as big as tennis balls reported in portions of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.

A coyote and a black Labrador in Duluth, Minnesota have been seen running together. The same black Lab has been seen attacking and taking down a deer. Both canines live in the wild. A wildlife manager said that coyotes and Labs would not travel together. But she changed her mind after seeing a photo of the two renegades side by side.

3-28- “Trace amounts of radioactive iodine linked to Japan’s nuclear power station have turned up in rain water as far away as Massachusetts in the past week.”

Seventy seven percent of Americans polled do not know where their drinking water comes from. ( I can’t believe 77% polled are stupid, just ignorant and all too assuming. I suppose it is the same mentality as people who eat meat are opposed to killing animals. “Yes sir, I get my water from a plastic bottle and my burger is served from MacDonalds.” Good God!)

3-29- Mesa, Arizona police officers shoot and kill a pit bull that attacked them after responding to a viscious dog call. The caller said he saw a black pit bull trying to attack his neighbor who retreated safely into his house. The officers used a taser twice, before shooting the fucker, but it had no effect.

The fastest, longest lasting tornadoes strike in the South East but usually in the dark of night. Dixie Alley, as it is known, is just an extension of the more famous Tornado Alley on the Great Plains. There actually is no dead space between the alleys where the tornado risk stops and then starts again.

BREAKING NEWS: The largest upgrade to the nation’s weather radars since Doppler was installed in the early 90s is underway. Dual polarization radar will play a big role in spotting tornadoes. Doppler cannot spot a tornado if it is cloaked by rain. This new system will be able to detect tornadoes, not visible before, up to seventy five miles away. This will allow quicker warnings to be issued to the public. These radars are so precise they can detect individual types of percipitation such as rain or hail.

Hundreds of tourists are stranded on the resort island of Samui in Thailand where five days of rain has caused major flooding and damage. The airport is closed and main roads and some bridges are impassable due to rock and mud slides.

3-30- Near record snowfall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains this year may end the drought “officially” in California. After officials release their latest snow survey today the governor may declare the drought is over. SIXTY-ONE FEET has fallen this season, second only to the 1950-51 season of sixty five feet.

Two fishermen in the Gulf fifty miles offshore of Freeport, Texas were fishing for red snapper. As they were dumping fish entrails overboard they heard two big splashes. All of a sudden something slammed into the side of the boat. In a feeding frenzy a 375 pound mako shark leapt into the boat. The fishermen could not get close enough to the thrashing shark to try and throw the beast out. It damaged the boat before dying several hours later.

3-31- The first ninety degree day at The Land, sixteen days after Phoenix reports their first one.

A Mesa, Arizona man accidentally started a fire in his attic after using brake fluid and a cigarette lighter to destroy a beehive. (Common sense does not prevail with this idiot.)

The California drought is declared officially over.

40 homes damaged in central Mississippi by 110mph winds and golf ball size hail.

Severe weather in Florida. Wind and hail damage feared for the space shuttle Endeavor as it rests on its launch pad for next month’s final flight. Inspections underway. Tornadoes are reported in Tampa.

Southern Thailand receives more heavy rain and 15 are dead from mudslides. 716,000 people have been affected by almost a week of heavy rain. All residents of high risk areas are ordered to evacuate.

Radiation detected in milk in Washington, State, “far beyond levels of public health concern.” fifteen states have detected radioactive iodine-131- with a half life of only eight days.

(For some reason the following story received world wide attention.) A rare two foot Egyptian cobra missing from the New York zoo finally found alive and returned to its prison. The deadly vipor never left the zoo and was found near its quarters. (They say the cobra is the deadliest venomous snake in the world. But the Mohave rattler, which I have had the “opportunity” to encounter several times has just as deadly venom, drop for drop.)

And there you have it my faithful readers. The song of the month, to help soothe you back to sanity after reading this mindless shit, is “It Feels Like Rain”, (the live version) by John Hiatt.

Until next month remember Pioneers took bullets, Settlers took Land.

The Honorable, Mindless Professor MR BlueDuck.

February 2011 Blue Duck Weather News

2011-03-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

February 2011 Weather News!

It seems your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather News spends most of its time reporting on extreme weather around the nation and the world, but parts of February was a force to be reckoned with at The Land, The Phoenix area and the West.

The first week in February was the coldest, and the driest, I have seen in at least twenty five years. Phoenix had the lowest dew point ever recorded on a day in February. Morning lows in the teens at The Land was cold by any standards, and several days during the first week in February, had average temperatures below or right at freezing! Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico recorded an average temperature one day of only twelve degrees below zero!

I have always marveled at structural engineering and the construction feats to accomplish building in a way that will allow structures to withstand the forces of the elements and the earth. But as the days unfold after the Great Freeze In The West you will read the prolonged effects on buildings, water and gas supplies. And heavy snows in other parts of the U.S. crumpled structures.

Then at the end of the month comes cold and rain to Arizona, with the snow level dropping to twenty five hundred feet. There was snow visible on mountain tops thirty miles from The Land and looking at the massive snow on Four Peaks with binoculars looked just like Denali from a hundred miles away.

But wait! There is so much more to read about in this exciting issue of Blue Duck Weather! You will read about the shit revealed as record January snows melt in New York City, the fate of pit bulls in Arizona, an extremely rare animal spotted in southern Arizona, a dire warning about melting permafrost, more possible effects of the BP oil spill on baby dolphins, the new Hoover Dam bypass span and its planning for game crossings, how a children’s inflatable play house turns into a nightmare right out of Oz and why Budweiser stopped its production of beer in one state.

The average temperature at The Land was four degrees warmer at the end of the month than the beginning. But don’t let this slight rise fool you. It was 22 degrees warmer than February 2nd! It was nineteen degrees warmer at the end of the month at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill but thirty one degrees warmer than February 2nd!

The average temperature on The Land for February was 49.60 degrees. For Talking Trees and Antelope Hill is was 30.96 degrees.

The average humidity on The Land was 35.69 percent. The average dew point was 20.53 degrees. But on February 2nd the average dew point was a lip peeling seven degrees below zero!

The Land finally received some rain and the total rainfall for the year is .52”. Phoenix, officially has received .70’’ for the year.

Always keeping our beady eyes on the lake levels and the possible demise of all life (at least human) in the desert here’s where they stand: Lake Mead groaned and got up to 40%, Powell is at 56%, Pleasant 83% and Roosevelt Lake 91%.

How many migraines did you have this month? The barometric pressure rose up and down like a roller coaster from the 1st through the 11th. All it produced was cold wind. It fell like a rock on the 15th and on the 16th clouds began to gather. It remained low and on the 19th wind and rain was our guests of honor. Then on the 25th it fell from a very high 28.48 to a very low pressure of 28.11 in one day! The result was more wind and rain.

And now to all of the news that makes Blue Duck Weather so fucking boring. Hell, it’s still better than watching infomercials all day and eating Cheetos.

2-1- Afternoon high at The Land 60 degrees. Add a fourteen mph wind and it was 56 degrees. A Freeze Warning is issued for the Phoenix area for tonight expiring at nine a.m. tomorrow.

One degree was the low at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill this morning.

From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reported a mind staggering 31 below zero with the wind chill at noon!

As the massive front moves to the Midwest and Northeast Houston drops 20 degrees in seventeen minutes. Ten inches of snow in Oklahoma City with two inches falling per hour. Ten thousand flights are cancelled. Blizzard Warnings are issued for nine states; Ice, sleet, rain, snow and even tornados are possible. FEMA is positioned in eleven states with the National Guard on standby. This storm is described as a “White Monster.” I-70 in Missouri is closed due to snow, ice and 40-50mph winds causing whiteout conditions. Tornadoes reported in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Cyclone Yasi, bearing down on Australia, is being described as a “Katrina like storm.” Thousands of people are told to flee this “life threatening cyclone.” Yasi is forecast to directly hit the northern City of Cairns late today with 155mph winds and up to three feet of rain. Four hundred thousand people live in the storm’s path.

Nine extremely rare blind dolphins are found dead along the Indus River in Pakistan. This dolphin species is only found in this river and in 2006 a count showed 1300 were in existence. They were killed by poison and nets by local fishermen.

2-2- In the summer here idiots say “at least it’s a dry heat.” Well let me show you a fucking dry cold, the worst kind. At the land this morning the low was 31 degrees with a 7mph wind= 27 degrees. The afternoon high was 40 degrees with a 11mph wind= 34 degrees. The average dew point all day was a bone dry -7 degrees. The average temperature for the entire day was 30.50 degrees. You can bet I will wear my “under Rues “ tomorrow. A Hard Freeze Warning is in place for tomorrow.

Thirteen below zero was the AVERAGE temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill today.

With a 70mph wind on San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona it was 64 degrees below zero! 23 below zero in Flagstaff, the coldest since 1990. 44 degrees is a new low high record in Phoenix. 65,000 Salt River Project customers without power due to mechanical problems for six major transformers knocked out by the cold. Fifteen minute rolling blackouts in place to distribute limited power.

Twenty inches of snow on the ground in Chicago with 70mph winds. Missouri closes I-70from Kansas City to St. Louis for the first time in history due to weather. 200,000 people without power in Ohio, 50,000 in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and 54,000 in Dallas.

Cyclone Yasi is now a Category 5 storm and covers an area larger than Italy. 10,600 Australians are in evacuation centers and others are being turned away because of limited space. Winds may reach 186 mph and blow apart “cyclone proof” homes that have been built in recent years.

Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow today and predicts an early Spring. The “prophetic” groundhog has been making predictions since 1887. He has seen his shadow 98 times and only 16 times he didn’t. (no one has confirmed the bastard’s accuracy.)

A Minneapolis woman has been charged with animal cruelty after she tried to mail a puppy to Atlanta in a sealed box with no air holes or food. Postal workers became suspicious when the box suddenly fell off a counter after the idiot woman left the post office.

2-3- Seventeen degree low at The Land with a forty three degree high! Bisbee and Douglas, Arizona closes schools due to the cold. Tucson set a new record of an eighteen degree low and customers are out of natural gas.

Three died when a truck they are in went over a bridge guardrail in Oklahoma. The bridge had been closed due to the blizzard but re-opened. The truck plunged 80’ into an icy river but five others in the truck survived. The ground temperature was -11 degrees. Hypothermia in the water would take only minutes.

In South Dakota rescuers are trying to reach 150 vehicles stranded by snow on I-29. Many drivers were stuck all night and running low on fuel. 70 people have been rescued while others wait due to whiteout conditions.

This latest storm that has affected a third of the nation was rare for its size and strength. “A storm that produces a swath of twenty inch snow is really something we’d see every 50 years” according to a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Nine degree low in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez. This broke a record set back in 1951. Ankle deep snow caused disruptions in a region that rarely sees snow in a lifetime.

One of the “world’s biggest cyclones” has spared human casualties in Australia. One reason is how sparsely populated the country is. Yasi had a diameter of 350 miles and a top speed of 186mph. The biggest damage is the loss of 50% of sugarcane crops. The town of Tully was the hardest hit with 90% of buildings having extensive damage. Several thousand folks are homeless with 180,000 without power.

2-4- Good God, another 17 degree low at The Land. Schools in southern Arizona are closed due to broken water pipes and heating.

Five inches of snow in Dallas as unexpected moisture is drawn from the Gulf mixing with bitter cold. 500 flights are cancelled. Huge chunks of ice fell off Cowboy Stadium injuring 6. Usual temperatures this time of year in Dallas are the fifty’s and sixty’s.

