May 2011 Weather News!
It has been said that the attention span of a major natural disaster is four days through the media. I think this is remarkable given the attention span to this shit; open, click delete. When Osama Bin Laden was killed early this month tornado victims in the South worried that attention would go away from their plight. It did. One has to dig deep to see any coverage of Tokyo’s disaster of March. It’s as if it never happened or they have miraculously re-built with life being sunny and peachy. I suppose there are areas there that still resemble a war zone.
Last month was a cruel weather month. I had reported that it was some comfort to know that most of the natural disasters did not break records. But you will see in this month’s mind staggering edition of Blue Duck Weather that records are falling like tooth picks.
Typically April is the windy month for Arizona but May was probably worse. There were many Red Flag Warnings, the humidity dropped and everything low and high began to dry out rapidly. As a result, and as of this writing, there are two major wildfires burning in Arizona. One began in early May and is still not under control. The number of acres burned grows by the tens of thousands in several hours. Literally the newspaper reports of today are actually yesterday’s news. That is how fast these wildfires are spreading.
There is so much to read in this exciting edition of Blue Duck Weather, events that will “stagger you out of your mind and I ain’t drunk.” (my dad’s latest sentence to me every goddamn afternoon.) We will track the history making flooding the Mighty Mississippi River, described by one as a “pig moving through a python.” The deadliest tornado in history for Missouri. Other fine points of interest are a woman who survived after being stranded for almost four months, locusts on the rampage, smoke from the Alberta, Canada fires blankets the Phoenix area some two thousand miles away, “Endangered Species Day” (what the fuck?), the cause of all of these tornadoes, and how would you like to wake up with a rabid skunk on your face?
A mild month for the Land it was in May; the average temperature was only ten degrees warmer at the end then the beginning. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 27. 50 degrees warmer. The average temperature at The Land was 74.72 degrees, the average on the New Mexico Land was 55.38 degrees.
The average humidity on The Land was 21.66% and the dew point 29.66 degrees.
It was windy with an average wind speed of 8.80mph.
.01” of rain fell on The Land, a blessing in May.
Lake Mead is coming up with a level of 43%. Powell is contributing mightily to the rise in Mead but is maintaining 55%. Pleasant and Roosevelt Lakes stand at 93% full respectively.
On a relatively calm day the barometric pressure on the land is approximately 28.40 mercury inches. Most all of May it hovered around 28.30. As cold fronts came in with wind it would drop dramatically, the lowest on May 29th at 28.01 mercury inches.
As your Editor in Chief I began these pressure reports to see if our friends around the valley could correlate this with migraine headaches. I am here to tell you I can correlate the fucking pressure with achy knee joints. I previously wrote it off to age but why do some days have no pain? I wonder how many other ailments can be linked to rapid swings in pressure including back aches. But how about insanity?
And now let us get directly to the weather news that affected so many folks around this country and the world!
5-1- Twelve degrees at the Grand Canyon this morning.
Hundreds are still missing four days after the killer tornadoes hit the South. 650,000 are still without power.
The Ohio River is rising to record levels and threatening the town of Cairo, Illinois. “Catastrophic flooding” is predicted for the Ohio Valley.
5-2- A California condor has hatched in the Vermilion Cliffs north of the Grand Canyon. It is only the 13th hatched alive in the wild since the raptors were released in Arizona in 1996.
There were 312 tornadoes reported in 24 hours last week. This doubles the record of 148 set in 1974. A new record of 600 tornadoes in a single month set also.
With five more inches of rain the Ohio River has risen to 61.05’ at Cairo, Illinois breaking a record set in 1937. “This is a dramatic once in a lifetime kind of occurrence in the region” Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said after touring the area.
From his secluded location in Colorado Ryduck reports that two days ago it was 72 degrees and today it is snowing.
5-3- The Bull fire in the Coronado National Forest is 52% contained with 9700 acres burned.
A male bear cub is captured in Peoria, Arizona near the Lake Pleasant Parkway. (I remember when the “Parkway” was a dirt road.) The healthy young bruin weighs 80 pounds. The bear likely wandered from the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. The brute will be released in northern Arizona.
23,000 tornado victims in the South have applied for FEMA assistance to help rebuild.
5-4- The Lovely Mrs. Blueduck receives the rattlesnake badge for spotting the first bastard of the season this morning. Thankfully she was in her car on the way to work instead of feeding the dogs on our porch.
