June 2010 Weather News Introduction.
This will be the longest issue of Blue Duck Weather ever published. There were so many weather events around this world in June your staff worked tirelessly to gather the information. With so much to report we have decided to delete the useless local weather statistics for the month, including lake levels and the song and quote of the month. I will warn you right now, if this weather journal bores you delete it. But I expect that if you read enough of the events that happened in June you will certainly say to yourself “what the fuck is going on?”
The oil disaster was still the main headliner for the month but your fine staff refused to report the rhetoric, finger pointing, cover ups and out right lies about “successful containment.” In actuality the events reported in this month’s journal really don’t include very much on the leak. Environmental reports are hard to come by. But I have never seen such national news reporting on an event since
9/11.
A week before the President said the following words, “The most devastating assault on American soil since 9/11,” Rolling Stone Magazine uttered the same words. Some of the heartbreaking statements form locals in Louisiana verge from desperation to suicidal. As the underwater camera images of the massive leak became more clear images you can actually see the pulsing of the oil, a rhythm not unlike a leaking heart beating wildly. You will read much more about this disaster in the pages of June Blue Duck Weather.
The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck attended a science conference in Baltimore, Maryland. She met and talked to a teacher from the Chitimacha Reservation school in Louisiana. The teacher told Mrs. BlueDuck that her whole family had been in the oil business for forty years and that it is the main industry in Louisiana. Near tears she said her father is out of work for the first time in forty years. The first thing they smell in the morning and the last thing before they go to sleep is the stench of oil in the Gulf. Although her people are in the oil business they are very concerned about the wildlife. She spoke about how tragic it is to see oil soaked dead animals everywhere.
Being a camper myself the Arkansas flood tragedy that killed so many campers struck me in a profound way. The accounts of the flooding ferocity, the height of the water and how quickly it passed through the camp sent chills up my spine. You will read more about this in this month’s Blue Duck Weather News.
Flooding and landslides in other parts of the world were almost daily it seemed, especially in Poland and later in China. The death toll raised daily in China like some macabre numbers on a slot machine, rolling daily to give you the gruesome tally.
And right here in Arizona the wildfires around the state were worrisome to say the least. The officials reported in late Spring that the high country was saturated enough that the fire danger would be low this summer. I stopped counting at eight fires and Mrs. BlueDuck and I commented about the excessive amount of fires in southeastern Arizona early in the month and our worry about our beloved Mount Graham. And then comes along the massive Schultz Fire north of Flagstaff and the acres burned grew by the hour not the day. It grew seven thousand acres in twenty four hours. And the fucking tragedy and stupidity that the fire began from an abandoned campfire.
Along with big events mentioned above you will read about I-40’s perplexing dust storms in the spring and some possible reasons, what the term “fraking means, the updated most endangered river list, a Judge sides with a pot smoker in a wild animal attack, a new tool for reporting monsoon power outages in Arizona, A bear captured in Sun Lakes, Arizona, a wedding proposal that wasn’t meant to be, literally a cold day in hell, people may be the most dangerous animals in Arizona, Grizzly attacks a man on a bike, The Mount Graham Red squirrel bridge scrapped, what it takes to lift fire restrictions in Arizona, flooding sweeps buried landmines, the final SRP runoff tally from this past Spring, what county in the Nation gets the most lightning strikes and a testimony as to why Chihuahua’s are so fierce!
Read on fine people (and ducks).
6-1- Fire bans begin in all of Maricopa county parks today.
Official beginning of Atlantic hurricane season.
Death toll from Tropical Storm Agatha up to 180 people in Central America. A massive sink hole from the rain in Guatemala swallowed a three story building.
6-3-- Arizona officials are baffled by intense dust storms this spring on I-40 east and west of Flagstaff. Until last year the Arizona Highway Patrol has never closed this stretch of interstate. They have shut it down ten times this spring. There have been more days this year of 45mph winds but state and weather officials say that doesn’t explain why it is kicking up so much sand. (Editors note: I asked this very question in an earlier edition of Blue Duck Weather. I am fucking brilliant!)
