February 2012 Weather News!
Welcome to another fine edition of Blue Duck Weather! The deep freeze in Europe seemed to steal the “thunder” away from the United States. Many areas have had little snow fall and some regions have reported allergy season in the “dead of winter.” One climatologist reported about a normally active ski resort in the Mid West having golfers on it instead of snow. And right here in Arizona a couple of wildfires have already happened and a way to early rattlesnake spotting. (It’s going to be a long summer!)
But wait! You will read so much more in this exciting edition of Blue Duck Weather such as a massive flood control project proposed for Pinal County, Arizona (way to late), a moose alert in Alaska, A Clock Work Orange approach to controlling wolf appetites, a government in a country that tells YOU what to do after a major storm, a woman facing animal cruelty charges after she let her pet dog nearly chew its leg off, fatal shark attacks double, a scientific feat on this earth so profound it is being compared to the moon landing, how many people in the in the United States have been affected by violent weather in the last six years, climate change killing off the mighty yellow cedar trees in Alaska, Avalanche survival statistics and the last day of February brings violent tornadoes to the Mid West.
The average temperature at The Land in February was 52.90 degrees, Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico was 32.73 degrees.
.02 inches of rain fell in February at The Land and that is the dismal total for the year! Phoenix has had a trace of rain for the year thus far.
If we don’t get some substantial rain and snow melt run off the lake levels will recede quickly but here is where they stand: Mead is 57% full, Powell 64%, Pleasant 86% and Roosevelt 67%.
2-1- Rescue helicopters evacuate people from blocked villages in Serbia and Bosnia and airlift food and medicine. In Bulgaria, sixteen towns have recorded the lowest temperatures on record. The snow is six feet deep in some areas and up to the roof tops of homes in others. The death toll from hypothermia is up to 79, many of them homeless folks.
A Glendale, Arizona police officer shot and killed a pit bull after he tried to stop the dog from attacking a woman.
Snowy owls, normally found in the Arctic are showing up in the lower 48 states. Unprecedented numbers are showing up in Washington state.
Snow drifts in Alaska force Moose to use rail and roads for easier travel. A “moose emergency” has been declared with the increase of collisions with trains and cars. North of Anchorage 315 have been killed this winter.
2-2- Sixty five degrees plus a 14 mph wind equals sixty degrees on The Land for a high temperature.
One New Jersey climatologist proclaims “Disgusted that golfers are golfing on my cross country ski course.” Bismarck has one fifth of normal snowfall, Boston a third and Buffalo three feet below normal. Temperatures are near 70 in Washington, D.C. and already cherry trees are budding. One fifth of the country outside of Alaska has no snow on the ground. Drought stricken Midland, Texas has had more snow than Minneapolis or Chicago.
Due to recent heavy rains in the Dallas, Fort Worth areas the drought is declared over for now. Sixty percent of the state remains in severe drought stages.
It may feel like spring in many parts of the nation but Punxsutawney Phil proclaimed six more weeks of winter after he emerged from his drunken burrow and saw his shadow today.
Twenty one degrees below zero in Belgrade and Serbia. The death toll from a week long freeze is up to 114 across Europe. 11,000 are trapped in Serbia’s mountains from snow and blizzards.
The following contribution is from the lovely Mrs. Blue Duck: An 85 year old Anchorage woman uses a shovel to stop a moose from stomping her 82 year old husband to death. He is recovering from gashes and broken ribs. They were letting their dogs run when the man was attacked outside of his pickup.
And this one is right in my neighborhood (if you want to call it that). 93 dogs and five exotic birds are removed from a “home” in Hidden Valley, Arizona by Animal Care & Control because of “extreme animal hoarding.” Two people lived in the “home” with no electricity or running water. The floors were covered with garbage and two inches of animal shit.
2-3- Heavy snow in the Denver area with 600 flight cancellations. I-70 is closed and hundreds of miles of roads between Colorado and Kansas. At one point two inches of snow was falling per hour and the airporty in Denver had eight inches this afternoon with three to four feet in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Russia and the Ukraine are taking extra precautions to protect the homeless from the killer cold, ordering new facilities and medical care. The death toll is up to 175, most of them homeless folks.
As the cold and snow move west, rare heavy snow blankets Rome with up to eight inches forcing the closure of the Colosseum to tourists. The last substantial snow in Rome was 1986. “ Government issued shovels to clear sidewalks.” (It’s pretty fucking bad when the government has to loan you a shovel.)