A State of Emergency is declared in New Mexico with no natural gas available in many areas. Record use and rolling blackouts are the cause.

The collapse of a farm building in Connecticut due to heavy snow kills 85,000 egg laying chickens. (At least they weren’t ducks!)

Heavy rain and flash flooding delays recovery and cleanup efforts in Australia after Typhoon Yasi passed. 4,000 troops and 600 police officers help in the city of Cairns.

The Horn of Africa Nation, Somalia’s continued drought threatens millions of folks. It has increased the number of malnourished children, displaced thousands and killed thousands of animals. A U.N. humanitarian chief said the “situation is dire.”

2-5- 26 degree low at The Land! Due to the recent cold snap in the Phoenix area valley plumbing supply stores have run out of replacement irrigation parts such as valves and vacuum breakers.

Snow fell off of a roof in Vermont burying the home owner up to his neck. After two hours a trooper spotted the man’s head and gloved hand. The trapped man was cold but in good spirits after being pulled out.

The blizzard that dumped a record twenty inches of snow recently in Tulsa has had some residents trapped in their homes for four days. (Wonder what this will lead to in nine months?)

The Boston area has had seventy roofs collapse from snow weight and some schools are closed until February 8th.

The tail end of Cyclone Yasi causes damaging storms and flash flooding at the opposite end of Australia.

2-6- The five inches of snow in Dallas from last week is twice the annual total for the area.

Thirty five zoo animals have frozen to death in Chihuahua, Mexico. The temperature fell to 9 degrees, the coldest in sixty years.

2-7- Natural gas is being restored in Arizona and New Mexico after record cold temperatures last week caused demand shortages.

From flooding to fires in Australia: A forest fire has destroyed forty one homes and damaged nineteen in Perth. Four thousand acres have burned in the last two days.

A strong Pacific Ocean wave has swept two teenagers off of a rocky outcropping at Smelt Sands State Park in Oregon. Both bodies have been recovered.

There were seventy nine worldwide shark attacks in 2010. Thirty four were in the U.S.

2-8- At eleven this morning from his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reported nine below zero with the wind chill and seven inches of new snow. He said it was the most respectable snow storm of the season.

Schools in El Paso, Texas were closed yesterday due to lack of water and water pressure. The deep freeze last week knocked out water pumps affecting seven thousand people.

The Adirondack Sports Complex in New York was unoccupied when part of the dome collapsed due to snow weight over the weekend. The supporting steel frame for the roof simply buckled.

South African game park rangers shoot and kill four rhinoceros poaching suspects after confrontations occur. Three hundred and thirty three rhinos were poached last year, three times as many as in 2009. The increased demand for the animal’s horns is due to a rising middle class population in Asia. The horns are believed to have strong medicinal powers.

A recent survey shows that Americans get the blues more in the winter than any other season. But 15% surveyed said their sexual activity increased when they were cooped up do to bad weather. (Turn the television off dear.)

2-9- An extremely rare ocelot was observed yesterday in the Huachuca Mountains in southern Arizona. A man was working in his yard when his dogs began barking at a spotted, cat like animal that ran up a tree. The man called Arizona Game & Fish. An officer responded to the sight and verified that the animal was indeed an ocelot. Being on the Endangered Species List only one other animal has been seen since the mid 1960s. The other was a road kill near Globe last year. (The Lovely Mrs. Blueduck reminded me that she was given one of these “kitty’s” when she was in Mazatlan, Mexico when she was sixteen years old; its name was Asa.)

An unprecedented 14,523 pit bulls occupied Maricopa County animal shelters last year, one third of the animal population. 68% had to be put down. The reasons are their reputation for meanness, mass breeding and mistreated as fight dogs or raised by owners who are not prepared for the breed’s active lifestyle.

More than 57’’ of snow has fallen this season in New York City setting a new record for January. As the snow melts it reveals stinking, oozing bags of garbage, rat infested sofas, bicycles, Christmas trees and even bodies. Two men were found slumped over their steering wheels as the snow and ice receded. One man had been shot and the other died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Another body was found in the melting snow and this man died of hypothermia.

Heavy snow began falling in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and north Texas yesterday. Winter Storm Warnings are issued and some areas were receiving one to two inches of snow per hour.

January was colder than average in the U.S. Despite some large winter storms it was the 9th driest January on record going back to 1895.

Shandong, China is facing its worst drought in two hundred years, other provinces in China sixty years. China is the worlds largest wheat grower and the United Nations warn that wheat prices globally will rise. Average wheat prices worldwide grew by 8% last month.

2-10- The second blizzard this week buries Oklahoma and Arkansas. Cattle ranchers say if newborn cattle are not found immediately they will freeze in the snow and “stick like popsicles.” Two feet of snow has fallen this week and three people have died. Many roads in Tulsa are still impassible from last week’s record of 14’’ of snow. That storm alone closed schools for six days.

2-11- Oklahoma breaks a state record of -31 degrees in the town of Nowata. Areas in Arkansas hit -17 degrees.

A few weeks ago New Yorkers were whining about the City not plowing snow fast enough. With Tulsa buried by its snowiest winter on record, an army of citizens have stepped in. They have fastened plows on their pickup trucks, check on seniors and lining up to push stalled cars.

The hard freeze earlier this month has hurt Arizona crops. A head of lettuce has risen in price sixty nine cents a head.

2-12- Eighty degree high in Yuma the warmest in the nation.

Arizona Game & Fish rangers in the Pinetop region donated 3100 pounds of wild game meat and fish in 2010 to food banks in the White Mountains. Most of the meat came from seizures resulting from various wildlife violations. ( A thought occurred to me as I was typing this. Suppose Game & Fish busted a “poacher” with a hundred and fifty pound dear. And suppose that “poacher was trying to provide for his family in hard times. The “poacher” is in jail and his family has to go to the food bank. I respect and adhere to all game laws in this state. But if I had to provide food for my family with a gun I would do what I had to do.)

The National Wild Turkey Federation has announced the release of the 200,000th wild turkey in southern Arizona. The bird was one of fifteen Gould’s wild turkeys captured in the Coronado National Forest and taken to Gardner Canyon near Tucson. This canyon has suitable habitat but no turkeys. The wild turkey was on the brink of extinction in the 90s, but today there are more than seven million in the U.S.

Muddy runoff from Australia’s flooding is adding to the stress from pollution and warming seas to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems. In recent years the reef has suffered “mass bleaching” in which coral under pressure loses the colorful algae living in their tissues.

China will begin a massive operation to drill 1350 wells across eight northeastern provinces to try and save crucial wheat crops stricken by drought. Seventeen million acres have been affected and three million people are short of drinking water.

2-13- A female Siberian tiger was shot and killed after it mauled a teen to death on Christmas day at the San Francisco Zoo. A federal investigator has submitted a report that the cat was provoked into leaping and clawing its way out of an enclosure before the attack.

2-14- Snow flurries in the predawn headlights on The Land in 1990, the one and only time I have seen snow out here (even if it didn’t stick.)

February 2nd was the driest day on record at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. The average dew point was -10.4 degrees. It was also one of the coldest days in thirty years.

With no rain in January Arizona watersheds are significantly below average. Snow runoff this spring may be 30 to 45% of average.

A wildfire fueled by 40 mph winds destroys eighteen homes on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington State.

A “snow bomb” buries parts of South Korea. The biggest snowfall in a century has prompted rescue operations including twelve thousand soldiers.

2-15- Volunteers in Fargo hope to fill three million sandbags to prepare for the 3rd major flood in as many years. “The Annual Red River Flood Fight” is in response to the National Weather Service predicting snow melt will swell the river to flood stage by spring. In 2009 the flood caused one hundred million dollars in damage.

Due to harsh weather in parts of the world cotton production is down and price are the highest in 150 years (factoring inflation.) All goods made with cotton will increase 10% to 30% in the coming months.

2-16- Cyclone Carlos strikes Darwin, Australia two weeks after the massive Yasi did significant damage to parts of the country. Darwin causes less damage with “only” 80mph winds.

2-17- A strong cold front moved into Utah and parts of Idaho last night. 69mph winds were recorded in central Utah and 85mph at the Snow Basin ski resort. 21,000 people are still without power.

The governor of Montana has defied federal authority over gray wolves in his state and encourages livestock owners to kill wolves that attack their animals. He also said the state will begin killing off packs that attack elk herds. Lawsuits have kept the wolves on the Endangered Species List for a decade even after recovery goals have been met.

2-18- There is a one hundred percent chance of rain forecast for the Phoenix area tomorrow. (An ominous prediction; you only have to go back through the Blue Duck Weather archives to find out what the rare one hundred percent chances meant to friends and me camping.) A Winter Storm Warning is issued for northern Arizona with high winds and snow. 41mph winds already occurring in Winslow.

A wildfire near Patagonia, Arizona in the Coroado National Forest has grown to 2,000 acres. There is no word on how it started.

The National Weather Service issued a flooding forecast today for the central U.S. Many of these states have a 95% chance of severe flooding when spring snowmelt begins from mid March to mid April.

Permafrost is irreversibly thawing and within twenty years will release more carbon than it currently stores. Carbon is held in the form of frozen plant material and adding more to the atmosphere would raise temperatures even higher.

An abolone diver off the coast of southern Australia is killed by two Great White sharks.

2-19- Morning low at The Land 65 degrees with an afternoon high of 51 degrees! There were 15-20mph sustained winds all day until the rain began at two p.m.
Winter Storm Warnings are still in effect for northern Arizona until tomorrow at five p.m. Nine inches of snow reported at Bellmont. I-17 north is closed at the Sedona exit. Highways 89 and 180 are also closed.

The forest fire near Patagonia in southern Arizona is 70% contained. Still no word of the cause.

A rabid javelina attacked a pet dog earlier this week twenty miles south of Prescott. It wandered into a yard and bit the dog on the hindquarters. The dog’s owner beat the collard peccary to death. After the dead pig tested positive the poor pooch had to be put down.

Parts of the Sierra Nevada mountain range has received NINE FEET of snow in the last five days. One ski resort near Lake Tahoe reported four feet of snow in twenty four hours!

74mph winds recorded in Washington D.C. area. With extremely low dew points a half dozen brush fires are fought and 18,000 people without power due to falling trees on power lines. A National Christmas tree, planted near the White House in 1978 is blown over. The tree was forty seven years old and forty two feet high.

Last July a troubling set of numbers on a computer at a key weather forecast center near London appeared. But nobody at the center noticed and officials in Pakistan failed to interpret the signal as a warning. The numbers meant “Expect massive, unprecedented rain in northwest Pakistan.” If information had been properly analyzed Pakistan could have been warned a week ahead of the disaster. There was a 80% probability of severe rain predicted nine days ahead of the event. Weather forecasters are hesitant to “cry wolf” and cause mass panic in case the forecast is not accurate.

2-20- The morning low at The Land was a wet and cloudy 49 degrees. The high of 52 degrees plus a 12mph wind reduced the temperature to 49 degrees.

Twenty seven inches of snow in Winslow, Flagstaff fifteen inches and snow/rain mix as low as Cave Creek, Arizona.

50mph winds in New York City fans an apartment fire, killing one person.

Another major winter storm is heading for the Midwest dropping temperatures 40 degrees in twenty four hours.