Some theories have been historical flooding of the nearby Little Colorado River that left a lakebed that dried into fine sand. The nearby area has also been overgrazed and a decade of drought has dried the soil into dust.
The Horseshoe Fire in the Coronado National Forest in Arizona is zero percent contained with eighteen hundred acres burned. It was caused by a campfire on May 26th and rugged terrain is making it difficult for 790 firefighters to battle it. The fire is located near the New Mexico border.
Oil is washing on the shores of Alabama and Mississippi and the vegetation along the shores is already gray and dying. The oil slick is drifting toward Florida’s panhandle. It may hit beaches by tomorrow.
The upper Delaware River is at the top of the ten most endangered rivers list. The stretch along the New York. Pennsylvania line is threatened by millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals to stimulate gas wells. It is called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”
Lightning strike at Yellowstone Park injures nine as they wait for Old Faithful to pop.
Yet another revised hurricane forecast: This season will be even more active than previously thought. There are ten predicted hurricanes, five of them major. There is a 76% chance that a major hurricane will hit the U.S. coast.
Heavy rains cause more flooding in central Europe with three people dead in Slovakia and Hungary.
6-4- The Horseshoe Fire in south east Arizona has consumed 1800 acres.
Forever burned into our minds will be the “iconic “ photos of oil slicked pelicans we see almost daily. Two massive underwater plumes of oil have been found by scientists that have not reached the surface of the ocean. 53 birds daily are being rescued on the Louisiana coast. The brown pelican is the major victim so far. (Editor’s note: If you take it down to a cellular level then what is the major victim, everything living tainted by the oil.)
India and Pakistan are preparing for Cyclone Phet. Emergency shelters are being prepared for 125,000 people.
6-5- High Ozone Advisory issued for Phoenix along with an Excessive Heat Watch.
The Horseshoe Fire has burned 2000 acres.
“Officials mounted new assessment of the oil’s spread from aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hurricane hunter aircraft. An oil sheen was observed wrapped around isles forty miles south of New Orleans.”
Cyclone Phet kills two and halts oil production in Muscat, Oman.
A Montana judge rules that it is not a worker’s fault that he got mauled by a grizzly at a tourist attraction, even if he smoked pot before he fed the animal. The judge says the man is eligible for worker’s compensation benefits. ( Far out Dude, like I was just getting in tune with the bear, you know?)
A rotating thunderstorm, known as a Super Cell, and a waterspout that formed under it damages dozens of homes in eastern Australia.
Brown pelicans cleaned of oil will be released on the Atlantic Coast in hopes their homing instincts won’t return them back to the Gulf.
6-6- High Pollution and Excessive Heat Warning issued for Phoenix. (Simply depressing.)
Climbing teams on Washington’s Mount Rainer are overtaken by an avalanche at 12,500. Four people are buried but three rescued and flown off of the mountain. One person is still missing.
A tornado struck Millbury, Ohio yesterday killing five people. Fifty homes destroyed and fifty damaged.
In south east Michigan severe storms and high winds damaged siding on a nuclear power plant, causing it to shut down automatically.
A second round of massive flooding in southern Poland after weeks of heavy rain. Thousands of firefighters and soldiers strengthen dikes that are crumbling. Three thousand people are evacuated.
Tropical Storm Phet kits Pakistan’s largest city killing three. Roads are under three feet of water.
6-7- The Horseshoe Fire is up to 2200 acres and 25% contained. It is hoped to be fully contained by June 15th.
A heat island example: The morning’s low in Phoenix was 82 degrees, The wide open deserts of The Land 72 degrees.
APS will post monsoon storm electric outages on Twitter this season. Folks with power outages will still have to report them by phone.
A Gila Monster was ran over by an ATV and its jaw crushed. A local veterinary dentist treated after it was rescued.
The unrelenting demand for water threatens the upper Colorado River enough to place it on the most endangered list. (This will be the end of Lake Mead and possibly Powell, a slow miserable death compared to Edward Abby’s idea of just blowing up the dams and be done with it.)
The National Weather Service reports that Saturday’s killer tornado in Ohio was the strongest in eight years with wind speeds up to 165mph!
Dead, oil slicked birds showing up as war west as Texas.