The Bull Fire is 89% contained. Now the human caused Greaterville Fire in the Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona has burned 5,000 acres and is 5% contained.
Record flooding is feared in the South. “High water is rippling down the Mississippi River like a pig through a python.” Areas near Memphis are already flooding.
In the same area where 20 people died in a flash flood last summer six Boy Scouts were trapped by rising water. They were able to keep a fire burning and had food. The boy’s adult leaders had them set up camp near a mountain they could climb if their trail became flooded. (This was part of a series of decisions that saved their lives.) They were rescued two days after the planned departure from camping by a helicopter in the Albert Pike Recreation Area in south western Arkansas.
A three mile path of destruction is cut by a tornado in Auckland, New Zealand with one killed and twenty injured. Tornadoes are rare in this region.
Extremely dry weather has sparked wildfires in Scotland and Ireland. Rainfall in England & Wales are at 21% of normal with the highest average temperature in April for 353 years of record keeping.
Arctic ice is melting faster than previously thought and could raise global sea levels by as much as five feet this century. It would submerge small islands, flood New York subways and inundate low lying areas in Florida. The report will be discussed with an international group of scientists this week. (Sounds like a fucking disaster movie.)
5-5- High ozone Pollution Advisory issued for the Valley today in Phoenix.
The Greaterville Fire in southern Arizona is 90% contained.
A 52 year old woman is rescued off Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale due to heat related stress.
From Illinois to Mississippi thousands have been forced from the their homes as the Big Muddy continues to rise. The Mississippi River rose above the 46’ flood stage mark set in 1937 in Caruthersville, Missouri. Contributing factors are massive amounts of spring rain and snowmelt from Montana. A third section of a Missouri levee is blasted open to offer some relief from the relentless pressure of the river.
“Exceptional drought”, the worst category, expands from Texas to parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. March rainfalls were the lowest on record in Texas. The last seven months in Texas have been the driest consecutive months on record going back to 1895.
5-6- A 25 acre, human caused, wildfire began today near White River in the White Mountains. All electric and phone service is off on the reservation community. Thankfully the fire is already 30-40% contained.
It occurred to me today I have not seen any quail chicks yet on The Land. It is not surprising as it has been so dry. Not a blade of new grass this spring except the small patches where I frequently pee. As my dad says “its dry, dry, dry, nothing but blowing sand.” However I am proud to note I still continue to feed the thriving quail population daily on The Land. But just once I would like to get out my trusty twelve gauge and pop seven or eight for a fine dinner. The Lovely Mrs. BlueDuck will have nothing of it and threatens to leave my sorry ass if I do.
Barge traffic has been halted on parts of the flooded Mississippi River. 1100 residents of Memphis are urged to evacuate before the river gets higher. Parts of the famous Beale Street, home of the blues, is taking on floodwater.
Farther south parts of the Mississippi Delta are beginning to flood sending deer and wild pigs swimming for dry land, submerging yacht clubs and closing floating casinos.
5-7 The morning report was that the Locust Fire near White River was contained. The report at six p.m. was that a wind shift flared the fire back up with 500 acres burned and only 5% contained. 45 mph wind gusts with 10% humidity is not good news. 80 homes are still evacuated.
Red Flag Warnings are issued for the entire state of Arizona until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night.
Coconino and Kaibab counties impose fire restrictions beginning today, the earliest date since 2002.
What a fine Saturday on The Land. This morning while watering trees I saw a tiny horned toad. I haven’t seen one for years. And this afternoon I saw seven tiny golfball sized quail chicks traveling with their parents. (It’s the little things that keep madness and insanity at bay.)
The Mississippi River is starting to “wrap its arms around Memphis” as it rises to record levels. According to the NWS it will crest next Wednesday at 48’, just under the 1937 record.
A first grader on a field trip to a zoo in Wichita, Kansas was mauled by a leopard yesterday. The boy scaled a railing and approached the cat’s cage. The feline stuck its paw through the cage and grabbed the boy by the side of the head. The boy suffered serious gashes on his head and neck and is hospitalized in fair condition. (Boy do I smell a lawsuit brewing here. Where was the adult supervison that allowed a five or six year old to scale a railing and approach a cage?)
5-8- There are now three fires burning in Arizona; the latest two are the Pickett Fire near Superior with 30 acres burned and zero containment. Highway 60 is closed. The second is near Sierra Vista, with one house consumed and Highway 92 closed.
