July 2010 Weather News!
Good God! When the month’s weather report takes nearly twenty pages of field notes and exhaustive editing by your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather you know it’s a doosey! This month’s weather report is just as wild and unpredictable as June was. Once again, because of space and the risk of boring you out of your ever loving minds, we have omitted all of the “fillers” that make Blue Duck Weather even more boring than it is.
Hank Jr. wrote the line many years ago, “The Preacher man said it’s the end of time and the Mississippi River she’s a running dry….” The calamity in that line comes to mind with the last two month’s weather. Record heat, record flooding, fucking oil pollution fouling the pristine waters of the Gulf coast and on and on.
The only local weather news I am including, other than the day to day reports you will be reading, are the temperatures on The Land during July. For thirty one straight days the average temperature was 92.33 degrees with one day that the average was 102 degrees. That is hot for an entire month, day and night combined. The lovely Mrs. BlueDuck and I were talking about it in reference to mortality. Every living thing exposed to this heat twenty four hours a day is under extreme physical stress. It is a marvel to the animals and plants that survive in the desert and even flourish with their adaptability. Just think, one hundred and fifty years ago we would not be escaping the temperatures with air conditioned homes and vehicles. The homeless these days can’t either. No wonder the life expectancy of mankind has risen so dramatically. Take away the comforts of modern living and it drops dramatically.
In this incredibly accurate and amazing Blue Duck Weather you will read the following highlights and so much more! More flooding in a drowning China, what locally “swimmer’s itch” is caused from, follow the progress of a dying hurricane and the damage it still does while blowing itself out, record heat on the East Coast, local on the spot weather as its happening contributions from TwinkyDuck, StephiDuck and JerDuck, troubling news for Arizona wildlife, read the day by day recordings that actually show the beginning of the real monsoon season in Arizona, discover the tracking and eventual fate of three gold seeking hikers in the Superstition Mountains, the dog that barked his way to safety, a canal swimmer attacked by an alligator, how the first half of the year faired globally with temperatures, follow the progress and destruction of the first typhoon of the year, a new addition to Gulf Atlantic weather forecasts, an Iowa dam break by flooding, another fatal Grizzly attack in the United States, record heat along with record drowning in Moscow, the most active monsoon weather dates in Arizona for the month, the largest hailstone ever found in the United States and a massive wildfire in Southern California. Let the “fun” begin!
July 2010 Weather News!
7-1- The Schultz Fire north of Flagstaff is 100% contained.
Hurricane Alex weakens but Matamoros, Mexico is practically under water from rain. (Editor’s note: I reported to you yesterday there have been no June hurricanes since 1995. I heard today it has been 45 years.) Alex also spawned two tornadoes in Texas.
Indonesia’s last glacier will melt within years. “These glaciers are dying. Before I was thinking they had a few decades, but now I’d say we’re looking at several years.” This is according to Lonnie Thompson, one of the world’s most accomplished glaciologists.
It is day 70 and the Gulf oil leak, at 140 million gallons of oil spilled, is the worst in history. Alabama residents on the coast are trying to relocate sea turtle eggs to Florida to remove them from the oiled waters penetrating the sand where they are buried awaiting hatching.
7-2- A wildfire erupts near Mayer, Arizona and three homes are threatened.
Stay away from ducks and geese while swimming in Arizona lakes and rivers this summer. They carry a boring parasite known as swimmer’s itch. (Editor’s note: This is fucking racial profiling and propaganda!)
A Mexican gray wolf is found shot to death near Big Lake, Arizona. The Wildlife Service is offering a 10,000 dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the criminal.
Cleanup vessels allowed back in the Gulf has Alex diminishes and the swells calm.
The Des Moines River in Iowa continues to rise and there is worry about the levee downtown. Water is being released as quickly as possible with the threat of more rain coming.
7-3- The first rattlesnake encounter on The Land today by your truly at eleven thirty a.m. with a temperature of 97 degrees. I was a bit surprised the slithery creature was out in the heat. Needless to say I have a nice snake skin tanning.
Arizona Game and Fish officials have not been able to confirm the recent mountain lion sightings in the Power Ranch community of Gilbert, Arizona. No photos, foot prints or droppings have been found. One resident said “we are mostly staying indoors until the situation is cleared up.” (Give me a fucking break!)
Two wildfires are burning near Las Vegas. The Mopa Fire the largest, has damaged or destroyed ten homes and burned 680 acres.
