Blue Duck Weather July 2009

July 2009 Weather News!

Like stoned flower children we skipped and danced our way through May and June drunk on an extended Spring. It was hot on some days and then it cooled down and then it got hot again and again cooled down.

And then came the hot iron breath of July and the gates of hell opened with a blast of fury and buzzards glided the skies like black devil ghosts devouring the rotten flesh of animals bloated in the sun like some out of control bake oven.

July in the Phoenix metropolitan area was the hottest on record. Excessive heat warnings were issued almost daily along with excessive ozone warnings. The Land even experienced two days where the average temperature was one hundred degrees; no relief morning or evening. When you see quail and doves on the ground in the shade of a creosote bush you know it is bad. A hike in the midmorning heat turned into death for one person from an Alaskan family visiting Arizona. Under inflated auto tires blew apart in shards of hard rubber from too much friction against one hundred and seventy degree asphalt and the mechanical beasts lay upside down after rolling with their wheels spinning in a pitiful claim for survival.

Fortunate for The Land there was three days in July that did not reach one hundred degrees and there were no one hundred and fifteen degree days. You poor bastards in Phoenix saw no temperatures below one hundred degrees. There were too many one hundred and five and one hundred and ten degrees to report because you would probably just shoot yourself in the heads.

This edition of Blueduck Weather will “stagger you out of your mind” with weather facts and

profound information you will never forget. Learn exactly what defines an excessive heat warning. Find out what state is enduring the longest drought. Meditate over the amount of day light lost each day after the summer solstice. See your official storm spotter in action as he braves the weather to call in an official spotting and save the world. Learn that there are no lack of bees in Phoenix. (This fine weather journal has been reporting for at least a year the mysterious decline of bees throughout the world.) And you will Learn where Arrowhead Water wants to build a plant to tap into some of the purest water in the world!

It was 7.5 degrees warmer at the end of July on The Land than the beginning. It was actually 1.5 degrees cooler at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill. The average temperature at the Land for July was 94.42 degrees! The average temperature in the high hills of New Mexico was 71.40 degrees.
The average humidity at The Land was 32.66% and the dew point was in monsoon territory all month at 57.50 degrees.

Again it was a windy month for the Arizona desert with an average wind speed of 7.14mph.
The Land received 1.36 inches of rain in July bringing the yearly total to only 2.68 inches. Mother Nature better get busy or we are going to end the year in drought territory. A large part of our yearly rain is normally produced during the monsoon season.

The major lakes in Arizona are holding their own with Pleasant at 91% and Roosev

elt at 92%. Lake Mead continues to turn into a mud hole and is down to 40%. It won’t be long there were will be water wars between the states that claim its water. Powell continues to rise and stands at 67%.

7-3- Dust storm advisory is issued for Maricopa County until seven p.m. Hail pounds Flagstaff.
Holiday traffic stopped on I-17 so DPS could rescue a rooster.( This must have been one fucking important bird!)

7-5- Flooding in southern China kills fifteen people and displaces five hundred and fifty thousand.
A plan to restore the salmon runs in California’s Sacramento River may help revive killer whale populations seven hundred miles to the north in Puget Sound. Without salmon from American rivers, killer whales may face extinction.

7-6- Officials call off search for missing man in the Superstition Mountains. The only thing found is his vehicle.
Avondale, Arizona residents are upset about all of the trash left near the Gila River by campers and transients. An effort has been underway to, once again, turn this into a riparian area as it once was.
China flooding death toll up two twenty people and seven hundred thousand more have fled homes.
Twenty two people die in Vietnam landslides and floods with thirteen missing in the mountains north of Hanoi.
We are losing a minute of daylight each day after the summer solstice in June. (This is worth pondering. You don’t notice a minute each day until finally you realize the sun isn’t coming up until after seven a.m. in November. Fortunately for sanity’s sake you don’t realize with each passing day you are closer to eternity.)

7-7- Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued for Pima County.
Floods leave five hundred thousand people homeless in India.
Tropical storm Blanca has formed four hundred and ten miles south of the southern tip of Baja, Ca.

7-8- Flash Flood Warning issued for Pima County.
A nine hundred acre wildfire is burning near Williams, Arizona from a lightning strike. Due to wet conditions the National Forest Service will let it burn out on its own for natural clearing. This could take months (?)
The world famous Getty Art Center complex is evacuated in Los Angeles after an eighty acre brush fire develops.
Central Texas is enduring the driest twenty two months since 1885. The extreme drought is becoming dangerous and ranchers are actually hoping for a hurricane to bring them some moisture.
Blanca downgraded to a tropical depression.