By nine thirty last night the Locust Fire near White River had burned 500 acres and was 30% contained.
50mph wind gusts reported at the Grand Canyon, 45mph winds in Flagstaff, and 38mph winds in Show Low.
A State of Emergency is declared in Memphis. Emergency crews have arrived in north Memphis to help people evacuate and go to shelters.
A Canadian woman has been stranded in a remote area of Nevada for almost two months. The van, she and her husband were driving, made a wrong turn before becoming stuck. Her husband is missing. Three days after getting stuck he left for help with a GPS. She survived by eating jerky and drinking snowmelt. The woman is experiencing severe starvation but is expected to survive.
5-9- No accumulations expected but snow level to drop to 7500’ in northern Arizona today. A Wind Advisory is posted for northern Arizona and a Red Flag Warning for south east Arizona.
Maricopa County bans all open fires beginning today.
The Pickett Fire has burned 1200 acres and is 40% contained. The Locust Fire is still only 30% contained.
The latest fire to flare up in Arizona is the Horsehoe Two Fire on the New Mexico border. It is 0% contained and has forced 200 evacuations.
A fire burning 70 miles east of Lubbock, Texas has burned 65,000 acres and brings the total for Texas to 2.3 million acres since last November.
The Big Muddy, normally one half mile wide in Memphis is flowing six times the normal width at TWO MILLION CUBIC FEET PER SECOND. Four million people in the South are in a flood zone that has been replaced by farms over the years.
Tropical Storm Aere kills 17 in the Philippines; three were buried in a house by a landslide and ten others have drowned.
5-10- Another Red Flag Warning posted for south east Arizona from noon to 8:00 p.m. today.
A half inch of snow and hail recorded in Flagstaff, snow and sleet in Greer.
A beautiful partly cloudy, breezy day at The Land with a cool high (for May) of 72 degrees.
April was a wild weather month (but we at Blue Duck Weather already reported this to you) for the U.S. and not just for tornadoes. Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virginia set records for the wettest April since 1895. The fire season for Texas and the South West is already the worst since 2000.
The Big Muddy crested in Memphis at 2:00 a.m. this morning just shy of the all time record. “Carnival like atmoshphere on Beale Street as tourists gape at the high water.”
Now Louisiana is preparing for the worst; Baton Rouge is warned to expect five to twenty five feet of water.
Tropical Storm Aere leaves the Philippines with 22 dead, 210,000 affected and 6400 in evacuation shelters. Agricultural areas were spared damage and farmers welcomed the rain.
5-11- The Pickett Fire near Superior is fully contained 1300 acres. However the Horseshoe Two Fire in the Coronado National Forest near New Mexico is only 5% contained with 8900 acres burned.
New Mexico is so dry there have been twenty seven wildfires in four days. The first three months of the year have been the second driest on record. 400 fires have happened since January 1st of this year and have burned 400 square miles. The Lincoln National Forest in south east New Mexico will be closed beginning tomorrow, not just fire restrictions, but completely shut down for visitors.
Eighteen year old twins are killed after a storm blew down a large tree onto their family’s house in North Carolina. The girls were watching television together when it happened.
5-12- The Horshoe Two Fire has burned 10,000 acres in the Coronado National Forest and is only 10% contained.
Fire restrictions begin today in that forest until July 18th.
A few days ago your fine staff at Blue Duck reported that the Big Muddy was flowing at a mind staggering two million cubic feet per second. Here is perspective of how much water that is: It is comparable to a football field of water at a height of 44’ per second.
“The relentless floodwaters of the Mississippi River surge into the poverty stricken Delta region, bringing misery to hundreds of people forced from their homes and swamping massive tracts of fertile farmlands.”
Saving some from flooding will mean flooding other areas. Five counties in Mississippi are declared distaster areas and up to five thousand people will be displaced.
One hundred dead endangerd green sea turtles have been seized by Philippines custom officials. The turtles were to be smuggled to various countries and their value was a half million dollars.
5-13- The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 13,000 acres with no word of containment as of this writing.
Federal engineers are close to opening a massive spillway that would protect Batan Rouge and New Orleans but flood thousands of acres in Louisiana. 25,000 people are packing, wondering if they will have homes to come back to.
An eleven year old boy in Iowa survives a tornado that demolishes part of his home by hiding in a clothes dryer. His panicked mother called from work when she heard a local tornado warning. She told him to get to the laundry room where there were no windows.