The death toll in Mexico from Alex has risen to six people. They died in the northern city of Monterrey. The force of flood waters tossed and flipped vehicles and nearly buried homes with rocks and mud. 1200 soldiers are dispatched to help the relief effort.
A Shark Advisory has been issued by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston. Recreational boaters and paddlers are told to be on the look out because sharks can easily overturn a small vessel.
65 acres have burned near Mayer, Arizona and evacuees are allowed to return home. A vehicle dragging a loose chain sparked the blaze.
With 28-35 mph winds a Red Flag Warning has been issued for Flagstaff and Winslow.
7-4- Nearly a week after the landslide disaster in south west China 42 bodies have been recovered and 57 remain missing.
7-5- With temperatures above 100 degrees and high humidity the East Coast is under and Excessive Heat Warning. “Officials” are saying if residents don’t have air conditioning to go to a mall to cool down. (Editor’s note: What are you supposed to do, go in, lay down on an aisle floor and take a nap? Sounds like a perfect come on to go and spend money and pretend you are happy.)
The flooding of the Danube River threatens Bucharest, Romania. It has reached its highest recorded levels in history. If the river overflows its banks parts of the city could be under ten feet of water.
7-6- Arizona Game and Fish officials are still looking for a poacher who illegally shot an antelope in April. The doe was shot with a .22 long caliber bullet about 25 miles south of Williams in the Kaibab National Forest.
It is day 78 and oil has washed on to every state’s shores in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil has even reached New Orleans as it is found in Lake Pontchartrain. 40 square miles of this lake has been closed to fishing.
Migration season for birds this fall may be disastrous in the Gulf. Millions of birds fly there to nest in the next six months.
Extreme Heat Warnings from Maine to Texas. Records are broken in 26 cities. 103 in New York and 102 in Philadelphia.
Hundreds are evacuated and a border bridge closed in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. It is located across the border from Del Rio, Texas. After days of rain there are fears a dam will break. So far 10,000 people had suffered damage to homes and property. Part of the rain is left over from last week’s Alex.
7-7- The National Weather Service warns that the flash flood potential this summer is high in the area of the Schultz Fire north of Flagstaff. Residents are told to prepare for evacuations.
All time hear records are broken since the 1880s on the East Coast. The power grids may not be able to keep up with demand for more electricity to cool. From New Hampshire to Virginia there have been isolated power outages.
18,000 people are evacuated from Nuevo, Laredo in northern Mexico. Authorities are afraid a dam, located 43 miles away, may break. Twelve floodgates have been opened but seventeen others can’t open due to electrical failures. The releases may cause an already swollen Rio Grande River to flood. This is all from heavy rains in the past week, due in part, to moisture left over from Alex.
7-8- Day 80 and 507 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline are stained from oil.
A new tropical depression is headed for the Texas- Mexico border. The rapidly rising Rio Grande River is 25’ above flood stage. Evacuations are taking place in Laredo, Texas. Four inches or rain has already fallen in Laredo on top of Alex dumping TWENTY FIVE INCHES OF RAIN on the river systems.
7-9- Excessive Heat Warning and Ozone Advisory issued for Maricopa County today. At seven a.m. it was 96 degrees in Phoenix.
104 cats were removed from an elderly woman’s home west of Phoenix today. There were nine dead kittens found frozen in freezers in the home. Dozens were so diseased, some without eyes, they had to be destroyed on the spot. The 80 year old woman was taken to a hospital. (I truly hope to evaluate her mental condition.)
A new Tropical Depression hit’s the Texas-Mexico border. Normally the Rio Grande River is shallow this time of year, running at about three feet in depth. It is 40’ deep. One international bridge into Nuevo, Laredo Mexico is closed.
Montana wildlife regulators have doubled this year’s wolf hunt quotas from year’s past to 186. They need to reduce the populations for the first time since the wolves were re-introduced in 1995.
7-10- Excessive Heat Warning issued for Maricopa and parts of Pinal counties. Phoenix has a record morning high low of 91 degrees.
The first day the average dew point was above 55 degrees at The Land and the first rainfall since April 23rd. The count down is on to see if the Monsoon is finally here!
A wildfire has started near Sunset point. The Bloody Fire has consumed 17 acres.
The Saffron Fire near the Grand Canyon has burned 3,000 acres in the past week. (First I have heard of this fire.)
Two people on a golf course in Tucson struck by lightning. No word on their condition.
June was the hottest month on record for New Jersey, Delaware and North Carolina. It was the wettest June on record for Michigan.