Death toll from flooding and landslides in southern China climbs to 53. 11,000 homes destroyed and 200,000 folks evacuated.
A surfer is attacked by a shark off of the Australian west coast with deep gash wounds in his right leg. He was rescued by a friend and some fishermen. He is expected to survive.
6-8- This is day 50 after the oil rig explosion in the Gulf. 622 birds and 285 sea turtles have been found dead. ( how many are never found?) There are underwater oil plumes 3300’ deep and oil has seeped 42 miles north of the rig site.
The flooding in Poland is so severe floodwaters are ten feet deep as far back as three miles from local rivers. THE AMOUNT OF RAIN NORMAL FOR THREE MONTHS HAS FALLEN IN THREE DAYS.
A man and his girlfriend were taking a scenic hike in the mountains of North Carolina. The man planned to offer a ring on this hike and ask for marriage. Lightning struck three times, the third strike killing the woman. Her last words were “look how beautiful it is here.” The man suffered third degree burns.
New Hampshire officials say they used doughnuts to lure a six month old bear cub from a tree that it wouldn’t come down from two days after its mother was killed. The mother was killed because she was raising hell in the neighborhood that she wouldn’t leave. People had been feeding her peanut butter sandwiches.
6-9- Tonto National Forest fire restrictions in Arizona go into effect on June 11th.
A black bear wandering around Sun Lakes, Arizona was tranquilized and captured today. The bear wanted to establish a territory and may have entered the community via a river corridor to the south of the community. ( I bet there was some pissed stained golf cart seats from the residents who saw this bear!)
Rain and a spring heat wave is flooding rivers in Colorado and Wyoming washing out small bridges and flooding homes. A man rafting in the swollen Eagle River in Colorado drowned.
One hundred are evacuated as winds fan a brush fire in Maui, Hawaii.
A clam boat in Massachusetts dredged up old munitions containing mustard gas severely sickens a crewman. The boat is anchored in isolation while being scoured of the poison.
Warsaw, Poland closes schools due to flooding.
6-10- Cleanup crews hired by British Petroleum are restricted on giving wildlife information to the media. Government officials new more oil was leaking than reported. (Imagine that!.) Four states are now affected by the oil leak.
6-12- Two lightning caused wildfires near Alpine, Arizona. One has burned 900 acres, the other 450 acres.
A unpredicted and massive flood has killed sixteen campers in the Albert Pike campground in Arkansas. They were camped by the normally slow moving Little Missouri and Kado Rivers. Heavy rain last night caused the rivers to rise eight feet an hour. The flood hit the campers at dawn when most were sleeping. The flood has such force it pulled asphalt off of roads and bark from trees.
Flash flooding kills one in central Texas. The Guadalupe River wrapped buses around trees. ELEVEN INCHES OF RAIN fell overnight between San Antonio and Austin. A tornado was reported in Jefferson County, Texas.
Scientist double previous estimates of oil leaking in the Gulf to 2.1 million gallons a day.
Russia will use cloud seeding techniques to prevent rain and ensure ideal snow conditions during the 2014 Winter Olympics. They want to avoid the weather problems that plagued this year’s Vancouver Olympics. (Editor’s Note: What a joke! Predicting weather four years down the road? I thought seeding was used to desperately trigger rain. The fucking joke may be on them.)
Dutch scientists report that sixty million people in the Himalaya region will suffer from food shortages in the coming decades as glaciers shrink and water sources dry up.
Cleaning birds of oil may be a waste of time. “The hard reality is that many, if not most, oiled creatures probably won’t live long after being cleansed and freed. Once they’ve gone through that much stress with handling and confinement is very difficult.”
6-12- Crews search for flood survivors near a Arkansas camp ground. Eighteen are dead and twenty two missing. Debris hung from trees 25’ above the bend in the Little Missouri River next to the camping area. A river gauge, 4.5 miles downstream showed a twenty one foot rise in the river in a four hour period early yesterday.
A black bear in Scranton, Pennsylvania had to be tranquilized to be removed from the roof of a mall. The 400 lb. bear climbed onto the roof after searching for food in a trash can nearby.