5-14- And yet another Red Flag Warning will be issued for all of Arizona tomorrow form 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
The floodgate is opened in Morganza, Louisiana for the first time in forty years. Some areas will be covered with twenty five feet of water. The Mississippi rising river levels “have shattered records set seventy years ago.
After falling two climbers are rescued and one dead on Alaska’s Mount McKinley.
From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports 38 degrees at 1:00 p.m. with snow on the ground.
5-15- The Horshoe Two fire had consumed 20,000 acres in the Coronado National Forest and is only 20% contained.
With the Red Flag Warning in effect for Arizona 48mph wind gusts reported in Kingman, 45mph in Flagstaff and 34mph in Phoenix. (I was remarking to the Lovely Mrs. Blueduck about the mild May weather but the trade off is wind and it is only drying out the vegetation faster. It is going to be a long fire season I am afraid.)
5-16- The Horseshoe Two Fire is still only 20% contained with 26,000 acres burned. Evacuations are ordered for the South Western Research station that has twenty structures.
The reward for two javelina shot in March in Tucson has been raised to two thousand dollars. One was found dead the day after it was shot by a pellet gun. The second finally had to be put down from its injuries.
More good news for the piss hole Lake Mead! With record snows upstream the total releases will be 12.46 million acre feet of water. The lake will raise thirty feet by early 2012. This will avoid water shortages (supposedly) for five more years.
Seven thousand people are evacuated In the town of Slave Lake, Alberta from a wildfire and high winds. A third of the buildings in town have been destroyed including a shopping mall. Ninety percent of the residents have left after winds turned the fire on the town.
As of today there are 116 fires burning in Alberta with 39 out of control. Warm, dry windy conditions have contributed with a total of 206 square miles burned. (When I think of Canada I certainly don’t think of wildfires. But I’m sure when Canadians think of Arizona they don’t think of snow.)
5-17- Snow level in Arizona drops to 7000’ with no accumulations expected.
Seventy seven degrees at The Land with a 15mph wind has a chill factor of 75 degrees, in May!
NAOA satellite images have confirmed 625 tornadoes in April across the south with 4-27 and 4-28 being the strongest.
Eleven of the twenty five Morganza spillways have been opened releasing 100,00 cubic feet per second of the swollen Mississippi and flooding 8,000 acres of farmland in Louisiana.
The Coast Guard has closed the Mississippi River north of New Orleans to cargo vessels to reduce the pressure of rising floodwaters. Barges transporting coal, timber, iron, steel and half of America’s grain exports will cost hundreds of millions of dollars every day that they don’t move.
5-18- A seventy five degree high at The Land with a 22mph wind chill made for a cool 71. (I know its May.) A brief shower even produced .01”of rain. Wind Advisory is posted for the entire state. The snow level is down to seven thousand feet in Arizona. Apparently enough rain fell in northern Arizona to lift fire restrictions in the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests.
The Horsheshoe Two fire has burned 26,000 acres and only 25% contained. There are 800 firefighters battling the blaze. All air support has been grounded due to 50mph wind gusts.
(As if the South hasn’t had enough to deal with in the past month.) Locusts have been living in the ground for 13 years. The largest population in the world will appear in thirteen southern states in five weeks. Their “singing” in mass can reach 100 decibils. They will sing, mate and die in a matter of a few days. (I would just shoot myself if I were there.)
5-19- 49 degree low on The Land this morning! When I stepped out it smelled like wood smoke and the air quality was terrible. As I traveled north for work I noticed it wasn’t any better. I heard later that the storm yesterday had such strong winds that the jet stream brought smoke from the wildfires in Alberta, Canada this far south, amazing!
Yesterday’s high of 72 degrees in Phoenix was only shy of two degrees of the lowest high ever set in 1921.
The Horseshoe Two Fire is 25% contained with 33,000 acres burned. It’s smoke is traveling as far east as Texas.
A 69 year old man has been claimed by the flooded Mississippi in Vicksburg. Two firefighters in a patrol boat saw him clinging to a flooded fence. It was too late when they reached the man.
4800 people have been displaced by flooding in Mississippi.
Spring storms have piled up snow on top of already record levels in the West and major flooding is expected in June. All western states except for Arizona and New Mexico have had record snow fall.
There is 23’ on the Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Wyoming’s snow pack is 250% of normal in areas above the state’s major river basins.
5-20- The Mississippi River crests in Vicksburg, Mississippi at a new record of 57.1’ above flood stage.