7-9- El Nino is back according to government scientists. The periodic warming of water in the tropical Pacific Ocean can affect weather worldwide.

7-10- Excessive Heat Watch issued for Phoenix, Gila Bend and Casa Grande.
Tropical storm Carlos forms in the Pacific and may reach hurricane strength in the next two days.

7-11- An Excessive Heat Warning is issued for the Phoenix Metro area. A heat warning is issued when the temperatures are expected to reach one hundred and ten degrees or higher. It is defined as “extended outdoor activity will result in an eminent threat to health”. (What do they issue when the temperature reaches one hundred and twenty degrees, a Death Warning? So lather up with sun screen like a basting hog and hit the pavement in your running shoes and touring bikes dressed in black rubber gear sure to become seamless with your skin as it melts. Actually the fine men and women who toil in this heat should be commended for their sacrifices to earn a fucking dollar!)
Two Oklahoma men were killed and one missing when a tornado hits near Ontario, Canada. The men were in a cabin when it was torn from the ground and thrown into a lake with wind speeds of 149mph.
Carlos upgraded to a hurricane with 80mph sustained winds and is located one thousand miles southwest of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
Swarms of lady bugs in Colorado due to wet spring attracts tourists with cameras.

7-12- A touch of heaven (comparatively) occurred at The Land today. By one p.m. it was one hundred and ten degrees. It topped at 111 when thunder could be heard in the south. The clouds did not look threatening but by four thirty p.m. the dew point went from the mid forties to sixty two degrees. In one half hour almost a tenth of an inch of rain fell and it cooled twenty degrees! I almost cried with joy (or madness from a sun baked brain.)
One hundred and fifteen degrees in Phoenix with an Excessive Heat Warning posted until eight p.m. tomorrow. A (sick) Phoenix resident baked chocolate chip cookies in two hours on asphalt.
Lightning and thunderstorms scrub the NASA Space Shuttle launch.
Hurricane Carlos is weakening.

7-13- Another Excessive Heat Warning is issued for the deserts until eight pm tomorrow.
Thunderstorms delay another space shuttle launch.
Iraq drought and sandstorms worsen; once a fertile crop region is becoming a dust bowl.
A southern Arizona man is stung over a thousand times by bees while walking his dog. The man survived but the dog didn’t.

7-14- Carlos weakened but strengthened into a hurricane again but is moving away from Mexico.
Monsoon floods drown seven in a bus in India and rescuers are searching for an additional fifteen other passengers. The driver ignored warnings not to cross a bridge that was submerged by flood waters.

7-15- I-17 closed in both directions at Sun Set Point due to a brush fire.
Weather finally allows space shuttle launch.
Carlos grows to a category two hurricane with 100mph winds.
A fifty five mile storm barrier is proposed for the Texas Gulf Coast. The “Ike Dike” could cost up to four billion dollars and take twenty years to construct. It would become the biggest sea wall in the nation. (Your recovery dollars at work!)
Record high temperatures and lack of rainfall have sparked wildfires and destroyed crops across Texas.

7-16- A Severe Flash Flood Warning is issued from Payson to Globe. An Excessive Heat Warning is issued for Phoenix until 7-19.
The wildfire near Williams has grown to four hundred and fifty acres. Firefighters are not pursuing it aggressively, hoping monsoon rain will help dowse it.
A tornado destroys homes and barns in north east Wyoming. There were no injuries but five miles of one road was covered with fallen trees.
Tropical storm Delores forms in the Pacific as Carlos weakens to a tropical storm.

7-17- The first two weeks of July were the warmest on record for Phoenix. A Ozone Health Advisory is issued.
A Dust Storm Warning is issued for Pinal County and a Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued for Pima County. At six thirty five p.m. yours truly, The Blue Beret Storm Spotter, sprang into action. Noticing a classic Haboob taking place I called the official National Weather Service hotline due to visibility being less than a quarter of a mile. I was surprised to get a live person on the line and she sounded a bit bored as I excitedly reported the amazing phenomena. After I asked her if she wanted my official identification number I could detect some amusement in her voice. She asked me what I guessed the wind speed was. I told her this brilliant weather reporter did not have to guess as my official weather station was recording sustained winds of twenty three miles per hour from the south, south east. With awe and admiration in her voice she thanked me for calling.
Due to the recession the nation’s coastal communities are preparing to help more people evacuate if a hurricane approaches; especially for folks who cannot escape on their own. More evacuation buses and storm shelters are being added. (More of your recovery dollars at work!)

