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.