Wildlife officials in Arizona and New Mexico are running out of options to keep the Mexican gray wolf from attacking cattle. The cattle killing has been one of the biggest objections to the reintroduction of the wolf. Now officials are going to try “conditioned taste aversion” to make the wolves repulse at the taste of beef. The wolves will be fed beef laced with an oderless and tasteless medication. It will make the poor creatures so sick that it will kill their desire for fresh bovine. (Good luck, remember “poor” Alex in Clockwork Orange? They couldn’t kill his desire for “fresh meat” for very long.)
2-4- A 250 acre brush fire is 70% contained in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeast Arizona. A spokesperson for the Coronado National Forest said it was human caused.
( Man it seems early for wildfires. What is this summer going to be like?)
A record of 15.9” of snow fell in Denver, the most ever for February. Six feet of snow in the Rocky Mountain foothills. Blizzard conditions in the eastern Colorado plains including five foot drifts in Elbert County.
Thirty two degrees on The Land this morning and yet a friend of BeckPeck’s sent her a photo of a rattler they killed later in the morning on their property. (rattlesnakes and wildfires already? It is going to be a brutal summer.)
2-5- That storm that tore through Colorado dumps a foot of snow in Nebraska, a new record in Omaha. Fifteen thousand are without power.
Three feet of snow fell in Bosnia yesterday and state of emergency is declared by the government. All schools to remain closed, Women and children must remain indoors and men can only go to work if their jobs are essential. Men are “ordered” to help clear the streets if they own shovels or vehicles large enough that can be used as plows. ( How would you like it if our government told us what to do and how to act after a major storm?)
A family of three looking for mushrooms (Far out dude, there’s some shrooms) became lost in an old growth Oregon forest with only light clothing and no provisions. They were lost for six days and survived by drinking water from streams and taking shelter in a hollowed out tree. They could hear rescue helicopters looking for them but could not signal through the canopy of trees above them. Yesterday they managed to get to a clearing where they were spotted.
Mandatory evacuations in Australia from flooding and 5,000 people are cut off.
2-6- January was the third warmest on record in Phoenix.
A dam collapsed today in southern Bulgaria after heavy rain and melting snow. An eight foot wall of water swept over 700 homes killing three.
2-7- Minnesota had a record warm December/January with temperatures ten degrees above normal. No state in the U.S. was colder than average. Many locations across the northern Plains exceeded all time warm maximum temperatures in January.
As the European freeze and snow of last week thaws swollen rivers in Greece and Bulgaria burst their banks. Eight now confirmed dead from the collapse of a dam that nearly washed a village away.
A twenty two year old Peoria, Arizona woman is facing animal abuse charges after letting her dog nearly chew its own leg off. The woman told officers that the dog was injured in a car accident about a year ago and never received medical care. The wound became infected and the dog has tried to gnaw off the bottom third of its leg. The leg has been amputated and the neglected pooch is doing fine.
And you read it hear first during the planning of the expedition: The Russian mountaineering team seeking to be the first two climb K2 in the winter has abandoned their climb after one of the members died in base camp due to breathing problems.
BYOB. The Grand Canyon bans sales of bottled water. Bottles discarded by lazy inconsiderate idiots make up 30% of the Canyon’s recyclable waste and 20% of all waste. There will be 10 refilling stations at the South Rim if you want to refill your own fucking water bottle!
2-8- Midwest farmers are worried about the mild winter weather. They feel more comfortable when there is substantial snow cover to ensure adequate moisture levels in the soil that help crops endure the dry summer months.
Four Balkan nations have suspended shipping on the Danube River because of thick ice blocking the heavily used waterway. Serbian officials say they will have the army use explosives to break up ice on the Danube and Ibar rivers to try and prevent flooding.
For the first time in fifteen years the ice is not thick enough for the 16,000 skaters that participate in the famous Dutch skating marathon.
A 32 year old experienced climber fell to his death due to icy conditions on Mount Hood in Oreogon.
2-9- Arizona Jan Brewer signs a proclamation today to support a massive flood control project to protect the Pinal County area from massive flooding along the Lower Santa Cruz River. Since 1887 thirty four massive floods have occurred on the river, an average of one every three or four years. Six of the most damaging floods have happened in the last 50 years. Maricopa mayor said eliminating flooding along the river is “as challenging as it is historic.” (He doesn’t have a clue. As I drove through Maricopa when thousands of houses were being built like match boxes I thought back to the flood of 1982 that made national news. They should have prepared for the “big one” before they ever built. Some day that entire town will be under water.)