7-18- A dust storm warning is issued for Maricopa and north west Pinal Counties.
A sudden change in mild weather kills ten climbers on Japanese mountains. Hypothermia is the cause after the peaks the climbers were on were hit by strong winds and heavy rains; very unusual for this time of year.

7-19- Extreme Heat Warning is extended for deserts until eight pm tomorrow.
An Alaska family is rescued off of South Mountain in Phoenix after a four hour hike. One boy suffered a heat stroke and is in very serious condition.
Fire near Williams, Arizona has grown to seventy four hundred acres but the rain is helping firefighters. There is also a two hundred acre fire near Globe, Arizona. The San Juan fire near Kitt Peak In Tucson is 55% contained.
Temperatures are down in the eastern United States while the west is baking.
The boy who suffered a heat stroke on South Mountain died.
Last night’s powerful thunderstorms and winds up to 100 mph have left two thousand without power in Gila Bend and Ajo, Arizona. More than forty power poles snapped and transformers are out. Residents may not have any power until tomorrow.
A lightning caused fire in the Inyo National Forest of California has burned two thousand acres. The evacuation of camp grounds and a small community were necessary.

7-22- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR LITTLE TWINKIEDUCK!
7-23- None of the National Forests in Arizona have fire bans as Coconino and Prescott National Forests lift restrictions. Ozone Health Warning issued for Phoenix.
A man is missing in the Grand Canyon since last Saturday. He was supposed to return home on Monday.
Death toll rises in Japanese flooding.
Four construction workers die and fifty missing after a landslide slammed into a dam project in China.

7-24- Arrowhead Water wants to tap into Flagstaff springs because of their quality of water. Two million gallons of water per day can be drawn during heavy snow years, none when it is dry. Residents say no despite job possibilities.

7-25- Seven people have died in severe winds and flooding in Poland, two in the Czech Republic and one in Germany.
Eight large wildfires are being battled in Spain and six firefighters have died. Temperatures could reach one hundred and nine degrees.
Boston Airport is testing a new migratory radar to keep birds from causing planes to crash. Radar will track birds (except ducks) from four to six miles at three hundred and sixty degrees. Most bird strikes happen at five hundred feet above the ground.

7-26- A Dust Storm Warning is issued for the south east portion of Phoenix and north west Pinal County. 70 mph winds occur in Florence and Superior. A Flash Flood Warning has been issued for Pima county. An Excessive Heat Warning is issued for the Phoenix area until eight pm July, 28th.
The missing man in the Grand Canyon is found dead at the bottom of a one hundred foot cliff.
The drought in Texas is so bad that extreme water conservation is being mandated. Off duty police officers are patrolling streets looking for people “illegally” watering their lawns. The hardest hit area covers three hundred and fifty miles across south-central Texas. Texas has lost one half of its corn crop and seventy seven counties are in extreme drought conditions.
Tornadoes on the Florida Coast and New York causes much damage.

7-27- More heavy rains in China kill twenty two people from flooding.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE HEAD DUCK HIMSELF! love Mrs. Duck

7-28- An Excessive Heat Warning in Phoenix has been extended until tomorrow at seven pm. Eleven thousand, three hundred and sixty eight customers were disconnected from power use because of lack of payment. This is up three thousand from last year. A moratorium has been posted not to disconnect power when the temperatures are over one hundred and ten degrees.
Ninety two degrees this morning was a new record high low for Phoenix. Rain so far is an inch and a half below normal.
Seattle heat wave with temperatures in the nineties could set new records.
Continued drought and the possibility of lightning storms should make for an above normal summer wild fire season. Especially vulnerable are northern California, western Oregon and Washington State.
Flooding and landslides have killed twenty two in Nepal.

This month’s depressing quote from the Mighty Broadduck is loosely repeated because I accidentally deleted the first one when it was sent. “Life is full of addictions; it’s whether you let them dictate your life and how they will affect you. But if it means dying with a smile on your face, who cares?”

(I think the Mighty Broadduck is still morning the loss of the King of Pop.)
Here is the nature’s perspective of weather if you pay attention to it from RyDuck. “Geese and seagulls usually won’t fly just before a storm. Low pressure air is thin and prevents wing lift.
This isn’t exactly a quote but a thought to leave you with as told to me in a book by Sid Marty. The way the world population is devouring up our precious nature the only wilderness that will be left is the dark of night or when you close your eyes.

The song of the month is “A Hundred and Ten In The Shade” by Seldom Scene.
Until next month when the hurtled rock slams into the side of your head remember

Pioneers took bullets, Settlers took land.
Professor MR Blueduck