6-13- What a reprieve from typical June weather at The Land yesterday and we can officially call it a “cold day in Hell.” The high was 84 degrees with light rain showers in the afternoon.
Hope fades to find any more survivors from the Arkansas camp site flooding. Death toll is up to nineteen. Fortunately the list of missing is down to one. Folks that were thought to have camped there actually didn’t and are accounted for. One third of the dead are less then seven years old.
From Rolling Stone magazine about the oil spill in the Gulf: “Admiral Thad Allen, the U.S. commander overseeing the cleanup, framed the spill exactly as an invasion. “The enemy is coming ashore he said.” Louisiana beaches were assaulted by blobs of oil that began to seep beneath the sand. Acres of marshland at the Bird’s Foot, where the Mississippi meets the Gulf were befouled by shit brown crude- a death sentence for wetlands which serve as the cradle for much of the region’s vital marine life. By the time Obama spoke it was increasingly evident that this was not merely an ecological disaster. It was the most devastating assault on American soil since 9/11.”
Oil is on the beaches of Alabama on day 54. Locals are frustrated because they are not allowed in the cleanup efforts. 27,000 people are “employed” to clean up. Any oil presently leaking takes thirty to forty five days to reach beaches.
Blue fin tuna may be affected by the oil as far away as Massachusetts. They spawn in the Gulf Coast as the time the leak began.
6-14- “People may be the most dangerous animals in the forests and deserts this time of year.” As of last week there were 31 human caused fires in the Coronado National Forest this year. So far the Horseshoe Fire is the largest and full containment is not expected until July 10th. (It was not too long ago that I expressed worry to the Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck about the unusual amount of fires in the beloved mountain range where Mount Graham resides.)
Massive flooding causes evacuations and rescues after as much as NINE INCHES of rain falls in Oklahoma City in a few hours.
The deadly flood that killed the campers in Arkansas filled the camp with four feet of water by two a.m., and by five that morning the camp was under TWENTY THREE FEET of water. ( Editor’s Note: These pour souls didn’t have a chance!)
6-15- The new “official” beginning of the Arizona monsoon season. Have no worries my faithful readers, your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather will still give you the actual beginning based on scientific data.
A twenty acre brush fire near Alma School and Happy Valley Roads is moving toward the McDowell Mountains in the northern part of Scottsdale, Arizona, threatening homes.
The Boggy Fire 18 miles southwest of Alpine, Arizona has burned 820 acres. The Paradise Fire 16 miles west of Alpine has burned 815 acres. Lightning is believed to be the cause and fire crews are making good progress extinguishing the blazes.
The President of the United States addressed the nation tonight about the Gulf oil leak from the Oval Office. Televised speeches from this office are only done in the event of a crisis.
Before a wall of water swept through a narrow gorge in the Quachita Mountains and down into the campground in Arkansas panicked forecasters sent warning four times in one hour to advise of flash flooding. The warnings never reached the campsite. There was no ranger on site, no cell phone service, and the nearest Sheriffs’ office was an hours drive away. Arkansas police are confident the body of a young girl found today is the last victim.
47 people were killed in their sleep due to landslides triggered by rain in Bangladesh, India.
23 are killed and 24 missing after flashfloods and landslides in southwestern China.
A deer in Betavia, New York crashed through a window at Applebee’s and ran through the restaurant. People herded the deer through a door and no one was hurt. Venison was not on the menu. ( Har, Har!)
28 endangered rhinos poached in Nepal. Security forces were guarding them, but political turmoil had them redeployed to other areas.
6-16- While a Red Flag Warning was in effect in northern Arizona the Eagle Rock Fire explodes near Williams growing to 200 acres in two hours. Tankers are grounded by winds reaching 50mph. The fire is declared out of control.
The 200 acre Patriot Fire in the McDowell Mountains of north Scottsdale is contained with no homes damaged.
Arizona will be one of eight states to test Gulf sea food for contamination beginning next week.
The storm that hit Oklahoma City a few days ago left record amounts of rain. Some areas received TEN INCHES of rain. 7.62 inches was recorded at the Will Rogers Airport, breaking a record set in 1970. Miraculously there was only one fatality.