Osprey chicks are being rescued from their treetop nests as floodwaters rise in Lafayette, Louisiana. As the water gets closer to their nests they become vulnerable to alligators. Alligators can jump up to three feet out of the water. Their powerful tails can power them almost vertically while their hind feet skim the water.
A state alert in Louisiana has been issued to warn people to be careful of displaced poisonous snakes and bears on the move from flooding.
According to my National Wildlife Federation calendar today is “Endangered Species Day.” I don’t remember ever seeing this before or when it was proclaimed. It struck me a bit odd and out of place. What are we supposed to do, have a toast? Or maybe shoot a spotted owl and wipe our ass with the feathers? I mean what is there to celebrate or even honor? I know what I should do, hop on a plane for Siberia and hug a fucking polar bear.
5-21- High water causes three buried caskets to float at a Yazoo, Mississippi cemetery. This cemetery has not been flooded since it was built in 1859.
5-22- The Horseshoe Two fire in south east Arizona is a stubborn bastard. It has been burning since May 8th and as of today has consumed 37,000 acres and remains at only 25% contained. On top of that a Red Flag Warning for high winds has been issued for tomorrow.
An EF-3 tornado has been confirmed in Reading, Kansas. One man was killed and twenty homes destroyed in the small town. Some residents reported baseball size hail.
Landslides destroy a Malaysian orphanage killing fifteen boys and an adult. Nine other people survived.
Five baby bobcats have been photographed in a tree behind an abandoned house at Tatum and Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale, Arizona. (I wonder where mama is? I would hate to be taking “cute” pictures and see her come back totally pissed off.)
5-23- The Horseshoe Two Fire has burned 40,000 acres and still is only 25% contained.
The Laguna Fire five miles north of Yuma has burned 751 acres along the Colorado River. Thanfully it is 90% contained.
A brush fire is reported near Highway 87 north of Punkin Center.
The deadliest single tornado ever to strike Missouri has killed one hundred and sixteen people. It is the strongest tornado in the United States since1947.
The EF4 tornado had winds of 198mph with a debris cloud 18,000 feet high. Papers and x-rays found sixty miles from Joplin where the tornado tore the town in half. Two thousand buildings destroyed.
5-24- Another deadly blast of tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas today. Four were killed in Grady Count, Oklahoma. One tornado may have been an EF5.
So far this year there have been 488 deaths nationally. The average is 50. The cause for the tornado onslaught is the Jet stream from the Rockies and the northern Plains colliding with warm air from the south.
More Red Flag Warnings for Arizona and a High Ozone Alert for Phoenix.
Recently there has been so much rain in Montana that broad areas in the south eastern part of the state are underwater. One person is dead and a fifty mile stretch of I-90 is closed. The Indian community of Lodge Grass is completely cut off from surrounding areas.
5-25- The latest tornado outburst kills fourteen in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. Forty five million people are under threat of severe weather across the Mid West and the South.
The death toll in Joplin, Missouri is one hundred and twenty five with seven hundred injured.
Relentless snow in Colorado prompt Aspen and Arapahoe Basin ski resorts to reopen as long as the snow keep falling.
5-26- Allergy season ain’t over yet! Ragweed pollen in Phoenix today the worst in the nation.
There have been various reports about the missing in Joplin, Missouri but the official count is 232. It is hoped that many are alive with friends or family in other homes that weren’t destroyed.
Tornadoes strike Memphis, St. Louis and Kansas City.
A rare tornado reported in northern California. Blizzard conditions in the Sierras.
In south east Montana, Crow tribal officials send search teams to remote parts of their reservation to look for stranded people due to flooding. 75 homes have been damaged and 150 are in shelters.
Thousands of people along the Philippine coast move to emergency shelters as Typhoon Songda approaches with 93mph winds.
5-27- The first 100 degree high at the Land for the season. The first 100 in Phoenix was on April 1st.
Three hundred thousand dollars in federal funds have been allocated by the Arizona governor for last summer’s Schultz fire victims near Flagstaff. Concrete barriers and sandbags will be constructed to help preven further erosion from flash flooding.
The death toll keeps rising in Joplin, Missouri and now is at 130.
The flooded Musselshells River covers portions of the small town of Roundup, Montana with as much as six feet of water. Eastbound I-90 lanes from Livingston to Springdale are closed due to flooding.
