March 2013 Blue Duck Weather News

March 2013 Weather News!

In this mind blowing feature of Blue Duck Weather we will get a taste of Wildfire season already?, “Heart Attack” snow, the flooding tragedy remembered in California in 1938, the world’s most expensive mice, shark infestation just in time for spring break, The tail of Mr. Stubbs, bees respond to caffeine more often when pollinating, what happened to the named winter storms?, changes will be made in the Iditarod Dog race after one of its own dies in the snow, inbreeds in the wolf population hurting reintroduction efforts and so much more.

By the end of this month winter was getting old and aptly named “The Endless Winter by many folks. Even Punxsutawney Phil was indicted on federal charges of falsely representing spring. An Ohio attorney is requesting a death sentence to be carried out by fifteen hunters.
But I’m afraid as I write this the beautiful winter on the Land is over. The last gasp was a powerful wind and rain maker on March 8th. What little spring grass is drying out, the high temps are in the low eighties, I am on the look for rattlesnakes and the beautiful blue skies we had are turning that foreboding white to indicate real heat is on its way.

Temperatures on The Land were fifteen degrees warmer by the end of the month than the beginning . The average temperature was 64.62 degrees. Talking Trees and Antelope Hill had an average temperature of 44.27 degrees. It seems that land in New Mexico ranges about twenty degrees cooler than here despite the month. And I have noticed many of the weather patterns there are similar even though it three hundred miles to the north east.

.49 inches of rain for the month at The Land giving us a total of 1.88’’ this year. Phoenix has had 2.55’’

With winter melt off of snow my beloved Roosevelt Lake rose a bit bringing it to 52%, Pleasant is at 82%, Mead 52% and the mighty shit hole Powell at 48%.
Now for all the weather news that fits-



3-1- Red Flag Warnings for south central New Mexico with 35mph wind gusts expected.

Crews are making progress with a wildfire near Riverside, California. The blaze damaged one home and cut power to 2,000. The fire that began in the Santa Ana River bottom is 40% contained at three hundred acres.

Twenty three Gray whales spotted near San Pedro, California. This is a big deal and the whales have been making a comeback since hunting bans were set in 1947.

3-2- In 1938 from 2-27 to 3-4 thirty inches of rain fell on some Southern California mountains killing 210 people. There were forty five deaths in Orange County alone. Forty three were the result of an eight foot wall of water that went through Atwood, California. The Santa Ana River flooded most of Orange County.

3-3- A fast moving brush fire shuts down I-95 and the evacuation of three hundred homes in Ormond Beach, Florida.

And from “This is a fucking outrage” file: Growing numbers of geese and ducks are forcing some communities in the Phoenix area to ban feeding the poor birds because of all the shit that is accumulating everywhere. The problem reached a “crisis” level last summer in Scottsdale so they passed a “law” banning people from feeding the pests. With less handouts the “bird” population is down but not significantly. (Why don’t you just line up the poor bastards and shoot them? Is this where the term “sitting duck” came from? )

3-4- Midwest storm drops heavy snow from Minnesota to Tennessee.

Two men cross skiing on the western side of Cameron Pass this past weekend trigger an avalanche that buried them. One killed and one critically injured. Both had avalanche locator beacons. The man found alive late in the afternoon had been buried for about ninety minutes. Because of the terrain and snow it took five hours for rescuers to get the man to a location where a helicopter could land and airlift him out.
Four fatalities so far this season- a snowmobiler in Utah, a skier in Wyoming and a climber in New Hampshire who were all killed by snow slides three days ago.

3-5- Heavy snow in the Midwest with the “hardest punch of winter.” Eleven hundred flights cancelled in Chicago. All of its 466 snow plows deployed. Called “heart attack” snow, it is heavy and wet and shoveling it causes over exertion. Snow collapses the roof of a popular banquet hall in Chicago.

3-6- Ten inches of snow in Washington, D.C. and the federal government declares a “snow day” and closes all offices.
Eleven inches of snow in West Virginia and 170,000 without power.