FOURTEEN INCHES of rain falls in southern France in a few hours. 15 killed, 12 missing and hundreds of vehicles washed away.
A man in Anchorage, Alaska was riding his bike to work on a trail when he was attacked by a sow Grizzly with a cub in tow. He was on a wooden bridge when he surprised the bears. The man stopped and the mama bear charged. He tried to use his bike as a shield and finally curled up and played dead. After enduring head and leg wounds he finally used his bicycle to pedal to a hospital.
6-17- With 25 mph winds the Eagle Rock Fire has grown to 3400 acres with no containment. People are evacuated in Spring Valley and the Red Cross will set up shelters tonight.
Marine scientists are witnessing strange phenomenon with animals due to the oil disaster in the Gulf. Fish and birds by the thousands are fleeing the oil and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast. the crowding could result in massive die-offs.
Two men confess to shooting 5 wild Mustangs in Nevada. They admitted they were drinking and used “poor judgment” when they shot the horses with an AR-15. (Get a fucking rope!)
6-18- Eagle Rock Fire evacuees are allowed to return to their homes. Residents are angry because the fire was reported a day before there was any response from fire fighters. The fire is 30% contained.
The Mount Graham Endangered Red squirrel bridge project has been scrapped by ADOT. One million dollars was allocated by the federal government to build rope bridges above the two roads on the mountain to keep road kill to a minimum. ADOT will return the money to the government.
The main focus of the tragedy in the Gulf is the leaking oil. Scientists are warning that along side the leaking oil is natural gas releasing deadly amounts of methane gas. A huge bubble of the collecting gas will deplete the surrounding waters of oxygen.
A series of tornadoes hit Minnesota yesterday killing three and damaging sixty farms. Witnesses said “nothing was left standing” in the direct path of the twisters.
Death toll up to 25 from the floods in south France.
Tropical Storm Blas is forming off southwestern Mexico.
6-19- The Hardy Fire broke out today near Flagstaff. One hundred acres have burned near the center of town and evacuation alerts have been issued.
Day 61 since the oil leak and tar balls have reached Panama Beach, Florida, the farthest point east so far.
Strong winds and driving rain knock out windows in the 110 story Sears Tower in Chicago.
Tropical Storm Celia forms today in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern Mexico.
The death toll from flooding in China is raised to 90 and 1.4 million people are evacuated as the region prepares for more heavy rain. (Evacuated where? That’s a lot of folks.)
6-20- The Hardy Fire that broke out yesterday in Flagstaff behind the Little America hotel is under investigation. Authorities have identified a point of origin and are questioning a man. The fire has grown to four hundred acres.
The Shultz Fire breaks out today on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks. Three thousand acres have burned, one thousand homes evacuated and winds are gusting to 50 mph. Two groups of hikers are missing
The Eagle Rock Fire near Williams, Arizona is 50% contained at 3400 acres.
The death toll is up to 132 from flooding in southern China. Ten million people have been affected since the rains began on June 6th. There are 86 missing and thousands of home destroyed. The flooding follows the worst drought in a century.
Tropical Storm Celia strengthens to a hurricane, the first of the season.
A Grizzly bear has been tracked and killed after fatally mauling a man outside of Yellowstone National Park. The man was killed while hiking near his cabin. Officials decided to kill the bear “because it was unclear whether it had some unnatural form of aggression.” (Excuse me? Isn’t this what Grizzlies do when they feel threatened?)
6-21- The first day of summer and the high was 104 at the Land and 105 in Phoenix. ( If you want some relief, just realize after today the amount of day light decreases daily, ultimately along with the temperatures.)
The Schultz Fire north of Flagstaff has grown to nearly 10,000 acres and declared out of control. Half of all U.S. air tankers are there but grounded due to wind. This is the number one priority fire in the nation right now. Smoke can be seen from Colorado. Fourteen hundred homes have been evacuated. The fire may have been caused by an abandoned campfire.
225 controlled burns have been set up in the Gulf Coast to burn off surface oil since the leak began.
Montana and Wyoming have received so much rain this month that all but three counties have been taken off of the serious drought list.