2-21- The new Hoover Dam bypass bridge has three smaller concrete spans for wildlife, especially bighorn sheep to cross. Critics questioned the need to build wildlife bridges that cost 4.8 million dollars. This is a first of its kind project to help preserve Arizona’s largest herd of bighorn sheep.

Another major winter storm strikes Wisconsin, Michigan and northern Ohio dumping a foot of new snow. The eighth snow emergency day is called in Minneapolis, the most ever declared in a single winter.

2-22- Two young girls were hurt, one with serious head injuries, when a gust of wind picked up an inflatable castle in Marana, Arizona last weekend. A neighbor told reporters the girls were playing in the toy when she saw the play house rolling over a nearby roof.

The latest snow storm in Minnesota left 19’’, the highest total, in Madison on the far western end of the state.

Baby dolphins are washing up dead along the Mississippi and Alabama coasts at ten times the rate of stillborn and infant deaths. This is the first birthing season since the BP oil spill last spring and summer. Tissues and organs are being gathered for forensic study to determine the cause of deaths.

2-24- After flood waters finally began to recede two days ago in Brazil firefighters had to remove a five foot long alligator hiding behind a couch in a home. A woman living there found her three year old son petting the beast before calling for help.

2-25- Tragic news from a major storm that hit the South yesterday; four Amish children were washed away to their deaths in southwestern Kentucky. The buggy they were riding in with their parents tried to cross a rain swollen creek. They were only a mile from home.

With this storm five inches of rain fell in parts of Missourri. An unconfirmed torndado reported in Arkansas with 60-70mph winds and twenty seven thousand people without power. Heavy rain and 60-80mph winds in Memphis.

Budwieser has stopped beer production in Georgia. Instead they are canning fresh water to prepare for severe spring flooding predicted. They have done this in the past to help communities prepare for disasters. (I must commend them for their community support but why don’t they just give out free beer and forget the water?)

Hard freezes in Texas and Mexico have driven up the price of tomatoes by twenty cents per pound. There will be no relief until Arizona tomato production begins in about a month.

A sea lion blinded by a gunshot wound to the face on a Sausalito, California beach may have a new home at the San Francisco Zoo. The animal cannot survive in the wild.

2-26- Winter Storm Warnings are in effect from Flagstaff to the Rim. Snow may drop to two thousand feet by morning.

According to the latest U.S. Forest survey there are 214 red squirrels on Mount Graham. This is down from 250 in 2009 but biologists are optimistic. This type of squirrel has been on the Endangered Species List since 1987.

San Francisco receives its first snow since 1976. For snow to fall and accumulate in this city as sea level, the temperature must drop to 36 degrees, percipitation must be falling and the ground must be chilled for several days beforehand.

The storms that pounded the South two days ago have struck the East. Flights are delayed and New York is closing some schools. There are flight delays in New Jersey. Winter Storm Warnings are posted across the northern third of Ohio. Heavy rains have drenched southern Ohio.

Five more baby bottlenose dolphins have been found in Missisippi and Alabama pushing the total to 67 since January 1st.

A diabetic couple was found alive in Cougar, Washington after five days of being trapped in a snow bank in their vehicle. They turned the engine on and off to run the heater and stay warm. Four campers discovered the couple.

2-27- Woke up this morning to a quarter of an inch of rain overnight and a temperature of 38 degrees with an eight mph wind chill factor. There was snow on Table Top Mountain, about thirty miles south of The Land. The elevation of that mountain is 4373’. I haven’t seen snow on it for at least ten years.
Unconfirmed snow totals in north Scottsdale of one to four inches and a dusting in Tucson. Hail was reported in Mesa, Cottonwood had three inches of snow, Flagstaff nine inches of snow, And the Snowbowl has fifty inches in the last two weeks. (Editor’s prediction, this is it for winter desert storms and I believe it is over. Spring is on the way and will give way to summer with a vengance.)

The rare snow your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather reported in San Francisco yesterday “doesn’t count.” No snow was observed downtown and the dusting doesn’t apply toward official records according to one meteorologist.

Northern California did tie or break long standing record low temperatures. San Francisco got down to 37 degrees, tying a record set in 1962. San Jose tied a record set way back in 1892, and Oakland got down to 34 degrees, breaking a record set in 1987.

2-28- Three homes are destroyed by an unconfirmed tornado in Kentucky.

Major street flooding and power outages in parts of Ohio and Indiana. 25,000 Ohio residents are without electricity. Most of central Indiana is under a flood warning until tonight.

One hundred and ten thousand acres have burned in west Texas wildfires that have destroyed 70 homes. Downed power lines by wind started several fires, a welder started another blaze and a spark from a car’s tire rim after a blown tire caused another. (It must be dry as Hell in west Texas!)

Heavy rain collapses an entire hill top in La Paz, Bolivia and 400 homes are destroyed. Amazingly enough there were no deaths.

The quote of the month is from a T-shirt that TwinkyDuck gave me, a shirt I will wear with honor on Earth Day. “Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we can’t eat money.”- Cree proverb.

And finally, much to your relief if you have read this entire shit, the song of the month is “It Sure Got Cold..” by ZZ Top.

Thank you for your continued loyalty all of my Blue Duck Weather readers. Your fine staff promises you the future editions will be as boring as this one and all of the others in the past.

The Distinguished, Honorable, Professor MR BlueDuck

January Blue Deck Weather News 2011

2011-02-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

January 2011 Weather News!

Happy New Year Mother Nature! I’m sure this date means nothing to you but your yearly cycles are somewhat predictable, and I use that term very loosely. I love you and I hate you. You bring warmth to my skin when I need it mentally as bad as physically. You send the cold wind down my back when I need it the least. You give me not a drop of rain and then flood my existence. I worship and I scorn you. You provide balance to this planet and give me the food and water I need to survive. While doing this the carnage of human suffering from your affects need no numbers, no tallies. In the big picture they are what they are. The entire planet is your jurisdiction up to an altitude of about sixty thousand feet and that is where space and God take over. So, whether I love you or hate you at any given time, I must bow to your power and respect the ultimate goal of your mission, to keep this planet on its axis. That my mother is a daunting task!

January was pure hell for folks in Australia and Brazil with record flooding and record amount of mudslides killing folks. It was no bargain for Midwest and Northeast America either with all of the snow. Read about this and more in the latest Blue Duck Weather News. Find out about thousands of birds and fish dying in just a few states with no apparent answer, how the flooding in Australia could effect the world economy, BLM wants to place wild horses on birth control (I swear we don’t make this shit up), the warmest December temperatures in Phoenix on record, “Reverse Arctic Oscillation”, the state deemed the most likely for future natural disasters, hope for Lake Mead?, stray cats in Gilbert, Arizona ruining a bird preserve, a “blocking weather pattern”, what it means to the world if Greenland’s ice sheet melts, why a woman kills her nephew’s dog and more news trickling in from the BP oil spill last spring.

The average temperature at The Land was 18 degrees warmer at the end of the month than the beginning. This is a good thing as seven out of the first nine days were below or at freezing for morning lows. The average temperature for Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was twenty degrees warmer at the end of the month.

The average temperature at The Land was 51.98 degrees and 30.14 degrees at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill.

The average humidity at The Land was 40.50 percent with a dew point of 24.31 degrees. In other words, it was fucking dry for January.

The barometric pressure was fairly consistent. I hope our local migraine sufferers were spared if there is any truth to radically changing pressure.

There was ZERO rain at The Land.

Lake Mead is 38% full, Pleasant 82%, Powell 57% and Roosevelt finished the year at 90%!

And now the day by day flashbacks of Mother Nature and her wicked little grin!

1-1- A twenty four degree low at The Land with a 45 degree high meant an average temperature of just 34.50 degrees. In the shade there was ice on the dog water bowl all day. This is the third night in a row that Phoenix has issued a freeze warning. The temperatures out here in the open desert average about ten degrees cooler and cool off much faster than the trapped heat in the city. But I should not complain. The temperature at the Grand Canyon dropped to a staggering 31 below zero.

An official described the surging floodwaters in northeast Australia as reaching “biblical proportions.” 22 communities are swamped and rivers are surging to record levels, overflowing into low lying towns as the water rushes to the sea. Australia has had its wettest spring on record!

1-2- Three swollen and busted water pipes on The Land from three hard nights of freezing. When I look at the freeze icon on the weather station monitor at seven thirty in the evening I just cringe. That means we are in for a hard freeze.

Snow on Interstate 5 closes the freeway near Los Angeles. The snow level has dropped to 1800’.

A woman is feared dead after falling into a flooded river near Brisbane, Australia.

In Beebe, Arkansas one thousand dead black birds have fallen from the sky in a one mile area. No other dead birds outside that radius has been found. 65 of the dead birds will be sent for testing. One ornithologist said the birds “showed physical trauma and the flocks could have been hit by lightning or high altitude hail.’’

1-3- As of December 29th there were 559 complaints of residential wood burning in Maricopa County on no burn days. Inspectors must witness smoke coming out of a chimney or backyard before issuing warnings or violations. There are some exemptions, including if a fireplace is the only source of heat. Smoke from wood burning fireplaces contain particulates so small 30 of them would make up the width of a human hair. (It is remarkable that DooderDuck did not get busted for burning his trash in backyard fire pit last year. He had great plumes of ash, smoke and charred paper filling the neighborhood. A fine son he turned out to be and learned from the best!.)

Garbage trucks in New York City have been working as snow plows and trash has been not been picked up in ten days. Walls of trash bags stacked six feet high line sidewalks and curbs. Residents and shop owners want it picked up and now! (Just burn the shit.)

Ten people have now died from flooding in Australia. Military flights rush food to Brisbane before it is cut off by floodwaters. Flood levels in Rockhampton are 30’ above flood stage. The rain and flooding have been caused by the cooling “La Nina” ocean currents that produced monsoon rains over the western Pacific ocean and southeast Asia.

Philippine landslides and floods have killed five children and an adult with three girls missing. Two of the children, a sister and brother, were buried in a landslide while they slept.

1-4- While the last two days have had entries of garbage burnt or stacked the latest comes from Prescott Valley in Arizona. Garbage collections have been delayed by ice and snow for the last five days. Road conditions are just too unsafe to be driving the fifty thousand pound beasts. ( Again, just burn the shit!)

Warmest average temperatures in Phoenix for December on record according to the National Weather Service.

Las Vegas received a trace of snow today. (Talk about the blues if you lost your “shorts” and woke up to this.)

The death toll is up to 17 in the Philippines from landslides and flooding. 13,000 people seek shelter in schools and gyms.

Crocodiles and snakes pose a grave threat in flooded Australia. “If people enter the water their safety cannot be guaranteed.”

Now, from the this is getting strange file: Now the blackbird death toll count in Bebee, Arkansas is up to 3,000. Officials say it may have been fireworks that frightened them into flying into buildings and falling to their death. Three hundred miles away 500 starlings die in Louisiana. 100,000 dead drum fish are discovered by a tugboat captain over a 20 mile stretch of the Arkansas River. It is not linked to the bird deaths. ( Have you ever heard of the canary in a coal mine? These birds were placed to detect unsafe levels of oxygen. If they died you were fucked. The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck and myself have had the version of this on our Land for thirty years. If the pets thrive on the water from the ground we will be fine. Shit, we have a cat that is pushing seventeen years old and a dog the same. But what does it say about these birds and fish in a relatively close area dying so mysteriously? Perhaps it is fucking aliens or the approach of the Mayan calendar year.)