On national television Serbia’s state power company urged citizens to save electricity. It has been so cold Serbia is struggling to keep up with power demands.
“Opening a scientific frontier miles under the Antartic ice, Russian experts drilled down and finally reached the surface of a gigantic freshwater lake, an achievment likened to placing a man on the moon.”
Lake Vostok could contain living organisms that have been locked inside icy darkness for twenty million years. It took twenty years of drilling to reach it at a depth of 12,366 feet!
The number of shark attack deaths doubled in 2011 from 2010. Seventy five fatalities were reported world wide, none in the United States. Part of the reason for the increase may be that tourists are going to more remote locations with less access to emergency medical care.
A federal judge tosses out an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to grant constitutional protection against slavery to Orca whales that perform in Sea World parks. (You read about this idiocy when the lawsuit was filed in a fine edition of Blue Duck Weather.)
A contribution from the Lovely Mrs. Blue Duck: A six year old Texas boy is recovering after being attacked by a mountain lion while walking with his family at Big Bend National Park. It sneaked up on him and clamped his face. The boy’s father stabbed the vicious bastard in the chest with a pocket knife that caused the cat to flee.
2-10- Eighty degrees in Phoenix, ten degrees above normal.
Bitter cold and heavy snow in Turkey is making life misery for 140,000 people already homeless by the nation’s devastating earthquake four months ago. A foot of snow has fallen with temperatures at minus four degrees.
2-11- Heavy snow falls in Italy today cutting off mountain villages. Weeks of freezing cold and snowstorms have prevented 100,000 tons of fruit, vegetables and meat from reaching the market and rotting.
Three killed when an avalanche buries a house in Kosovo. Nine are missing. The heaviest snow since 1949, twenty inches, has fallen.
2-12- A wildfire south of Tucson has burned three hundred acres and is five percent contained. Three families evacuated in Empire Hills. The fire is human caused and worsened by strong winds.
A Winter Weather Advisory has been posted for parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa.
Death toll from a deadly avalanche in Kosovo is up to nine. A single house was flattened by thirty three feet of snow. Miraculously a five year old girl has been found alive in the flattened house. Officers heard her voice and a ring from a cell phone.
As an exterminator was trying to control a major bee hive in Mesa, Arizona three adults and two children attacked by bees.
A young Mexican gray wolf has died of injuries it received near Big Lake, Arizona. It has been determined the wolf had been shot. A reward up ten thousand dollars is being offered by state and federal wildlife angencies.
Rat Island In Alaska got its name when a sea captain in the 1800s noticed the island was infested with rats. In 2008 a decision was made to poison the rats with grain laced with rat killer. It worked and now Native Americans want the island to restore its original name, Hawadax.
2-13- From snow to fires in Arizona in one day: Winter Weather Advisories above five thousand feet posted from eleven a.m. to five p.m. tomorrow in Mohave and Coconino counties. In the southeast part of the state the Hilton fire is 60% contained.
Planes and helicopters fly in tons of emergency food to snowed in villagers in the Balkans. There were blizzards so heavy some people had to cut tunnels through fifteen feet of snow to get out of their homes.
A State of Emergency is declared in Romania where six thousand people have been cut off for days.
2-14- Fifty three degrees plus a seventeen mph wind equals a high of 47 on The Land. The afternoon high was three degrees cooler than the morning low.
“Intense” snow along I-10 in Tucson. 14’’ of snow at the Snow Bowl in Flagstaff. Show Low received 7”.
Allergy season in portions of the U.S. already occurring in the “dead of winter.”
Category 4 cyclone slams Madagascar’s eastern shores today killing one and causing major power outages.
2-15- Six hundred and fifty poor souls are now dead from record breaking cold in eastern Europe since the end of January. In Romania 23,000 remain isolated in 225 communities after a week of heavy snow.
A flight instructor flew his homemade motorized hang glider making forty five minute trips to deliver bread and canned food to folks cut off.
Winter Weather Advisory posted in northern Arizona above 4500’
Six years after Hurricane Katrina all 23,000 FEMA trailers, used for temporary housing, have been removed.
A lioness lunged at the throat of a zoo worker in South Africa and killed him. Apparently security gates were left open.