3-7- As a brutal snowstorm batters New England parts of the Sandy damaged Jersey shore is dealing with flooding. Pounding surf broke a dam in Mantoloking sending water onto Route 35, closing it for several hours.

The Phoenix fire department warns hikers on urban mountain trails that rattlesnakes are out sunning and will bite your ass off.

A female volunteer at a California animal park has her neck broken by a lion. She entered the beast’s enclosure alone. She was found with the lion near her. After trying to unsuccessfully lure the lion into another pen, it was shot and killed so the woman could be reached.

This one is a bizarre aftermath story of Hurricane Sandy: Water flooded a hospital in New York including the laboratory basement that housed seven thousand cages of mice used for study of cancer, diabetes, brain development and other maladies. Each cage held up to five of the rodents. Four months later nobody knows exactly how many perished or where they are.

About fifty scientists are going through the slow process of replacing them . What they lost in one night will take more than a year to recover, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. They simply cannot replace the mice from a cage on a shelf. Most were engineered to carry specific mutations to mimic human conditions and diseases. Some breeds can only be found in a few labs worldwide!

Thousands of sharks are seen of the Florida coast (just in time for spring break.)

3-8- What a wild weather day in Arizona and on The Land. Strong winds knock a tree down on my dad’s power line bending his electric panel sideways. Incredibly his electric did not go out or the sagging power line fail.

Hail in Ahwatukee, one inch of rain in Apache Junction, sixty mile per hour winds in Tempe, a massive dust storm in Phoenix (despite the rain), and a foot of snow in Flagstaff.

Two feet of snow in some New England areas. A seaside home in Plum Island, Massachusetts is leaning at 45 degrees after being battered by waves.

Two years after the deadly Tsunami Japan is still struggling with recovery. Dozens of temporary housing camps were meant to be used for two years. Now it could be six to ten years before all is rebuilt. ( Just think about it, can you even imagine being driven from your home for ten years or even ten days?)

Federal prosecutors have decided not to file charges against two young elk hunters in Wyoming when they shot and killed a grizzly bear last fall. The bear charged the two and their father from forty two yards on Thanksgiving Day. The father at first fired pepper spray that did no good stopping the bear. The sons opened fire when the bear was only ten feet away. (I commend this family of hunters. It took great courage and respect of the bear to allow it to get only ten feet away before acting in a life or death defense. Most would have ran, shit their pants or fired at the bear when it was a quarter mile away.)

According to the Science Journal 11,300 years of data show dramatic planet warming in the past century. Scientists used fossils of tiny marine organisms to reconstruct global temperatures back to the end of the last ice age. The decade of 1900 to 1910 was one of the coolest in the last eleven thousand years, cooler than 95% of all other years. The decade of 2,000 to 2010 was one of the warmest.
Global thermometer records go back to 1880 and those show the past decade to be the hottest on record. One scientist said “We’ve never seen something this rapid, even in the ice age.” (spooky shit no matter what your opinion is of the cause.)

3-9- A body is found in a flooded wash in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was first called in as a water rescue but that statement has not been validated.

One inch of snow falling per hour in Denver. Five hundred flights are cancelled.

A helicopter flyover the forty three square mile McDowell Sonoran Preserve has revealed a stable population of deer and javelina. The area is north of Scottsdale, Arizona. Bow hunting is allowed but not rifle hunting. Activists say the sport has the potential to harm unsuspecting hikers during hunting season.

3-10- In the past twenty four hours Sunrise Park Resort in Greer, Arizona has recorded more than two feet of fresh snow. Flagstaff received 14.6” of new snow by noon yesterday. Ten inches of snow recorded fifty miles north east of Payson, Arizona. A whopping twenty six inches of snow in Forest Lakes.

Fourteen inches of snow in Denver, Colorado.

A seven foot long alligator has been given a three foot long prosthetic tail attached firmly with nylon straps and an orange float wrapped around the tail helps stabilize the ‘gator when it is swimming. As far as anyone knows Mr. Stubbs is the first alligator to tolerate, if not wear, a prosthesis. The beast exercises in a pool in north Scottsdale.