1-5- Federal prosecutors in New York are looking into allegations that sanitation workers sabotaged the city’s snow cleanup after the post Christmas blizzard. Two sanitation union bosses have said the slowdown rumors are false.

Australia’s record flooding is causing catastrophic damage to the infrastructure in the state of Queensland. 75% of its coal mines are shut down. These mines fuel Asia’s steel mills. So far 1200 homes have been destroyed and 10,700 damaged.

Ice and sleet have collapsed the roofs of 1200 homes in southern China. 60,000 people have been evacuated. Freezing weather has damaged 300,000 acres of cabbage and rice crops.

Slaughtering wild horses for food isn’t an option for thinning herds that have strained public lands throughout the West. The BLM wants to give mares birth control to diminish the need for horse roundups. (Our federal government at work, fucking amazing!)

A seven year old Montana boy is recovering from surgery after being impaled on a six inch pine tree branch during a snow sledding accident.

1-6- A Pollution Advisory is issued for Maricopa County and wood burning fires are banned once again.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that the official low temperature on New Year’s Eve in Flagstaff was 19 below zero. It was the third coldest morning on record since 1961.

Mountain lion sightings have increase in the lower Salt River Canyon.

An army general has been assigned to lead the flood recovery in Australia. Queensland’s premier proclaimed this is “a disaster of unprecedented scale.”

Rain has been falling in Brazil since Christmas and flooding or mudslides have killed 35. 30,000 people throughout the country have been forced from their homes.

Near freezing temperatures and icy Himalayan winds have killed 41 in northern India in the past two weeks. Poor people living on the streets are the most affected. Dressed in only light clothing death is a certainty if they don’t have fuel to build fires.

Angry relatives of 42 Israelis killed in a forest fire last month forced the Prime Minister to stop his speech honoring the dead. They said he should be responsible for the handling of the disaster response.

A rare Siberian tiger has attacked and killed a man in China as he was checking his tour bus that was stuck in the snow. The cat pounced on the man and drug him into the forest.

1-7- Thirty nine people have died from flooding and thunderstorms in eastern Africa. Seven were killed by a single lightning strike.

More rain falls in areas of an already flooded northeast Australia. Flood waters are expected to remain high for another week. One town mayor said it could take up to a year to recover.

1-8- Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford, Connecticut, Concord, New Hampshire and Caribou, Maine have had the highest average temperatures in 2010 than records began in 1872.

The death toll from near freezing temperatures in northern India from the last two weeks is up to 63. The government is distributing blankets and medicine to the poor. All schools have been closed until the weather improves.
Reverse Arctic Oscillation involves the exchange of heat from dark surfaced open waters to the atmosphere and the resulting north-west movement of weather patterns. This may explain warm rain in Alaska recently and a freezing Georgia and Florida. Arctic sea ice coverage this past December was the lowest of any December since satellite records began in 1979.

1-9- The skeletal remains of two humans have been found in the Superstition Mountains. The Medical Examiner’s office will try and determine if the remains are from two missing hikers last July. ( Much has been written about this vast wilderness. Even with cell phones and today’s technology folks just seem to get swallowed up by the myths and the mountain. Anyone hiking in the Superstitions in July are asking for death unless their hike is a short one.)

The National Weather Service has posted winter Storm Warnings from east Texas to the Carolinas. Louisiana and Alabama governors issue emergency declarations. Mississippi has already had snow, sleet and freezing rain.

The latest town to experience flooding in Australia is Maryborough. More rain for Queensland with EIGHT INCHES in the last twenty four hours.

1-10- Seven of the last nine morning lows at The Land have been thirty two degrees or colder.

The average low temperature in Phoenix during December was 48.7 degrees. This is 5 degrees above normal and the warmest in 114 years of record keeping. (On January 4th your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather reported the warmest average daily temperatures in Phoenix for December.)

Atlanta’s airport closes and thousands of flights are cancelled due to icy storms in the South. Even if a few inches accumulates, cities may not have enough snow plows since appreciable snow falls are so rare. Snow is expected from the Texas Panhandle to Oklahoma, North and South Carolina.

11-11- Snow falls in the South yesterday ranged from a few inches to a foot from Louisiana to the Carolinas.

69.4% of the U.S. has snow on the ground.

A “super rainstorm” pours SIX INCHES IN AN HALF HOUR in the town of Toowoomba, Australia. A twenty six foot wall of water strikes without warning killing nine with fifty seven missing. People are stranded and homes torn apart.

Mild temperatures have melted record December snowfalls in Germany. The Rhine River in the west and the Ode River in the east burst their banks flooding fields and towns. One person was swept to his death on a flooded road. Commercial shipping is banned on a ninety mile stretch of the Rhine.

1-12- Sixteen inches of snow and 50mph winds in Boston, twenty two inches of snow in Ridgefield, Connecticut and twelve inches of new snow in New York City.

Flooding in Brisbane, Australia is causing mass panic. The mayor proclaimed “the water is swallowing up the city.” Thousands are urged to evacuate. So far 22 have died and 43 missing.

The latest flooding and mudslides in Brazil have killed 13. So far this year 30 have been killed and 100,000 are homeless in the southeast states.

Monsoon rains have been flooding the eastern Philippines for two weeks, pushing the drowning death toll up to 40 with 7 people missing. One million people have been affected with 25,000 in evacuation centers.

1-13- Australia faces a rebuilding effort due to flooding so massive it is quoted as being “post war proportions.”

Mudslides in Brazil have killed 355 with dozens of missing with little hope to be found. Entire neighborhoods are devastated. Ten inches of rain fell in Rio De Janerio in 24 hours, the equivalent to a month’s rain.

1-14- The missing from flooding in Brazil up to 100.

1-16- A two year U.S. Geological Survey study shows that California is at the most risk of devastating storms. The study builds on a new understanding of the term “atmospheric rivers.” These are high powered winds that drag massive amounts of tropical moisture across the Pacific Ocean and directly over California for days on end. In December an atmospheric river caused a series of wet storms in California that broke rainfall records in many areas.
The death toll from mudslides in Brazil is up to 610 people. A seven day period of mourning for the victims has been declared by the government.

The U.N. is appealing for emergency flood aid for Sri Lanka. 38 people have died and hundreds of thousands are homeless. Vast rice fields that were ready for harvest are now under water.

1-17- The BLM (normally a dirty word in my book) is going to plant 15,000 trees near Yuma where the Laguna Fire burned in 2008. Volunteers are asked to help plant 7,000 grown mesquite trees and 8,000 cottonwood willow poles.

Heavy rain in Washington and Oregon causes landslides that closes roads yesterday, including U.S. 20 in central Oregon.

The recent flooding in Australia could be the country’s most expensive natural disaster on record.

20 communities in Brazil are still cut off from food and water due to mudslides. The death toll is up to 655.

Flooding has killed or left 40 missing in South Africa and destroyed thousands of homes. The country’s army has been placed on standby to evacuate people near major dams.

1-18- The piss hole, Lake Mead, may be helped with heavy snow pack once it melts this spring. The lake has already risen five feet since December 1st. A series of storms drenched southern Utah and southern Nevada. Snow pack in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains is 133% of average with some locations reporting 200%.

Stray cats at the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, Arizona have been given a reprieve until February 18th. Originally today was the deadline for a volunteer group, Save The (fucking) Cats, to remove all cats before Gilbert resumes trapping and killing them. The problem is so bad the state Audubon Society threatens to remove the location as an important area for birds. (This problem is certainly a statement about foreclosures and people losing their homes; just turn the cats loose and let them fend for themselves. It is a matter of time that we will be hearing about wild dogs roaming, pet snakes in the canals and pet fish in the toilets clogging up the massive sewer shit transportation system.)

Heavy rain runoff floods a river near Mount Hood, Oregon, forcing residents to evacuate on foot. As much as ten inches of rain fell in the Sandy River drainage with an additional two inches of melted snow on the lower slopes of Mount Hood.

Brazil’s army has sent 700 soldiers to help desperate neighborhoods cut off from food, water and recover bodies buried in mud. One man has been rescued after being buried for sixteen hours.

1-19- A third set of human remains were found in the Superstition Mountains this week. Authorities believe they are the three men who hiked into the area last July in 110 degree heat to find the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. (You read it here how the men were so confident that they had found the gold they sat out poorly provisioned; no phones, very little water and no food. They had checked in to a motel in Apache Junction with no intention of camping. They had just driven up for the day.)

Death toll in Brazil up to 700 and 14000 are homeless.

1-20- A Wind Advisory has been posted for western Arizona along the Colorado River until 10:00 p.m.

Twenty nine states are under a Winter Weather Advisory as storms head to the North East. 40 below zero in International Falls, Minnesota.

A wall of water slams another Australian town, Kerang and one thousand people who did not evacuate are stranded. Flooding, miles wide, surges across northern and western Victoria state after record rainfalls last week. 62 towns have been affected. The floodwaters are the highest in one hundred years.

Yuma, Arizona officials are drafting plans to control an explosive cat population. One part of the proposal bans feeding feral cats. (Just shoot them and feed them to the homeless.)

1-21- On this day in 2007 the Lovely Mrs. Blue Duck reported afternoon snow from the Fry’s parking lot in Maricopa.

A ten year old boy in Arizona City is severely mauled by dogs when he got off the afternoon school bus to walk home. Two Rottwiler mixes and a pit bull mix had to be beaten off of the boy with baseball bats by neighbors.

The fifth snow storm since January 1st freezes the North East. The wind chill was 20 below in Chicago this morning. Schools from New Jersey to Massachusetts are closed. This cold snap is caused by a “blocking weather pattern.” It prevents warm air from the Pacific while cold air is being pushed down from Canada.

Even with historic flooding in Australia the southwest part of the country is experiencing drought conditions with the driest year on record. Typically Australia is the second driest continent on the planet.

Authorities in central Africa have arrested five people who had in their possession 12 chimpanzee heads, 25 hands, an endangered gorilla and body parts belonging to leopards, elephants and a lion. It is not known why the men had them. ( Food or voodoo?)

1-22- Forty six below zero in International Falls, twenty seven below in Fargo, sixteen below in Minneapolis and thirteen below in Greenbay. Freezing weather in thirty three states.

Greenland’s ice sheets experience record melt in 2010, an area the size of France. The ice sheets have melted at the fastest rate since record keeping began in 1979. The current contribution of Greenland ice melt to global sea level rise is .02 inches a year. Greenland has one twentieth of the world’s ice. It it melts entirely the the global sea rise would be twenty seven feet!

Cold weather in Vietnam over the past three weeks has killed seven people and twenty thousand livestock. Temperatures have fallen to 26 degrees. The normal temperature for this time of year is 60.

1-23- 43mph winds in Sedona, Arizona, 41mph winds in Flagstaff, 38mph winds in Payson and 28mph winds in Bullhead City and Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

The recent flooding in Brazil is the deadliest since 1900 killing 791 people.

1-24- 36 below zero in Saranac Lake, New York, Montpelier, Vermont 21 below zero. Two people have frozen to death. A Wind Chill Advisory issued for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. ( Who needs advisories with those kind of temperatures? Wind or no wind, a person will freeze to death outside in the elements if anything goes wrong. Read “To Build A Fire” by Jack London.)