Rio Grande flooding kills one in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A driver was swept away when he drove his car into a flooded STREET! Two international bridges are closed.
7-11- Second day of dew point average above 55 degrees at The Land. Phoenix set a record high low of 91 degrees.
Highway 260 near Pine, Arizona is closed due to mudslides.
Saffron Fire near the north rim of the Grand Canyon is still at 3000 acres and started by lightning.
On the front page of the Arizona Republic: “Arizona is losing its native wildlife. Some are already gone. For some, the best efforts won’t be enough.” Forty species are endangered or threatened under federal law. This means they are close enough to extinction to warrant protection.
50 people have been killed in southern China by flooding and landslides. 9000 have been evacuated in the city of Golmud for fears a near by dam will break. The Wenquan reservoir in the north west Qinghai province his retaining three times the safe capacity of 230 MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF WATER. The lake has been badly maintained because the area is usually prone to drought. Since the beginning of July 42,000 homes have collapsed and 121,000 damaged.
Hundreds are rescued from overheated trains in Berlin. A heat wave knocked out the air conditioning and temperatures soared to 122 degrees. The train’s windows were designed not to open. (Technology at its finest!)
7-12- The average dew point was above 55 degrees at The Land for the third day. This means the monsoon began on July 10th. It began in Phoenix a day earlier according to reports.
There are three missing hikers in the Superstition Mountains east of the Valley. They have been missing for almost a week. (In this heat!)
Flash flood advisories in northern Arizona.
Officials are working hard to drain the swollen reservoir in China that is threatening a dam burst. They must create drainage channels by bringing in huge boulders to line them.
7-13- Three hikers are still missing in the Superstition Mountains after a week. All were Utah residents searching for the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. The men planned on exploring during the day and spending the nights in a local motel. They probably don’t have camping provisions.
17 are dead and 44 missing after more China landslides due to heavy rains. (When will this misery end?)
19 fishermen are missing after Typhoon Conson, the first typhoon of the year, heads for the Philippines. Flights, ferries, and schools closed. Sustained wind gusts are up to 95mph.
A storm rips through a refugee camp in Haiti six months to the day after the massive earthquake left hundreds of thousands homeless. Tents and solar powered street lights are destroyed by the storm. There is controversy why the refugee camp is in such a remote area.
In Naples, Florida a ten foot alligator bit of the hand of a man swimming with friends in a canal. Authorities were able to “retrieve” the hand from the gator’s stomach and doctors hope to reattach it.
The fucking BLM has suspended wild horse roundups in north east Nevada after seven horses died of dehydration and one had to be shot when it broke its leg. Animal rights activists are outraged. (Mrs. Blueduck watched a horse roundup on the Gila rez years ago...the horses were herded by helicopter into small pens they build on the north side of the mountain. I'm sure the horses thought they were running to freedom since the fence was new) I remember seeing 2 horses on their hind legs licking their front legs at a helicopter hovering above the horses. It was one of the very worst things I ever saw!)
7-14- An Excessive Heat Warning has been posted in Maricopa county through July 16th. There is also a Ozone Health Advisory posted.
There are three hikers still missing in the Superstition Mountains, but now reports say instead of a week perhaps since last Sunday. But, family members have not heard from them since July 7th. Their vehicle remains parked at First Water Trailhead. There are five helicopters, twenty law enforcement officers, and one hundred volunteers searching for the missing men. One Mesa Mounted Posse volunteer said “There’s only a couple of places with water out here. You’ve got to be prepared. If they knew where they were going, if they had a plan, nobody knew about it.
Day 86 and a 174 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf. There are no healthy oysters now to harvest for food in Louisiana.
A small south east Idaho desert fire has turned into an inferno that has burned 170 square miles in one day. It is the biggest burning wildfire in the U.S. right now. 55mph winds are fanning the fire and a federal nuclear lab in the area loses all electricity.
TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND TRUCKS are stopped at the Texas-Mexico border due to flooding near Laredo. Forty percent of U.S. and Mexico trade goes through this border town.
In western China the death toll climbs to 41 from new landslides due to rain.
Typhoon Conson slams the Philippines leaving 26 dead and 38 fishermen missing. Most of the dead were crushed by falling trees.
In Pennsylvania a dog trapped in a hot car honked the horn until he was rescued. The chocolate Labrador will be fine.
7-15- The average temperature from the low of the morning to the high of the afternoon 102 degrees at The Land!
Missing hikers in the Superstitions still not found.