2-16- Fifty miles of I-40 in Arizona closed due to ice and snow.
Recent rains have improved Texas drought but a fifth of the state remains under exceptional drought status. But the drought spreads in the South East with Georgia being the worst hit.
Ukraine’s death toll from bitter cold climbs to 152 people. “In most cases people died because they were under the influence of alcohol, which increases the chance of hypothermia. 4,000 hospitalized with frost bite.
Wild dogs are killing cattle in New Mexico. One Valencia County rancher says they’ve killed 300 dogs in the past ten months. Dogs have killed 26 cattle at one ranch alone.
2-17- Deadly and violent weather has impacted 240 million Americans, 80% of the U.S. population in the last six years. During this period weather related disasters have been declared by every state except South Carolina.
2-18- U.S. Forest Service researchers say climate change is killing millions of yellow cedar trees in the Alaskan panhandle. These trees can live up to a thousand years with with less snow on the ground in the past century frozen roots are killing the trees. Nearly half a million acres have been affected in Alaska.
The second son of Dutch Queen Beatrix has been injured seriously after being buried by an avalanche. He was skiing of marked trails yesterday in the western corner of Austria.
2-19- Three “expert” skiiers killed in Avalanche in Washington State in the Cascade Mountains. They were swept 1500’ down a chute in the Tunnel Creek Canyon area.
2-20- The South received up to nine inches of snow in areas and electricity knocked out to 52,000. Five to eight inches of snow fell in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee.
On the Cascades in Washington State a snowboarder died after he triggered an avalanche that pushed him over a cliff. Avalanche Warnings are posted for elevations above 5,000’.
2-21- Survivor of deadly avalanche that claimed three lives in the Cascade Mountains describes it as horror story. One person survived by bear hugging a tree and holding on as snow swept over him. Another skier was saved when she deployed an air bag designed to keep her afloat.
Statistics show that 93% of avalanche victims can be recovered alive if dug out within 15 minutes. After forty five minutes 20-30 percent live. People die because carbon dioxide form their exhaled breath builds up in the snow around their mouth.
2-22- A grass fire north of Williams, Arizona is being battled.
Heavy rain in Washington State washes a home down a river.
Two U.S. helicopters join rescue operations in Montenegro. The heaviest snow fall in 60 years has some villages blocked off by 11.5 feet of snow.
2-27- Winds so strong north of Black Canyon City in Arizona that DPS is watching for rocks blown from hillsides onto the freeway. Wind Advisory from eleven a.m. to eleven p.m. 33mph peak wind gust at The Land, 61mph in Show Low, 51mph in Apache Junction, and 50 mph in Flagstaff.
Avalanche danger is at a high in the West this winter season. Seventeen people have been killed so far this year. Early season snow follow by weeks of dry weather created a grainy unstable base of snow.
California snow pack at only 30% of normal this winter. Already farmers have been told they will get half of what they requested to water their crops.
Parts of Texas have received more rain in the first six weeks of 2012 than all of 2011. A third of the state is under drought compared to 97% last September.
2-28- Snow fell in Flagstaff yesterday, Pinetop had a whiteout with five inches in Greer and fourteen inches at the Arizona Snowbowl.
Sharks are killing California’s endangered sea otters in record numbers. In the late 1990s shark bites accounted for 15% of sea otter deaths. It has risen to a third of otter deaths in the last two years.
2-29- Tornadoes are extremely rare in the winter but a string of them in the Midwest bring 170 mph winds killing twelve folks. Hardest hit was Harrisburg, Illinois where six were killed, one hundred injured and two hundred homes damaged. Twelve were injured when a tornado cut a five mile path through Harveyville, Kansas where 40% of the town is damaged. 17 states had EF4 winds.
Heavy snow and strong winds have moved into California’s Sierra Nevada closing schools and forcing chains on vehicles. Up to five feet of snow may fall.
Debris from the powerful Tsunami last March in Japan have now spread across three thousand miles of the north Pacific with two million tons still in the ocean.
Well, with the terrible tornadoes so early in the year the following song of the month is appropriate, “Shelter From The Storm” by Bob Dylan.
The quote of the month had me amused. “I can’t say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days” by Daniel Boone.
Until next month when you have been “bewildered” for days remember Pioneers took land. Settlers took bullets.
The Honorable, Distinguished, Doctor in quack logy,
The Brilliant Professor MR Blue Duck