Austraila loses three billion dollars in damage to crops and lost coal exports due to the massive flooding.

Brazil’s death toll from flooding has risen to 806 with hundreds still missing. It is the second worst disaster ever recorded in the country. The first was a meningitis outbreak in 1974 that killed 1500 poor souls.

1-25- Tornado Warnings issued in Florida.

A fourteen year old boy in southwestern Alaska dies of exposure while walking from a friend’s home. The temperature was 50 below with 70mph winds. (I know folks are hardy in Alaska but this is hard to believe. I can’t imagine being able to stand up in a 70mph wind regardless of the temperature. I still feel sorry for the young man and his cruel fate.)

Now in Swan Hill, Australia residents evacuate with a sea of muddy water approaching.

A sixty five year old woman in South Carolina has been charged for animal cruelty after hanging her nephew’s pit bull with an electrical cord and then burning the dog. She said the poor bastard was a “devil dog” after chewing on her Bible.

1-26- Sixth major snowstorm since January 1st arriving in the North East after leaving the Mid Atlantic region.

Snow accumulations are rare in the South but Nashville has three inches on the ground. (Glad I’m not a broke musician living there right now!)

The La Nina weather pattern began last June and is likely to last until the end of the first quarter of this year according to the World Meteorological Organization. Its effects are strong trade winds over the Pacific and reduced cloudiness in some areas of the world. This is one of the strongest ones in the last century.
A thirty year old surfer is in fair condition after nearly drowning while attempting to surf Mavericks, a famous break about 20 miles south of San Francisco.

1-27- So far this is the second driest snowfall season in Flagstaff history. This time last year there was five feet of snow. (This is the La Nina weather pattern at work my faithful readers.)

Weather predictions for this latest storm in the North East were badly under estimated. New York City received eighteen inches of snow, bringing the total to thirty six inches this season shattering a eighty six year old record. The Statue of Liberty is even closed. Nineteen inches of snow fell in New Jersey and seventeen inches in Philadelphia. In the South , Huntsville, Alabama and Athens, Georgia have received five times the normal amount of rain so far this season. 55 million people in 17 states are affected. Eight inches of snow in Chicago causes eight hours of highway gridlock for the afternoon commute.

Two men trapped in a car when a garage roof collapses from snow are rescued alive in Massachusetts.

More sea turtles (600) were killed or injured in the Gulf of Mexico in the months following the BP oil spill than in any period in twenty years.

A dead dog encased in an ice block is found on the front lawn of a home in Dawson, British Columbia. The owner says he has never seen the dog before and doesn’t know how the block of ice arrived on his property.

1-28- Seven deaths are blamed on the latest severe weather in the North East. Three people in separate states were killed when they were struck by snowplows. ( I see lawsuites in the near future.) Several hundred thousand are without power.

1-29- Beijing, China is facing its longest wait for winter snow in 60 years. Nine million people in China have been affected by drought conditions.

1-30- Five degrees in Billings, Montana as the “Penquin Express” heads our way from Alaska.

Cyclone Anthony, a Category 2 storm with 80mph winds is headed for Australia’s flood ravaged northeast. It is expected to cross Queensland state tomorrow.

1-31- Afternoon wind chill at The Land: 61 degrees plus 14mph wind equals 58 degrees. The temperatures are expected to fall dramatically in the next several days as the fucking “Penquin Express” heads to town.

At high noon RyDuck reported from his secluded location in Colorado 8 degrees and light snow. He said three days ago it was 60 degrees!

A massive weather system is expected to bring snow and ice from the Rockies to the East Coast. thrity three states and one hundred million people will be affected.

Cyclone Yasi in Australia is upgraded to a Category 3 storm with 115mph winds. This storm may produce THREE FEET OF RAIN!

A flash flood in Bolivia has swept 30 people to their deaths when a bus and a truck tried to cross a swollen river. Intense hail only hours before caused flooding in the river, which is dry most of the year. (Sounds like Arizona desert washes “most of the year.”)

I am pleased to announce that one of our past contributing editors is back on the scene. From his secluded location in Colorado The RyDuck gives you the following: “The term wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. In 2001 new formulas were adopted that are based on greater scientific knowledge and on experiments that tested how fast the faces of volunteers cooled in a wind tunnel with various combinations of wind and temperatures. The actual calculation is made using a complex mathematical formula. The formula is wind chill = 35.74 + 0.6215T- 35.75 (VO.16) + 0.4275T (VO.16) Where T= Air Temperature, V= Wind speed (mph). (Editor’s Note: What science can’t calculate is the psychological factor. 40 degrees + 11mph wind= 34 degrees. 34 isn’t bad with no wind but the chill is just bone numbing.)

And there you have it my faithful readers; Mother Nature does not rest. Before I give you the song of the month I would like to give you a quote I stole. “Stay close to nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” This month’s song is simply titled “Snow” by Jesse Winchester. It is fitting in a light hearted way.

Until next month, when they dig your dead dog out of an ice block, remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Distinguished, Honorable Professor Mr BlueDuck

December Blue Duck Weather News 2010

2011-01-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

December 2010 Weather News!

What a powerful weather month it turned out to be! There is no force on this planet greater than weather. It has a purpose keeping this planet alive and on its axis but weather has no conscious. It has obvious patterns such as cold, heat, rain and snow, but as to what extent, where and when is beyond the pin ball theory of the Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck and past the ever-evolving science of mankind. We have become much better at predicting weather patterns and events but the outcomes still leave many with their mouths open.

This month had it all. With near record highs in Phoenix to lows that read like the average temperatures in high country. Flooding in Southern California to blizzards so massive they crippled travel in the North East and around the world. Cruel fires and flooding in other parts of the world and sadly the casualty counts read like a small war. Weather is not a murderer by design or choice. Weather is a killer because we get in the way or not prepared.

In this extraordinary edition of Blue Duck Weather you will read about more problems for Arizonans from last October’s freak hail storm, the deep freeze in Europe, the definition of a hard freeze in the desert, tragic fires in an unprepared Israel, a shark attack possible provoked by tourists, the state with the most West Nile cases this year, a man who blames himself for the terrible weather and quits his job, air traffic diverted for nesting bald eagles in Arizona, helicopters used to keep vegetables from freezing in Florida, grim statistics for worldwide natural disaster deaths, Arizona’s high forest outlook looks grim, where the coldest temperature ever recorded on this planet and when, a new weather term (to me) “atmospheric river”, the definition of a Nor’easter and what it signals, Arizona still remains in drought status and a new weather term “graupel.”

The average temperature at The Land for December was 41.66 degrees. It was fourteen degrees cooler at the end of the month than the beginning.

The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 36.88 degrees. It was a staggering 31.50 degrees colder at the end of the month by finishing with an average temperature for December 31st of two below zero!

The average humidity on The Land was 45.96%. The average dew point was 31 degrees. There were two days this month of heavy fog!

While Phoenix ended the rain total this year with 9.14’’, well above normal, the poor old Land had 5.02’’ keeping us in drought status and worries in the back of our minds about a well going dry.

Lake Mead did not dry up, fortunately for all of us in the West, but the piss hole ended the year at 37%. You will read in this exciting feature of Blue Duck Weather how Arizona intends to help the ever looming desperate situation. Lake Powell has 60%capacity, Pleasant 91%, an impressive finish for the year. And my jewel of the desert, Roosevelt, remains at 89% capacity.

And now let the weather begin.

12-1- Toranado Watches issued for the Virginias, sandbags are passed out in Washington, D.C. to protect homes from flooding and thousands are without power in the Mid Atlantic area and New York with 60 mph winds. Three are dead from the weather.

Tornado damage has occurred twice in the last six months in Yazoo, Mississippi (I think I would just fucking move).

Bitter cold had killed 8 homeless people In Poland and subzero temperatures sweep across Europe.

12-2- Arizona governor Jan Brewer has asked the Obama administration to issue a major disaster decloration for the Grand Canyon Havasupai Tribe. Flash flooding from October 3rd through the 6th forced evacuations of tourists and damaged water supply facilities, bridges, campgrounds and the main trail leading to Supai Village. Damages are estimated at 1.6 million.

The first no burn day will be issued for Maricopa County tomorrow. (Kiss my ass!)

Hundreds of drivers are stranded on the New York State Thruway because of an accident and heavy snow. There was a 13 mile backup that took six hours to clear. 23 inches of snow fell in Buffalo and power is out for ten thousand people. The Statue of Liberty is closed to visitors.

An oceanic whitetip shark has badly injured four Russian tourists swimming close to their beach hotels in two separate attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea. All four victims lost a limb in the attacks.

12-3- The first Pollution Health Watch issued for Maricopa County due to particulates trapped in cold dry air.

The definition of a hard freeze in the desert is a reading below 28 degrees for two to four hours depending on the humidity and the dew point.

Alaska wildlife officials have released a report acknowledging that evidence increasingly shows climate change at unprecedented rates throughout the Arctic. This is a departure for the state, which is suing to overturn the federal listing of polar bears as a threatened species due to declining sea ice habitat.

The deadly freeze in Europe continues with travel chaos. Britain’s Gatwick Airport is closed four 48 hours. With temperatures of about 5 degrees the death toll, for mainly homeless folks, is up to thirty.

The worst flood in a century has hit the Balkins. Thousands of people and livestock are evacuated from Albania. A State of Emergency is called in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Iran’s capitol city of Theran has shut down for the third workday in two weeks due to smog. Government offices, schools, banks and factories are closed.

The U.S. military has ended its relief mission for Pakistan flood victims that began last summer.

The worst fire in Israel’s history has killed 31 and forced the evacuation of 12000. The fire is burning out of control. Arson has not been ruled out.

An elk hunter in Bend, Oregon, injured when he fell off of his horse, survived for four days on a small bag of beef jerky. A father and son found the man alive when they spotted a red backpack in the snow.

12-4- The first heavy snow of the season causes 325 cancelled flights in Chicago.

2,000 evacuated in Bosnia because of heavy rain and melting snow and 11,000 evacuated in Kosovo.

Snow has collapsed part of a roof at a nuclear power plant in France.

The death toll from the fires in Israel is up to 41. Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Britian send in air support to help fight it. Israel has no heavy air tankers for this use. Only 7% of the country is forested so this fire is felt as deep national loss. Two are arrested on suspicion of arsin.

12-5- Flooding and landslides in Venezuela the last two weeks have killed 32 and forced 5,000 evacuations. The number affected is 1.5 million.

Two teens have been arrested for the fire in Israel that has burned 32 square miles and five million trees. They have been charged with negligence and not arson. “The youths had smoked a water pipe and drunk coffee and left the scene without making sure the fire they started was properly extinguished.” (I think they were smoking more than a water pipe.) Two other men were arrested last week on suspicion of deliberately lighting secondary fires.

12-6- The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has voted to support congressional action that declares gray wolves are restored and removing them from the federal endangered list.

One hundred and forty souls are missing in the latest mudslides in Columbia.

A shark attack again near a resort in Egypt’s Red Sea. An elderly tourist was killed instantly when her arm was torn off while she was swimming.

Attackers clubbed 23 fur seals to death at a New Zealand breeding colony. “….You have to question the state of mind of someone who can carry out such a cruel and abhorrent attack.” (You think? The attackers should be clubbed to death.)

12-7- A homeless man has been sentenced to a year in prison for starting the Hardy Fire in Flagstaff last summer burning 280 acres very close to the main part of the city. He was camping and built a small fire for food and coffee. Investigators claim he dumped hot coals on the ground before leaving the site. (At least the poor soul has a roof over his head now.)