The death of an intern last weekend ruled as an accident and the family believes the zoo followed proper protocol and her death was a tragic accident. Investigators believe the lion lifted the door of a partially closed feeding cage with its paw and killed the woman while she was cleaning another enclosure. She died instantly from a broken neck.

Study: “Caffeine shot in nectar improves memory in honeybees.” If they get a shot of caffeine from certain flowers it spurs them to return to the same type of plant. ( Try a “shot” of Jack and see if they can remember to return to the same type of plant. They will remember but the big question is if they are able to fly back?)

3-11- North Carolina Highway 12 is closed due to flooding. It is the only highway to Hatteras island on the Outer Banks.

One sailor is dead in Southern California when a thirty two foot sailboat taking part in a race is driven into a rocky shore and breaks apart by stormy seas. Two nights ago the crew radioed the mayday call and also deployed a rescue beacon but then declined assistance and requested a tow boat.

3-12- First eighty degree day at The Land of the season. Say goodbye to a precious winter of cool days and cold nights.

A heavy snowstorm in north west Europe closes Frankfurt Airport with record traffic jams in Belgium and thousands of British and French drivers stranded in their cars by snow closed roads.

Red algae bloom kills record one hundred and seventy four manatees on the south west Florida coast. Scientists believe the manatees are dying after eating sea grass that algae has settled on. Once afflicted they lose coordination and the ability to swim upright or lift their heads out water to breath. There is no sign when the algae may die off.

3-13- A deadly fungal infection that has killed millions of bats has been confirmed for the first time in Georgia and South Carolina, bringing the total to twenty two states. White nose syndrome spreads among hibernating closely clustered bats eating away at the bat’s reserves. 5.4 million bats have been killed since 2006.

Record high 89 degrees in Tucson.

3-14- Record high in Phoenix of 93 degrees. Old record 91 set in 2007.

3-15- It doesn’t even seem possible. One week ago today it was barely fifty degrees with heavy rain, wind a downed power line on The Land. Today was 92 degrees and the first time to reach ninety in a very long time. (Not long enough.)

Hungary deploys tanks to reach thousands of motorists trapped in heavy snow and 200,000 without power.

Worst drought in New Zealand in thirty years. Wellington has issued a ban on all outdoor water use. New Zealand’s capital of two hundred thousand folks have a nineteen day supply of water left in its rivers and reservoirs. Auckland, New Zealand issued an outdoor fire ban yesterday.

3-16- And just what we need, a new species of scorpion discovered near Tucson.

Rare cut off low totally unpredicted brings rain and snow to Flagstaff.

Eight hundred acre wildfire fueled by erratic winds threatens fifty homes in Northern California.

3-17- The Galena Fire north west of Denver is 45% contained and evacuation orders are lifted.

3-18- The National Weather Service issued Blizzard Warnings for the Dakotas and Minnesota with 50mph winds and twenty states are in the storm’s path.

Intense thunderstorms produce softball size hail in Jackson, Mississippi.

Two hundred acres in the Great Smokies have burned and twenty four vacation cabins are damaged or destroyed.

A British climber and his twelve year old son are dead after plunging down a mountain in the French Alps. The father had alerted rescuers by phone that his son had fallen. The father also fell after apparently trying to rescue his son.

3-19- Late winter storm slams New England with heavy snow and ice. Seven inches recorded in Boston this morning and five inches in New York.

A big jump seen in hurricane related storm surges. For every 1.8 degrees of warming scientists have found a two fold to seven fold increase in the increased storm surges seen when Katrina hit in 2005.

3-20- First day of spring in Phoenix arrives at four a.m. And while we bask in sun and mild temperatures snow totals in New Hampshire above sixteen inches today and high teens in the Midwest.

3-21- The top four to six feet of the seventy two year old Wade Stadium collapses from “weather.” The walls will be repaired and the team playing baseball by June 1st.

A powerful snow storm in Alberta, Canada on Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary has left one hundred motorists hurt in a mass collision.

3-22- Wind and drying conditions lead to Fire Watches for Graham, Cochise and Greenlee Counties in south east Arizona. (Fucking already?)