A Flash Flood Warning has been issued in west Gila County (Yes sir, me and ol’ RyDuck know this area only to well for flash flooding.)
A Yuma man has been sentenced to five year’s probation and 150 hours of community service for starting the June, 2008 fire near Crown King, Prescott, Arizona. The man started an illegal signal fire when he was lost.
According to British Petroleum the oil leak is completely sealed with a temporary cap. Much of the oil that has been recovered in the Gulf by skimming and boom devices have been moved into landfills (Now what happens to that oil?)
Fires in Riverside, California touched off by lightning. Another fire in San Diego causes evacuations.
As Typhoon Conson heads toward Japan 300,000 people are urged to evacuate. Japan and China have been placed on alert for the worst flooding in years.
Global land and ocean surface temperatures in the first half of 2010 are the warmest on record according to the “federal climate service.”
A heat wave is moving across much of Europe from Russia to Germany as a week of temperatures soar into the 90s. Russia’s worst drought in a century has destroyed 25 million acres of crops. A State of Emergency has been declared in 18 Russian provinces where fire has destroyed 64,000 acres of forest.
7-16- The national news reported this morning that Phoenix “was 100 degrees at three in the morning and the high may hit 120.” (Thankfully it was no where near close to that high with 113 degrees recorded.)
An inch and a half of rain fell in thirty minutes in Claypool, Arizona west of Globe!
38 border crossing deaths due to heat exposure in Pima County, Arizona this month alone.
Felony charges have been filed against a homeless man for starting the 280 acre Hardy Fire in Flagstaff last month.
Day two and no oil leaking into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico!
Severe thunderstorms and lightning have sparked a dozen brush fires in Southern California. A 450 acre fire near Temecula is 10% contained but rain is helping.
Disaster teams spread out over southern China in preparation for Typhoon Conan. The typhoon killed 39 in the Philippines and the number missing has jumped to 84.
7-17- Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued it Tucson and Sells, Arizona. Hail and 60 mph winds expected.
Eight lightning caused fires between Winslow and Flagstaff. Each is no more than an acre but response was quick to extinguish them.
The search for the missing hikers in the Superstition Mountains is scaled back to morning only. A heat seeking plane is also assisting. One of the missing men was already rescued in this region in 2009 searching for gold. His mother said the man was “gold crazy”. The man was so confident of finding gold this time he didn’t even take his cell phone; the very thing that got him rescued last time.
Typhoon Conson weakens to a strong Tropical Storm and is headed to Vietnam after leaving two dead in China. Several Vietnamese ships have wrecked in its path.
A waterspout slammed into a sports stadium in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico collapsing scaffolding and injuring five.
7-18- Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for Wilcox, Arizona.
Heat Warnings issued in twelve states in the Nation.
Typhoon Conson hits Vietnam’s northern coast, 20,000 evacuated and 8 missing include 6 fishermen.
An Idaho man had 25 live rattlesnakes in a five gallon bucket in his apartment. He said he had 32 but he ate two and gave the others away. He was trying to sell snakes and had contacted a Utah research center which milks snakes for their venom. Apparently he was reported as he was charged for keeping live rattlesnakes, having more than the “legal” limit and not having a permit.
7-19- Coconino and Prescott county fire restrictions to be lifted this week due to rain and high humidity.
There were eight rescues on Camelback Mountain in Phoenix yesterday for hikers who didn’t have enough water. (Now there are “officials” who want to post warning signs for hikers that may not be familiar with the desert heat. Why don’t they just post skull and crossbones and write enter at your own risk and don’t pet the rattlesnakes. Good God!)
15 square miles of dry grass and vegetation have burned in central Washington. Three firefighters were injured fleeing their truck in flames. Fire advanced quickly and they were unable to turn their truck around.
China is devastated by flooding and landslides this summer. Twenty missing from the latest and so far the death toll is up to 148. Most of the affected is along the Yangtze River Basin.
7-20- The search for three missing hikers in the Superstitions was called off yesterday when it became clear they could not be alive with the heat we have experienced. When they parked their car they left it with only one bottle of water. Maricopa County Sherriff said “It is sad. We’ve had a lot of resources covering 96 miles with more than 300 volunteers and law enforcement people. No trace of them have been found; no fires, no debris. There are mines they may have wandered into but there is no water in the Superstitions.”
Flash flooding near Flagstaff takes the life of a twelve year old girl near the area of the Schultz Fire burn. The rain had passed and she was exploring a running wash when she fell in. 1.78” of rain fell in two hours.