Bitterly cold weather normally experienced in January claws at the Eastern Seaboard.

Two Florida cities have set record lows for this date, Fort Lauderdale 40 degrees and Bero Beach, 31 degrees. Lows must drop into the hight twenties for several hours for citrus precautionary measures to take place.

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has forced privately owned hotels to help shelter thousands of flood victims.

In Rome the bodies of two American balloonists in their gondola were discovered in the net of a fishing boat yesterday. They disappeared two months ago while competing in a race over the Adratic Sea during a fierce storm.

A team of American shark experts are headed to Egypt to help determine the cause of an unusual series of shark attacks in the Red Sea. Shark attacks in this region are extremely rare. There are accusations that tourist boats are illegally dumping meat into the water to attract sharks for passengers wanting to photograph them. (I thought only Americans were this stupid.)

12-8- Lake affect snow buries one western New York town under four feet of snow. In Randolph, New York are banned from driving after the area received forty inches of snow. Two feet of snow has fallen in northeast Ohio.

The bodies of 36 victims have been recovered from last Sunday’s mudslides in Bogota, Columbia and 90 remain missing. One hunderd and six thousand people have been displaced by weeks of heavy rain!

According to an Oregon woman two does and a buck attacked her barking dog named Daisey. Despite head wounds and a chest puncture the little bastard is expected to make a full recovery.

12-9- In the entire United States, Arizona had the worst outbreak of West Nile virus this season, one in five severe cases overall. There were a 159 confirmed cases reported through November 30th.

12-10- A Pollution Advisory is issued for Maricopa County and a no burn day is declared. (kiss my ass. Why don’t you call it a mandatory no drive day?)

Australia declares 45 communities along the country’s east coast disaster areas from flooding and heavy rains. Homes are submerged, crops ruined and four people have been killed. Four inches of rain fell in one night in the town of Queanbeyan, the most in thirty years. Record drought conditions are replaced with flooding misery.

Henry Coetzee, an acclaimed outdoorsman who wrote about testing himself against nature, is presumed dead after a crocodile grabbed him from his kayak in the Congo. He was leading an American expedition sponsored by Eddie Bauer outdoor clothing and equipment.

12-11- As Arizona’s Bald eagles prepare to breed 21 areas in the state will be closed to campers, hikers, hunters and boaters. Seven of these sites are along the Verde River. The Federal Aviation Administration has established a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet for air traffic above bird habitats state wide.

Engineers report that neighborhoods north of last June’s Schultz fire in Flagstaff could see more damaging floods for five years. In the burned areas summer storms washed away topsoil over bedrock on steep slopes making severe flooding more likely.

A strong storm slams the Midwest. There are blizzard conditions in parts of South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. White out conditions stop snow plows and drivers are told to stay off roads. Wind chills in North Dakota dropped temperatures to 30 below zero!

Scotlands transport minister has resigned after winter storms shut down airports, trains and Scotland’s busiest highway. Stewart Stevenson said “I could have done much more to ensure the members of the public who were caught up in a difficult and frightening set of circumstances were better informed of the situation.” (I think the poor guy is being just a little hard on himself.)

20,000 miles of highways affected by record Colombia floods. Two hundrd are dead and there is massive crop damage.

12-12- A record high of 79 degrees in Phoenix breaks a 60 year old record.

Snow collapses the inflatable roof of the Minnesota Metrodome. Nearly two feet of snow has fallen in the upper Midwest. A Blizzard Warning is in affect for Chicago, all of Iowa and southern areas of Wisconsin. Wind gusts in Chicago of 50mph sent temperatures to zero,

Record rainfall reported in the Northwest causes mudslides and swells rivers placing towns in Washington and parts of Portland, Oregon under a flood threat. Seattle- Tacoma International Airport set a record rainfall for the date of 1.42’’ breaking a record set in 1955.

Heavy rains and strong winds across the Middle East after weeks of unseasonably warm and dry weather that caused epic fires in Israel. In Egypt 12’ waves closed the port of Alexandria, the country’s largest.

12-13- Another record high of 82 degrees in Phoenix breaks the old record set in 1938! (Look out, the dust bowl is returning!)

70 motorists are trapped in their cars for as long as 12 hours in northwest Indiana. 16’’ of Lake Effect snow has fallen. (What did they do when they had to pee? Don’t eat the yellow snow as Frank Zappa once sang.)

The entire Midwest is under a deep freeze after weekend storms. 1600 flights have been cancelled in Chicago. Eleven deaths have been weather related. Snow even blankets Tennessee, Atlanta has a 19 degree low and southern Florida prepares for a hard freeze.

Drought, that began last spring, plagues farmers in the South. The Department of Agriculture has declared disaster areas in 16 states. Some of the driest regions are in portions of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

A man in rural New Mexico is mauled to death by a pack of wild dogs.

12-14- Heavy rains that poured on western Washington state last weekend have left 20 rivers flooded or at flood stage. The most damage came from mudslides that blocked rail service and closed roads. One meteorologist said the system was a “plume of very moist, warm Pacific air”. (meaning no snow.)

In Florida dozens of helicopters hover over vegetable crops, moving back and forth in the early morning hours, to push warmer air over the plants. Farmers pay twenty five hundred dollars per hour for the flights in the hope their crops will be saved from a killing freeze.

In Apple Valley, California fears that wind turbines could kill protected Golden eagles have halted progress of the federal government’ push to increase renewable energy on public lands. This will stall six billion dollars for wind farm developments. (But I ask, where is the fucking money coming from?)

12-15- Documents released show that eight greyhounds died while being transported across country to Arizona in September. The dogs, to be later used for racing, died from heat exhaustion near El Paso. The couple transporting the dogs traveled through Tucson with the dead dogs but never stopped to seek care for the remaining live dogs. One of the haulers said he didn’t want the remaining dogs to be quarantined. (Oh, but the virtues of greed!)

Tornadoes are rare in Oregon, only three confirmed in the last ten years, but one has struck the town of Aumsville destroying three homes.

Twenty seven degree low in Orlando, Florida. (I hope Minnie is keeping Mickey’s ears warm.) Fourteen degrees for a low in Atlanta breaks a 1917 record.

Motorists in Ontario, Canada are trapped in their vehicles for 25 hours due to heavy snow. Some were airlifted out while others waited for snow plows and tow trucks. People who were getting low on fuel would turn their motors off and bundle with other people in their vehicles. They traded off to conserve fuel. (I think I would just start walking or shoot myself!)

12-16- A Winter Weather Advisory is issued for Arizona including Flagstaff, the Rim country, Graham and Greenlee Counties from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ten inches of snow expected in higher elevations.

Black ice conditions reported in Atlanta Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.

Florida citrus growers report ice damage but the exent of the freeze is not known.

12-17- Dense fog blankets the “Valley of the Sun.” I knew we were in trouble when I looked at my weather station readings at 5 a.m., 39 was the temperature, the dew point was 39 degrees and the humidity was 90%. Actually I was amazed since we received so little rain the night before, but you talk about “white knuckle” driving across the desert and into work.

Ice spreads across the South as a weather system moves up the East Coast. There were 1,000 traffic accidents reported on icy roads.

Heavy snowfall cancels 800 flights and major delays in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Germany received the most snow with 8’’ on the ground.

The United Nations is sending 6 million dollars to aid flooding and landslide victims in Colombia.

12-19- A Winter Storm Watch begins today in Arizona above 7500’ through the 21st of this month.

A series of storms are bearing down on California and could produce the most rain in ten years. A spokesman for the National Weather Service said “This is one big mother and it’s going to have a lot of waves in it.”

70 mph winds in western Washington last night disrupted electric service to 112,000 people.

Arctic conditions in Europe have closed London’s Heathrow Airport and the Frankfurt Airport in Germany has cancelled 40% of flights. Lady Gaga cancels her concert in Paris because of snow. (What a fucking shame!) Britain has received more snow than any year since 1981.

12-20- Upper elevation forests in Arizona and New Mexico are in trouble according to a University of Arizona study. Catastrophic fires and insects have claimed 18% of the timber in the last twenty four years. A century of forest mismanagement is to blame but a decade of drought and warmer temperatures are also factors and the “future looks bleak” according to one researcher.

Areas of California have received eight inches of rain and Flood Warnings, Mudslide and Avalanche Warnings are posted. Portions of the Pacific Coast Highway are closed due to rock slides. L.A. and Hollywood have received four inches of rain.

Flood Warnings have been issued for western Kane County and Washington County in Utah, including the cities of St. George and Washington. The National Weather Service also warned of possible ice jam flooding in southern Hall County, Nebraska.

Twenty states have issued Weather Advisories.

This is the third day of major travel delays in Europe due to snow and cold. Britain is on track for the coldest December in 100 years.

This has been the worst year in a “generation” for human casualties due to natural disasters. Worldwide, 250,000 people have died this year. Some scientists blame global warming.

12-21- A State of Emergency has been declared in Mohave County, Arizona. People are being evacuated due to flooding washes and rivers and a dam may fail upstream on the Virgin River in Utah. A Flash Flood Watch has been issued for Maricopa County.

The coldest temperature ever recorded on this planet was -128.56 degrees in Vostok, Anctartica on July 21st, 1983. ( Hard to imagine when it is at least two hundred degrees warmer here in July.)

The first day of Winter and the shortest day for the entire year.

ONE FOOT OF RAIN in Santa Barbara, California in the last four days and twenty miles of the Pacific Coast Highway is closed due to rock and mudslides. THIRTEEN FEET of snow has fallen at the Mammoth Ski Resort.

The Colorado mountains may receive eight feet of snow from this system. Zion National Park is closed in Utah. Triple A sets a record for 25,000 calls for auto assistance in one day.

12-22- TEN INCHES of rain in Mohave County, Arizona in the communities of Beaver Dam and Littlefield. Six homes washed away, some were newly constructed and the owners hadn’t moved in yet.

Dozens are trapped by flooding in California. Virtually the entire state has been affected by rain. Parts of downtown Los Angeles under three feet of water. A swift water rescue team has saved 25 people from the homes in Laguna Canyon. A rain soaked hillside collapsed on the busy I-10 transition road in the Panoma area blocking three lanes of traffic. Downtown Laguna Beach is closed due to flooding. In Riverside a surge of floodwater swept through a homeless camp near the banks of the Santa Ana River. The fifty “campers” lost all of their possessions in the flood.

The Center for Biological Divesity intend to sue the Obama administration to force it to restore gray wolves across 48 states. Biologists for this Arizona based group argue that there is enough habitat to support thousands of wolves.

12-23- With only a tenth of an inch of rain last night I was surprised to see dense fog on The Land this morning. I could not leave for work until it began to get light, and even then, the visibility was about one hundred and fifty feet. By the “weather bug” reading inside the house I should have known before I stepped foot out the door; 49 degrees was the temperature, the dew point was 49 degrees and the humidity was a saturated 95%!

There was a possible micro-burst last night in Glendale, Arizona. Property damaged and block fences blown over.