A tornado swept through Billings, Montana yesterday damaging a casino and a resort. (The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck, born in Billings told me that tornadoes are extremely rare there.) (actually since I, Mrs Duck was just in Billings this AM, I found out that it has been 54 years since the last tornado there)
The second major flooding in Brazil in a month has killed 36 and 80,000 homeless.
6-22- The Schultz Fire has grown to 14,000 acres and 20% contained. President Obama pledges help. It may take two weeks for full containment. Ironically fire restrictions begin tomorrow in Coconino County. Many Flagstaff residents feel fire restrictions should have started on Memorial Day weekend.
Two women playing golf in Gilbert, Arizona yesterday were stung by swarms of bees. One woman was stung 50 times, the other 20. They abandoned their clubs and cart and ran for the country club.
There are 173 miles of oil drenched shore line in the South.
A State of Emergency has been declared in and around Billings, Montana from the tornado that struck days ago.
FOURTEEN INCHES OF RAIN has fallen in northeast Brazil in three days washing away 40,000 homes. 40 people have been killed, hundreds missing, and 100,000 homeless.
Western Canada is flooded and more rain is expected. Floodwaters have closed a section of the Trans-Canada Highway near Alberta.
6-23- Some evacuees from the Schultz Fire have been allowed to return home to barren surroundings. The fire is holding at 14,000 acres.
The Gulf oil leak has now affected the entire eco system from algae to dolphins. (How long will it take for the chemicals to affect the top of the food chain, us?)
RyDuck reports from his cool and secluded Colorado location a high of 75 degrees. (The sick bastard!) It is 108 at the Land.
Funnel clouds with winds recorded at 100mph and flash flooding in Illinois. An apartment complex roof was blown off. 2.48 inches of rain fell in a few hours.
A warning siren failed before a tornado hit Eagle, Wisconsin damaging 125 homes.
The death toll from flooding in southern China climbs to 365 and 2.4 million folks are displaced.
6-24- Ozone Health Warning issued and the official high for Phoenix today was the hottest this summer, 113 degrees, 115 in Awatere and a cool 111 degrees at The Land.
Although the Schultz Fire is still at 14,000 acres and 25% contained welcome signs have been placed on the side of the highway for evacuees returning to Flagstaff. (This report is from the Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck as our roving reporter!)
The Eagle Rock Fire near Williams is 90% contained.
And yet another fire breaks out north of Fountain Hills, Arizona. The Sycamore Fire is at 40 acres and State Route 87 is closed to Payson.
Three Gilbert residents have reported seeing a mountain lion in one neighborhood three times since the end of May.
Day 66 and oil in mass is reported at Pensacola Bay, Florida. Blue fin tuna, sea turtles, dolphins and Brown pelicans in the region may have to be placed on the endangered species list!
Washington, D.C. breaks a 116 year old heat record.
Southern China’s death toll from flooding climbs to 365 and 2.4 million people are displaced.
Flooding in Bosnia has displaced thousands this week. The torrents have also swept loose land mines planted during the Bosnian War that ended in 1995. Since then authorities have tried to remove one million mines but there may be 220,000 unaccounted for.
Hurricane Darby has formed in the Pacific Mexico’s southwest coast and Hurricane Celia strengthens to a Category 3 storm.
6-25- Ozone Health Watch issued for Phoenix.
The 15,000 acre Schultz Fire is 40% contained.
A tornado is confirmed in Bridgeport, Connecticut and with collapsed buildings a State of Emergency is declared.
Darby turns into a Category 3 hurricane, 250 miles southwest of Acapulco. Celia, farther out to sea is now a Category 5 hurricane. (the satellite images of these two swirling masses make them look close together and is absolutely amazing!)
A Geologist in Alaska is attacked by a Grizzly while clearing brush. The man curled up, pretending to be dead, the bear left but turned and attacked him again. The man managed to get off three shots from a .357 he was carrying but doesn’t think he hit the bear. He radioed mayday, mayday and was picked up by a helicopter and taken to a hospital in Anchorage. The man is recovering from his wounds. An official said “He is lucky to have survived. He should have been carrying a more powerful gun. You have to be a very good shot or very lucky to stop a Grizzly with a .357 magnum.”