The NWS declares that an official Microburst occurred in central Phoenix shortly after one a.m. this morning. Winds were recorded at 55 mph near 27th Avenue and Missouri. A large tree toppled onto a house.
The 350 acre Tuba Fire and six others started by lightning earlier this week in Coconino County have been fully contained.
The Gulf weather forecast: Cloudy with a chance of tar balls. Television forecasters have been adding this to their daily lineup. Predicting the onshore paths of oil with wind and water currents is difficult.
And this just in from RyDuck’s sorry ass; rain this morning and 63 degrees. They have been experiencing a “heat wave” lately with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s. ( Mrs. BlueDuck adds, gee thanks Ryan....I will remember to give you weather updates this winter when you are up to your beak in snow and it is 70 degrees here!)
7-21- Flash Flood Warning in Tucson with some areas receiving three inches of rain.
The intense heat in Kansas last week killed 2,000 cattle, all of which were contained in feed lots.
China’s death toll from summer flooding up to 401, 347 missing and 645,000 homes damaged. Three quarters of China’s provinces have been affected by flooding. Twenty five rivers have record high water levels.
7-22- More flash flooding near the burnt out areas of Flagstaff from the Schultz Fire.
Tropical Storm Bonnie heading for the Gulf Coast. A State of Emergency is declared for Louisiana.
The death toll in China from flooding climbs to 1,000. The heaviest rains are yet to come with typhoon season. 60-80% of annual rains happen in June, July and August.
7-23- A flash flood earlier this week in the Grand Canyon forced the evacuation of 100 campers in Havasupai but caused little damage.
Tropical Storm Bonnie hits Florida and headed for the oil spill area. Federal authorities are closing the flood barriers that protect New Orleans as a precaution.
Milwaukee received SEVEN INCHES OF RAIN IN THREE HOURS! The airport there was still closed this morning.
Typhoon Chanthu reaches southern China killing two people.
Rescue workers remove the body of a missing climber from the Tetons after he fell from a cliff during a thunderstorm.
7-24- Dust Storm Warning for north west Pinal County.
Bonnie fizzles out and avoids the Gulf but it cost a week in cleanup delays.
Heavy rains caused the Lake Delhi dam in eastern Iowa to fail threatening towns downstream. North east Iowa as received as much as NINE INCHES OF RAIN in the last several days. The Maquoketa River rose to a new record. The breach began when a two lane road on top of the dam collapsed.
The rest of the Midwest is receiving heavy rain. SEVEN AND A HALF INCHES FELL OVERNIGHT in Chicago.
The East is baking in record heat once again this summer. The heat index, which factors humidity levels put many places at 110 degrees and above. (Sound familiar for us poor bastards in the desert? A dry heat my ass.)
7-25- A two year boy camping with his family near Sedona is missing. He was last seen asleep with family members in a tent at midnight. At about one forty five a.m. his family noticed the boy was gone.
Flash Flood Warning issued in Cochise county, Arizona with two inches of rain in some areas.
200 homes and businesses destroyed or damaged downstream from the failed dam in Iowa.
The heat wave in the East continues with flood cleanups in the Mid West. Chicago’s beaches closed for a second day due to possible water contamination after the sewer system was overwhelmed with flood waters and released into Lake Michigan.
Remnants of Typhoon Chanthu kills eight in northern Vietnam.
Landslides from floods kill 21 in Indonesia.
7-26- Powerful storm ends heat wave in the North East. Two people are killed by falling trees and there were 270 reports of felled trees and 240,000 without power.
Three campers in Zion National Park in Utah swept away and hurled over a forty foot cliff by flash floods. Miraculously they survived.
7-27- A tornado kills two and injures one on a remote ranch in Montana near the town of Reserve.
Moscow is enduring a record heat wave since record keeping began 130 years ago. 2,000 people have drowned trying to beat the heat. Officials said most of the drowning s were linked to intoxication. ( Drunken lemming syndrome?)
7-28- Flood Advisories issued for Maricopa county.
The search for a missing boy in the Beaver Creek Campground near Sedona continues for the third day. The FBI has been brought in to help.
The body of a Greek tourist has been found 600’ below a cliff at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
This is day 100 of the Gulf oil leak. A third of all fishing grounds still closed indefinitely and amounts to 630 miles of coastline. So far the leaking oil is twenty times more than the fated Valdez spill in Alaska.