More rain woes from almost a week of rain in California; Silverado Canyon in Orange County hit the hardest from yesterday’s rains. Runoffs and mud force 30 people to be evacuated. Now contaminated water is the problem for many beach cities in California. The rain has washed trash, pesticides and bacteria into waterways, prompting Health Warnings. (Our fucking polluted environment. Mother Earth cannot even wash herself clean.) Rescuers will begin searching for four people who went hiking in the rain in the San Gabriel Mountains four days ago. They are presumed to be stranded and hopes are they hunkered down and found shelter. Sea World closed yesterday as waters rose in the nearby San Diego River. Amtrack services were suspended from San Diego to San Juan Capistrano because of musdslides and high water. Also, in San Diego, the first floor of the Premier Inn was flooded forcing guests to the second floor. Lifeguards were sent in to rescue them. (?)

Travel delays from snow and cold ease in Europe today.

12-24- On Mnt. Charleston, Nevada police are going door to door urging the three hundred residents to evacuate. Several snow slides may lead to a major avalanche. Residents are without power due to downed power lines from rain and snow.

Atlanta, Georgia may have the first snow in seventeen years for Christmas as the Midwest snow storm heads south. Five hundred flights are being cancelled for tomorrow.

Shortages of de-icing fluid strands Christmas fliers in Europe. Many spend Christmas eve camped in airports. The United States sends the fluid to France to help.

“Restoring a policy by the George W. Bush administration, the top Interior official gives the Bureau of Land Management the authority to protect pristine areas of the West. ( I’ve been hunting BLM land long before the Bush administration and the abuse of overgrazing by cattle is sickening. Cow shit everywhere, water holes defecated in, and every plant obliterated by the mindless creatures abound. Just read some Edward Abbey to see his views on fucking BLM!)

12-25- Blizzard Warnings with eleven to sixteen inches of snow expected are issued for New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

What causes and defines a Nor’easter: Winds from the northeast whip across the Coastal plains opposite the jet stream. It is a predictor of weather to come. Between October and April the chances of nor’easter conditions creating a storm are 100%!

A rare white Cristmas today with one inch of snow on the ground in Nashville and Louisville, Tennesee.

More rain in Columbia claims twelve in mudslides bringing the year’s death toll from heavy rain to 290.

A bus runs off a rainy, foggy road and plunges 1100’ in Ecudo, Equador killing twenty five and injuring twenty three.

12-26- “Arizona may leave part of it’s annual share of Colorado River water in Lake Mead next year, taking a calculated gamble that giving up some water will help it avoid deeper cuts later”. This is in hopes that the lake will stay full enough to avoid automatic cutbacks. Arizona would pass up billions of gallons of water next year but it would “barely be missed.”

A powerful winter storm blasts from the South to the Northeast. Thousands of flights cancelled due to posted Blizzard Warnings. Twenty inches of snow expected in Philadelphia. Amtrack cancels rail service from New York to Maine. Bus companies cancel routes all along the East Coast. A Snow Emergency is declared in Boston and all parking along major roads is banned.

Icy rains close Moscow’s busiest airport. Three hundred thousand people and fourteen hospitals are without power.

12-27- A dry autumn has pushed almost all of Arizona into abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions again. 95% of the state is affected except the extreme northwest corner of the state.

“Monster blizzard wreaks havoc from the Carolinas to Maine.” Thousands of travelers are stranded. New York City, eastern New Jersey and western Long Island the hardest hit. New York’s three largest airports closed overnight with 2,000 flight cancellations.

Strange weather in Austalia with summer snow in the southern state of Tasmania and heavy rains across eastern Australia. ELEVEN INCHES OF RAIN fell in 24 hours and a State of Emergency is declared in New South Wales.

Food relief shelters for Pakistan’s flood victims close after a suicide attack kills 45 people outside a World Food Program distribution center. All four centers in the Bajur district feed 300,000 people. ( I remember writing in Blue Duck Weather a couple of months ago that Osama bin Laden urged Pakistan’s population not to accept aid from western countries. So this is how you strike back and kill your own to make a statement? Ruthless and sad.)

12-28- Severe Weather Alert issued for all of Arizona. Snow level may drop to 2000’ with wind gusts up to 60mph. We may be seeing the coldest temperatures in years after the storms subside later this week.

Two duck hunters overturn their boat in the frigid waters of Lake Mary, near Flagstaff Arizona. The air temperature was 32 degrees. Fortuantely they were rescued by helicopter in thirty minutes. ( Just maybe my duck cousins turned the fucker’s boat over, eh?)

Maricopa County residents ignored a fire ban on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The result was some of the highest particulate pollution levels in six years. (Right On!)

Eight homeless people in New Orleans try to escape the cold in an abandoned warehouse. They build a fire in a barrel but it gets out of control and all eight burn to death. ( I have given this much thought. How do you not escape a burning building early enough if it was at ground level? My guess is they finally became warm and went to sleep. Carbon monoxide probably got them, I hope rather than flames.)

There is 30’’ of snow on the ground in parts of the Northeast. Flights may not be back to normal until after January 1st. The mayor of New York City is being accused of not doing more to avoid weather caused travel delays. One third of all flights connect or depart from New York City. (Give me a fucking break! The mayor, or anybody else, has no control of the weather. This is just one more example of how we want the government to take care of our problems and then we cuss them for being too big and enforce too many regulations. Should they have threatened to shoot us if we decided to travel with dire weather forecasts at hand?)

12-29- The National news reports Blizzard Warnings for Arizona. 60 mph winds recorded at Doney Park near Flagstaff.

70mph winds recorded in San Francisco.

Flooding and rising rivers prompt evacuations in Australia. In one town the entire population of 300 is airlifted to higher ground. In some towns the only things visible above the water is the top of stop signs and rooftops.

For a third straight day air travelers are stranded in Moscow airports after icy rain and blackouts. People are desperate with lack of information and food and fights break out.

12-30- The average temperature on The Land today was an ooshy 38.50 degrees. The wind blew like hell and there were morning and afternoon wind chill recordings by yours truly. 47 degrees this morning plus 12mph winds equaled 37 degrees. This afternoon 48 degrees plus 17mph winds equaled 40.

I-40 closed from snow from Kingman to New Mexico. I-17 closed north at the Sedona exit. Blizzard Warnings in Southeast Arizona. Two inches of rain reported in Carefree. Snow level dropped to 2500’. Flurries were reported in north Phoenix and Mesa at 1:30 p.m. 40mph winds at Sky Harbor International Airport.

Winds slam California with 40mph winds in Los Angeles. A woman camping with her seven year old grand daughter at a wildlife perserve in Sonoma County was killed when a hundred foot tall oak tree fell on her tent. A snow boarder is missing near the Alpine Meadow Ski Resort at Lake Tahoe. She was last seen boarding through ski boundary signs near the top of an advanced slope. (I heard later in the day her body had been recovered.)

The Nevada side of the Sierras has wind gusts of 100 mph and a foot of new snow. Avalanche Warnings are posted.

Four days after a massive blizzard some New York City streets are still not plowed.

Flooded communities in eastern Australia could be under water for more than a week. Clean up costs will be billions.

12-31- With a low of 27 degrees and a high of 46 today at The Land the average temperature was 36.50 degrees. A Freeze Warning is issued for Phoenix beginning tonight at 9:00 p.m. until tomorrow morning at ten.

I thought it was cold here but Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico had an average temperature of 2 degrees below zero!

A fire ban is issued for Maricopa County today. (Yeah right, on New Year’s Eve?)

At one p.m. today RyDuck reported from his secluded location in Colorado 33 degrees and six inches of powder on the ground.

Rare winter tornadoes kill three in Arkansas and three in southern Missouri today. One meteorologist sais that with temperatures in the seventies earlier this week mixed with cold air coming in from the west. Nationally 39 people were killed by tornadoes this year.

A snowstorm causes a 100 car pileup near Fargo, North Dakota.

Near Cairo, Egypt floodwaters swept a bus with 77 school girls and teachers off a highway and into a deep trench. Fifteen died, most of them students. The dead included an ambulance driver who had rescued twenty before floods swept him away. (This person is a hero of the highest degree!)

200,000 affected by relentless flooding caused by days of rain in eastern Australia. The flood zones are larger than the state of Texas.

What a month is has been for weather! With that we will leave you with this month’s listening pleasure, “Rain And Snow” by Brandon Rickman. Thank you for choosing Blue Duck Weather as your reminder that Mother Nature will love you and the next day she will kill you.

Until next month remember Pioneer took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Honorable, Distinguished, Professor MR. Blue Duck.

November 2010 Blue Duck Weather News

2010-12-06T04:54:00.000-08:00

November 2010 Weather News!

This month had relatively mild weather worldwide. This is the shortest amazing edition of Blue Duck Weather since last May. Instead of twenty pages of field notes, editing and other worthless shit there were only nine pages. But by the end of the month you will see winter is coming at us with a vengeance. One low temperature at The Land was the coldest felt in twenty years. For the first time since we acquired the property in New Mexico affectionately known as Talking Trees and Antelope Hill I saw a low of minus two degrees! And with this cold there was little or no moisture, the most brutal chaffing skin kind of dry cold. Throw a little wind on top of it and it was teeth chattering. And to think a month ago I was still complaining about the heat seems kind of candy assed. “I just ain’t never satisfied” as Steve Earle once sang.

Ironically on one of the coldest windiest days out here recently in the lonesome windblown desert the lovely Mrs. Blueduck told me that one of her students reported that his dog was bit by a rattlesnake. Now that just shatters every conceived behavioral pattern of snakes. I know rattlesnakes don’t really hibernate and will come out to sun if the day is warm enough. But their enemies are cold and especially wind. Just as there was a Devil pig (in Streets of Laredo) this must have been a Devil snake!

In this exciting edition of Blue Duck Weather you will read amazing accounts of day to day weather happenings but oh so much more! Find out about sunburned whales, what pinon needle scale is, why and where goldfish were used to guard the President of the U.S. and other world leaders, International investors playing hardball on climate change (spooky shit), 2000 “tourists” rescued on Mount Everest (and why it disgusted me), Blues music to the rescue after the BP oil spill, the significance of the 2022 Chinese calendar year, an update on Lake Mead, how the 2010 U.S. hurricane season stacked up and more problems from the freak hailstorm in Arizona in October. Read on my droogies!

The average temperature difference from the beginning of the month and at the end at The Land was 24 degrees cooler! Talking Trees and Antelope Hill had a 20.50 degree drop. The overall average temperature for November at the Land was 55.96 degrees and 34.92 at the mountain property in New Mexico.

The average humidity was 33.36 percent and the average dew point was 25.55 degrees at The Land.

We only received .01” of rain (dismal).

Our latest feature, where was your migraine when the barometric pressure fell like a rock. This is dedicated to our local readers who suffer from these hell brain aches. The pressure fell from very high to moderate from 11-12 to 11-14. And then it dove from 11-26 through 11-28 and rapidly shot up through the 30th. I haven’t seen that kind of roller coaster ride before but all it meant for the weather was cold wind.

The monthly lake level totals were 36% for Mead, 63% for Powell, an alarming 59% for Pleasant and 90% for Roosevelt.

11-1- Thomas is downgraded to a Tropical Storm but is gaining strength. It may threaten earthquake ravaged Haiti.

11-2- United States sea vessels are headed to Haiti to assist if necessary as now Hurricane Thomas strengthens. This may be a devastating storm by the weekend.

Two days of constant rain in Thailand has caused flooding that closes the rail service and forces thousands to flee. Some areas are under FIVE FEET OF WATER with 38people dead and 1.5 million affected.