5-28- Red Flag Warnings posted in Arizona today. Wind gusts of 43mph in Flagstaff, 23mph in Sedona and 30mph in Kingman.
Boaters and campers are banned from a lake and dam near Yuma because of the recent Laguna Fire. It has burned 800 acres of prime riparian habitat along the Colorado River.
Pinal County, Arizona issues a rabies alert after four skunks have been confirmed rabid. The latest happened at a Mammoth home. A skunk used a doggie door to enter a home. The owner woke up to a skunk pawing at his face. He was able to get the skunk outside where he killed it with a shovel. “Rabies is basically 100% fatal once symptoms appear.” (The dude is lucky the skunk didn’t spray while he was getting it out of the house. That would feel 100% fatal.)
The confirmed dead in Joplin is up to one hundred and forty two people. One hundred are still missing or unaccounted for. One eighteen year old boy missing since the tornado was found dead in a pond yesterday. He was riding in his dad’s truck after graduation when the storm struck. He was either ejected or pulled out of the truck by the violent tornado.
Overnight violent thunderstorms swept from New England to Georgia, knocking out power and killing three in the Atlanta area.
Welcome to Memorial Day weekend for some unlucky wanna be campers. A key highway into Yellowstone National Park is closed due to twenty five feet of snow and only one campground in the massive park is open. Popular Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge road is closed due to seventeen feet of snow. Campers are urged to go to lower elevations in New Mexico or Arizona.
Snowmelt and warming rains spread flooding to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. All eyes are on the Missouri River for the next month.
In Indiana a couple found a receipt from a Joplin hardware store on their porch. It may have blown 525 miles, the longest recorded journey of debris from a tornado. In order to reach Indiana the receipt would had to have been sucked into the tornado and then carried by the jet stream for 125 hours.
The previous record was a cancelled check that traveled 210 miles after the 1915 tornado in Great Bend, Kansas.
5-29- Red Flag Warnings issued for entire state of Arizona. 64mph winds in Flagstaff, 59mph winds in Winslow. Several wildfires popped up; one north of Winona, one near Happy Jack and one north of the Pinetop country club. No word of cause or amount of acres burned as of this report.
The President visits Joplin today. At 5:41 p.m. a moment of silence will be observed. At that time one week ago the deadly monster swept through the town.
Areas of Monatana have received EIGHT INCHES OF RAIN in the last few days.
Ten inches of snow fell yesterday in the Sierras.
450 late afternoon flights cancelled in Chicago due to powerful thunderstorms.
Heavy snowmelt and the most spring rain on record have Lake Champlain in Vermont at its highest level ever. 500 homes have been destroyed by flooding.
Grand Coule Dam is releasing massive amounts of water to make way for late season snowmelt. In these releases deadly gas bubbles are killing hundreds of thousands of fish downstream in the Columbia River.
In New York a family pet dog attacks and kills a four year old boy. When the mother tried to intervene the Cane Cosso mastiff attacked her also. She was not seriously injured before emergency crews arrived.
5-30- A cool 82 degree high on The Land. Phoenix has a high of 87 degrees. This is due to a strong cold front that generated a lot of wind. The average temperature for this day in Phoenix is 99 degrees, the record is 114 degrees. Sadly we may not see these cool temperatures until next October.
Two wildfires have destroyed twelve homes near Amarillo, Texas.
5-31- The Horseshoe Two fire is turning out to be massive. It has burned 64,290 acres and is 45% contained. It is in terrain so rugged it can only be fought by air although nine hundred firefighters are on site.
The Wallow Fire near Alpine has burned 1450 acres and forces evacuations of campers. It began two days ago and is human caused.
Emergency phone service has been disrupted across most of eastern Montana because of record breaking rain in the past week.
A heat wave with temperatures in the nineties in Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Washington D.C.
Evacuations in North Dakota are eminent as the Missouri River begins to rise.
Well May is now nothing more than a memory or a nightmare depending upon which part of the country you live in. But this month’s quote is appropriate in a sad but uplifting way. No matter the blow people are resilient and rebuild their shattered homes and lives after Mother Nature takes all they own. “Trees are the most trusting of all living creatures because they trust enough to put their roots down in one place, knowing they will be there for life.”
The wistful song of the month is “High Sierra” by Boz Scaggs.
Until you are floating (or riding rapids) down the Mighty Mississippi with Huckleberry Finn remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.
The Honorable, Award Winning, Distinguished, Undeterred
Professor MR Blue Duck.
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