Forty homes destroyed and one hundred and fifty threatened as people flee from two wildfires in Southern California. The fires are seventy miles north of L.A. In northern Kun county a fire in the Sequoia National Forest has burned 15,000 acres, destroyed eight homes and is 5% contained.
A Grizzly attack in a campground in Yellowstone National Park kills one man in a tent and injures two others in separate tents. In this same camp in 2008 a person was killed by a Grizzly bear.
7-29- This morning TwinkyDuck reported fog (unheard of in the summer desert.) At 3:05 p.m. StephDuck reported “insanely hard rain in Chandler by our home.“ Later in the afternoon the University of Phoenix stadium sustained roof damage from winds in excess of 81mph. Two Tempe office roofs collapsed from the weight of rain. There were two unofficial reports of Micro Bursts, one in Chandler and the other in Glendale.
Firefighters have gained ground on the most destructive of two fires in Southern California that has forced 2300 evacuations.
Since the Gulf oil leak 2200 beaches have been closed, at separate times, due to health advisories because of oil.
Moscow is still baking in record heat and shrouded by a “toxic” smog from nearby burning forests. There have been four weeks straight with temperatures exceeding 85 degrees and the all time high of 99.5 degrees was set last Monday.
Your first read it in your fine Blue Duck Weather about the woman in Wittman, Arizona who had over a hundred cats in her home, some diseased so badly they had to be killed on the spot, others frozen in freezers in her home. She viewed the 104 cats in her home as family. She prepared them dinners of spaghetti and salmon and the cats listened to her stories of the past. She faces animal abuse charges but Sheriff Joe Arpaio said she is too weak and old to go to jail. (sad, sad story of loneliness.)
“A Reservation cow has been on the loose in Ahwatukee for two months.” The cow has eluded Phoenix police, park officials and a cowboy hired to catch the bovine. It’s likely finding water in the washes on the preserve and in neighborhood lakes. (Just shoot the fucker and have a neighborhood steak fry!)
7-30- The storm that destroyed several homes in Tonopah, Arizona yesterday has been confirmed by the NWS as a tornado. Peak wind gusts were 80mph.
Searchers haven’t given up on a two year old missing from his camp last weekend. They have ruled out drowning or a mountain lion attack.
Twelve square miles have been scorched in a fast moving wildfire near Palmdale, California.
2400 square miles of Louisiana waters have been reopened to commercial fishing for the first time since the oil leak began.
Dispersants have masked the surface oil contamination and may actually increase toxicity. 1.8 million gallons have been used and the pose “grave risks to marine life.”
430 people have been killed in Pakistan’s deadliest flood of all time, surpassing the Great Flood of 1929.
212,506 acres have burned recently nationwide in Russia. Flames are about to encircle an entire town 300 miles south east of Moscow.
3,000 barrels of toxic chemicals have washed into a north east China river by flooding. The water supply is declared “safe.”
7-31- A new record amount of rain fell on this day for Phoenix, 1.33’’. Queen Valley received 3’’ of rain. 1.75’’ of rain fell in Flagstaff yesterday in thirty minutes. In northern Arizona the Hopi Tribe declared a State of Emergency due to flooding.
The wildfire near Palmdale, California jumps an aqueduct moving quickly toward structures and 300 homes are evacuated. The fire has burned twenty square miles since 7-29 and is only 20% contained.
Heat Advisories are posted from the Carolinas to the Great Plains. Temperatures plus humidity makes it feel like 100 degrees in most of the South. This is the eleventh straight day of Heat Advisories on the Carolina coast.
A giant hailstone that fell July 23rd in South Dakota has been verified by the NWS as a national record. It weighed 1.94 pounds and was eight inches across. The world record is a 2.25 pound hailstone that fell in Bangladesh on April 14th, 1986.
Pakistan’s flood death toll climbs to 800.
Vast sections of Russia are under a State of Emergency and the army has been sent to fight wildfires and try to save entire villages and forests. There have been 25 deaths in the last two days, 1000 homes destroyed and 214, 136 acres of woodlands destroyed. So far 2.5 million acres have been destroyed.
Well, there you have it my faithful readers. One of the things that get me through the tough times is saying to myself that a really bad day has an end and then there is a new beginning. The same holds true for a really bad weather month. There is always a new month to count on. But the only thing that you can really count on with weather is it will be good or bad with no real prediction and it will always keep you on your toes!
Always remember that Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land. Mother Nature gives and takes the rest.
Your faithful and distinguished Professor MR BlueDuck.