81,000 are homeless after Cyclone Giri hits Myanmar. 200,000 will need food aid for three months. (Be glad you are not dealing with this TwinkyDuck!) 43 people are dead, 430 schools and 57 health centers are damaged or destroyed.

Flooding in the west African nation of Benin has affected 680,000, destroyed 300,000 acres and killed 81,000 livestock. A World Food Program spokesman warned that food has become a critical issue in this region. (At least you are not dealing with starvation my TwinkyDuck.)

11-3- Los Angeles hit’s a record of 97 degrees.

Thomas has weakened to a Tropical Storm but has killed 14 and seven others missing in St. Lucia. Now it is headed for Haiti. 7800 residents of a post earthquake recovery are ordered to evacuate. (But we ask, where?)

Heavy rains in southern India leave 22 dead and 30,000 displaced. Many died drowning or when their houses collapsed on them.

11-8- Last month’s storms so rare in Arizona that the Weather Channel will be airing a special report about them.

A surprise storm with 60mph winds knock out power across New England. 75,000 without power in Maine and New Hampshire. There was driving rain, sleet and 15 foot swells in the ocean.

A week of heavy rain has killed 13 in the eastern Philippines which is still recovering from last month’s typhoons.

Hurricane Thomas has killed 20 in Haiti, 30,000 are in shelters and 6,000 are homeless. A river there has been a source of a cholera epidemic and is expected to flood. People living along the river have been advised to evacuate their families and livestock. Cholera in Haiti has killed 500 and hospitalized thousands since appearing last month.

700 climate scientists have agreed to take a stand against skeptics and face criticism on television and talk radio. They will answer questions about global warming and the roles of man made air pollution.

11-9- Freeze Warnings issued for Kingman and Cochise County in Arizona.

18 degree low recorded at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill.

Cholera has reached the Haiti capitol of Port Au Prince.

A Florida man has killed an alligator that has proven to be an all time state record. It was over 14’ long and weighed 654 pounds! After being harpooned the alligator thrashed and pulled the man’s boat around a lake for forty five minutes.

Grizzly bear deaths approaches a record in the Yellowstone region. Some of the factors are “accidental” killings by hunters and mild winters allowing bark beetles to decimate the white bark pine. The nuts from this tree are a critical food source for the grizzlies.

11-10- Flooding in northeastern Italy has killed three and forces evacuation of three thousand others. 1.4 billion dollars in damage has been assessed, much of it in white wine country.

30’ waves batter Spain’s coast with 60mph winds and heavy rain. All beaches are closed.

11-11- Freeze Warning issued for Gila County, Arizona.
16 degree low at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico.

Scientists report, after a three year study, that some species of whales off the Mexican coast are showing signs of severe sunburn. It may be caused by damaged ozone layer’s decreased ability to block ultraviolet radiation. Whales spend much of their time at the surface of the oceans breathing, feeding their young and socializing.

11-12- A total of 260 miles of traffic jams in the Netherlands due to storms with 60mph winds with ferry operations and flights cancelled. In Hague, surfers showed up in thick body suits to ride the waves. ( I sure admire die hard fuckers!)

11-13- The Twin Cities of Minnesota receives a foot of snow for the first snow storm of the season. With power outages, vehicle accidents and cancelled foot ball games one State Patrolman said “this is a tough season opener.” It is the largest storm in twenty years and just yesterday the high was 60 degrees.

One million acres of pinon pines in Nevada are infested with pinon-needle scale, a bug the size of a pinhead. It sucks the sap from pine needles. Only one year ago the affected pines amounted to two hundred thousand acres.

Goldfish safeguard the South Korean summit where President Obama met with other world leaders this past week. The fish are used to monitor water quality at the conference center and six fish were released into the center’s water supply. The goal was to make sure the recycled water piped into the restrooms is safe from toxic attacks. Any fish that die would signal possible water contamination. “Dead fish tell no tales.” PETA denounced the tactic. (Give us a fucking break!)

11-14- Ten thousand dead jelly fish have washed up on three miles of beach in San Francisco. Researchers and scientists are baffled.

11-16- RyDuck reports from his secluded location in Colorado that it went from a sunny 55 degrees to an ooshy 33 degrees with snow falling in one hour.

A thirty four car pile up due to icy conditions near Larkspur, Colorado happened today. Twelve are taken to the hospital.

Warming threatens Lebanon’s snow and cedars. Ski resorts are moving ski operations higher up the slopes. Three thousand year old cedar stands now only exist at the highest elevations.

11-17- Eleven ooshy degrees this morning for a low at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill.

The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Tennessee reopens since being closed since last May due to flooding. In honor of its opening it is decked out with two million Christmas lights. The flooded Cumberland River caused two hundred million dollars in damage and parts of the resort were under ten feet of water!

A rare warm period in Siberia lures a flock of pink pelicans to stop and rest on their journey home.

A group of international investors, responsible for 15 trillion dollars in assets, called for the world’s nations (especially the United States) to move decisively to combat climate change. If we don’t we will face economic disruption worse than the recession of the last two years.

11-18- 55mph winds damage seven small aircraft, damages 200 homes and knocks out power to 82,000 in Maryland. An unconfirmed tornado was spotted.

Heavy rains and wind caused flooding in southwest England trapping people inside their homes.

They call the blues the Devil’s music but this put a smile on my beak: “BluesForTheGulf.org. Our mission: A global initiative by the Blues Community, including musicians, club owners and fans who are donating their time and talents raising money to assist the people in the Gulf Coast states suffering economic devastation from the oil disaster.” ( As I recall this and similar efforts by the jazz community were done for Katrina victims five years ago.)

11-19- Wind Advisory issued for northern Arizona.

Two thousand tourists and their “porters” have been stranded in a tiny village on Mount Everest for 5 days. Their location is over nine thousand feet high and strong winds and low clouds have kept them there. Army helicopters are trying to get them out. (Editors note: This totally depressed me and blew the image I had of that formidable mountain that has claimed so many lives. How the fuck did 2000 “tourists” get to a tiny village at nine thousand feet? Did they hold hands and walk up a magical sidewalk with handrails singing the “Hoakey- Pokey” song? What in the world does a “tiny village” do with the waste of two thousand people, throw it down the mountain or bury shit in the snow? I give up. There is no great wilderness anymore. Let them stay and build a Grand city.)

11-20- The most recent flooding in Vietnam in the past month has forced 40,000 people to evacuate, 30,000 homes flooded and 35,000 crops damaged. THIRTY TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST WEEK. Since October bad weather has killed 167 people.

18 poached, de-horned and dead rhinos found on a large private game preserve in Africa.

11-21- Winter is coming! Minnesota receives the first major snowstorm of the season. Snow is also expected in the higher elevations of California, Nevada, Montana and Wyoming.

Speaking of winter, this morning had the first wind chill of the season at The Land. 58 degrees plus 10mph winds = 55 degrees! (Don’t you just love the math?) Flagstaff has a dusting of snow with 50mph winds.

11-22- Blizzard Warnings are posted for parts of Utah and Idaho.

A summit in Russia sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund states that tigers will be extinct by 2022, the next Chinese calendar year of the Tiger. 3200 tigers exist world wide, down from 100,000 a century ago. Their habitat is shrinking from forest cutting and construction. They are also valuable for poachers who want their skins and body parts and they are prized in Chinese traditional medicine.

11-23- The first freeze at The Land for the season! The average temperature for the day was just 45 degrees. The snow level in northern Arizona is expected to drop to 6,000 ft. today. A Wind Advisory is posted for Flagstaff between 1:00 p.m. and midnight with 45mph winds.

Storm Warnings and Watches posted for several northern states as cold air plunges from Canada into the western and central U.S. Temperatures will not rise above zero in the Central Plains.

A tornado strikes in Lover Park, Illinois and turns over a school bus. The driver and children in the bus escaped with minor injuries. 42,000 people are without power.

According to the Washington D.C. based Refugees International “The U.S. and other countries must recognize the threat represented by the massive floods that hit Pakistan earlier this year… It is estimated as many as 200 million people will be displaced by natural disasters and climate change around the world by 2050.”

11-24- Hard Freeze Watch issued for the Phoenix area.

Arizona Game and Fish is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest(s) due to the illegal introduction of fish into Yuma canals. One case involved a thirty two inch shark that was found dead last week. Transporting and stocking fish in Arizona waters is illegal.

White out conditions in the Rockies and Blizzard Warnings in Utah. In Tacoma, Washington the temperature dropped to 14 degrees, a 25 year low.

At 4:30 p.m. RyDuck reported from his secluded location in Colorado a temperature of an “ooshy” 15 degrees.

11-25- A Winter Weather Alert is issued for most of Arizona. Freeze Warnings will be in affect from 2:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for the Phoenix area. There is twelve inches of snow at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The lowest temperature I have ever seen at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill this morning, -2 degrees! The average temperature for the entire day was 24 degrees.

A Frost Warning is issued for citrus growers in the San Joaquin Valley in California for the remainder of the week.

Two men have died of hypothermia in Washington in the past week. Emergency cold weather shelters have opened in the Puget Sound area. Yesterday’s low in Seattle dropped to a new record of 14 degrees. The old record was 16 degrees set in 1985.

The United Nations weather agency states that greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere set a new record in 2009. The total amount was 386.8 parts per million. The pre-industrial average is estimated to be 280 parts per million.

11-26- 31 degree low at The Land!

The Obama administration is placing 187,000 square miles in Alaska as “critical habitat” for polar bears.

11-27- Twenty seven degree low at The Land this morning with a dew point of minus one degree; dry, bone chilling cold! I enjoyed a fine fire in the front yard, drank some hot coffee and harassed Otis, our dog, with a Frisbee. If the little shit was cold he sure didn’t show it.

The Arizona San Carlos Tribe is asking a federal judge permission to join in on the law suit filed last month to return the Arizona Bald eagle to the Endangered Species Act. (You read about the initial law suit here last month in the amazing edition of Blue Duck Weather!)

11-28- Five inches of snow in Flagstaff and 32mph winds in Safford, Arizona.

Sixteen inches of snow “buries” northeast England and Scotland, the most widespread snow for the date since 1993.

11-29- A Freeze Warning is issued tonight for the Phoenix metro area. The recent cold snap has valley homeless shelters overflowing.

Lake Mead has fallen within seven feet above the level that would trigger the first ever rationing from water supplied by the Colorado River.

For the first time in recorded history 12 hurricanes formed this year in the Atlantic ocean without one making landfall in the U.S. There was only a 2% chance this would happen according to forecasters earlier in the season. The official end of this year’s hurricane season is tomorrow.

11-30- A 24 degree low at The Land with a 6 degree dew point! Four below zero in Flagstaff broke a record from 1975.

The freak hail storm in October in the Phoenix area damaged so many roofs contractors have waiting lists up to four months just for appraisals. There are 150,000 damaged homes and 40% fewer roofers than before the recession.

Six people are injured from an unconfirmed tornado in Mississippi. In central Louisiana a block home was completely destroyed by wind.

Heavy rain displaces thousands in Venezuela. The President opens his palace to twenty five homeless families as a show of compassion. Landslides there have killed 13.

The much awaited song of the month is “Rain Is A Good Thing” by Luke Bryan, a really stupid country song but oh well.

Until next month when they have removed your frozen body from an avalanche remember Pioneers took bullets, Settlers took Land.

The Honorable, Distinguished, Professor MR Blue Duck.