6-26- The Schultz Fire is 50% contained and holding at 15,000 acres. Full containment is expected by July 2nd.
The Corral Fire erupts near Highway 87 in the Tonto National Forest and has burned five acres.
The first tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season, Alex, formed yesterday in the Caribbean.
6-27- Tropical Storm Alex soaks Belize, Mexico. A storm warning is in effect for Mexico’s entire Caribbean coastline up to Cancun. Alex is moving into the Gulf of Mexico and expected to strengthen.
Flood waters finally receding in a devastated southern China.
A raccoon knocked out power to five thousand in Memphis, Tennessee. The little shit climbed over 30’ of barriers to keep animals out and short circuited a switch on a substation. ( I guess there is no doubt as to its fate after this prank.)
Three Burmese pythons are found in a flooded home in King Lake, Nebraska. The owners were charged with “harboring a non-domestic animal.
6-28- The Corral Fire is fully contained in the Tonto National Forest.
Salt River Project has released its winter storm runoff totals. 2010 was the 10th wettest record for the Salt and Verde River watersheds. 13.35’’ and almost half fell in six days in January.
The Schultz Fire is 65% contained.
800 people who relied on fishing in the Gulf Coast line up for food boxes due to the fishing ban. Oil has hit the beaches of Mississippi thus far spared. One man said “this is like watching a person dying of cancer.”
Alex gains strength and a Hurricane Watch is posted for the coasts of south Texas and northeastern Mexico.
One person dead and four injured after a violent storm hits an eastern Michigan campground.
107 people are buried by more landslides in a rain soaked southern China. The death toll is up to 239 and three million people are displaced.
6-29- Once again our only claim to weather fame is another pollution advisory posted for Maricopa County.
The Coconino National Forest in Arizona receives more lightning strikes than any other National Forest in the U.S.
A Mountain lion is once again spotted in a Gilbert neighborhood along a green belt. This is the fifth time since May 31st. By the time officers arrived the elusive cat was gone.
Moisture from Alex may move into southern Arizona by next week.
The Coast Guard calls all oil skimming vessels to shore as waters in the Gulf become too rough from Alex. Even though Alex is five hundred miles away there are swells up to seven feet high from the counter clockwise wind surges.
The people are dead and three missing from floods in northeastern Romania.
A Great white shark is caught off of the coast of Massachusetts. State officials quickly reacted to reassure beach goers for the upcoming holiday. “Sharks don’t pose a threat for common sense swimmers.” (Get out your fucking wallets and head on down. The water is fine!)
6-30- Excessive Heat Warning issued for Maricopa County for the rest of the week with morning lows in the 90s and highs topping 112 degrees. (That is the good old heat island effect for you. Out in the wilds of The Land the lows are still in the mid 70s.)
In the Maricopa Communicator newspaper: “More than five hundred homes are in the process of being re-designated by FEMA as lying within a high flood risk zone.” It goes on by saying that some homeowners are furious because they did not know this when buying their homes and now will not be able to re-sale at full value. (What a fucking joke and fraud for the poor folks that bought in the new ‘Copa. The whole town should have been deemed a high flood risk. If any of you want to know just ask me about the flood of 1982 when Maricopa was in the national news and yours truly was cut off from town for a week from flooding. The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck and I have laughed about the new ‘Copa location many times.) (Mrs. Duck adds that the river these homes were built on were put there after the river was "relocated" RIGHT! It was my understanding though, that this was told to potential buyers and the insurnace companies must have gone along with it at the time of purchase since OUR house is considered a possible flood threat....I smell a rat or two.)
The Schultz Fire is 90% contained. It has burned 23 square miles of northern Arizona’s most scenic country.
Alex is a Category 1 hurricane, the first to occur in June since 1995. It has sustained winds of 100mph.
A California woman says her Chihuahua died protecting her children from two pit bulls that entered into her apartment. The little pooch jumped between the bulls and a four year old son of the woman. One pit bull grabbed the poor little bastard in his jaws and carried him away. The other pit bull followed licking his lips.
Remember Settlers took Land, Pioneers took Bullets.
The exhausted, somewhat disheveled Professor MR BlueDuck