Punxsutawney Phil indicted with felony charges by Ohio attorney after falsely and purposely with false calculations mislead people that spring would come early. The death penalty will be sought and fifteen hunters will be selected for the execution.

Changes are planned for Alaska’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race following the death this year of a dog of asphyxiation. The dog was buried in snow after high winds. Planned changes include construction of dog shelters at two major check points. “… historical commitment to the improvement of the welfare of canine athletes that annually participate.”

3-23- If one uses weather data it is easy to see that wildfire season is approaching rapidly. The winter rains are gone, the grass is drying and soon even the hillsides will be yellow with dead grass. The humidity at The Land today was 8% with a dew point of 11%, bone fucking dry!

Powerful winter storm Virgil (what happened to all the named winter storms that we were supposed to remember?) from the Rockies to Kansas. Colorado hit the hardest and I-70 closed from Denver to Kansas.

A woman’s body was recovered yesterday from the Colorado River in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Her body was spotted by people on a river trip. The cause of death is under investigation.

3-24- No sign of spring today with heavy snow from Missouri to Pennsylvania. Ten inches of snow in St. Louis and fifteen states are affected.

Coney Island is back in business five months after Hurricane Sandy.

A tornado in Bangladesh, India kills five and injures one hundred.

With the spring like weather more urban mountain rescues in the Phoenix area. A twenty eight year old woman has to be rescued after passing out in the McDowell Preserve. A fifty six year old woman rescued after becoming injured on Picacho Peak. Even an eight year old boy has to be rescued after getting stuck at the top of Hole In The Rock at Papago Park.

Yellowstone bison hunt yields two hundred and fifty animals, the most since 1989. The high numbers are driven by American Indians who harvest the animals under long standing treaty rights. According to wildlife officials the large harvest is relieving some of the pressure of an expanding population.

3-25- “Endless Winter”. Record snows in the Midwest. Seventeen inches in Springer Ville, Illinois.

3-26- Earliest one hundred degree day in Phoenix was set in 1988.

3-27- Massive unexplained landslides may cause thirty homes in Washington State to fail. The single highway to the island area is closed. Late spring snow dumped a half foot on already saturated soil.

Supplies on the way to snowed in farmers in northern Ireland.

3-28- The pollen count in the Phoenix area is eleven out of twelve leaving thousands sneezing and itching their asses off. (Thanks to all of the trees and plants transplanted from other parts of the country over the last fifty years. The dry desert used to be the place to go to get away from respiratory infections and asthma. Everyone who moves here from out of state wants their yard to look just like where they fucking came from!)

Flagstaff, Arizona considers a ban on feeding deer. They shit everywhere, cause vehicle accidents and attract predators. (How about just shooting them and giving the meat to the local food banks?)

Feds want to crack down on the mating of dogs and the endangered Mexican gray wolf. It doesn’t happen often but keeping a pure breed is one of the keys to making the wolf population a success. In 2011 four wolf dog pups had to be put down that belonged to a Mexican gray wolf in the Gila National Forest.

A Colorado man has dies after his guided horse slipped during a ride out of Supai in the Grand Canyon. The pair fell twelve feet into a dry wash with the horse landing on the man. His wife and five year old son were present.

3-29- There is a storm so massive in the Atlantic Ocean it spans the entire ocean and the center is as powerful as a Category 3 hurricane.

In 1848 a massive ice jam “dried up” Niagara Falls to just a “trickle” of water. The phenomenon lasted forty hours. (Can you imagine the before and after photos? It would have been a once in a lifetime event.)

3-30- Massive rescue efforts are under way for 948 starving sea lion pups on Southern California beaches. Scientists don’t know why but the pups are dying of hypothermia, have no body and are one third of normal weight.

3-31- Massive mudslide buries eighty three workers up to one hundred feet in gold mine in Tibet. Eleven bodies have been recovered and the chances of finding anyone alive is slim.

Happy Easter: The New England cottontail was once so common that “The Adventures of Peter Cottontail” and the song was inspired by an author in Massachusetts. But now its habitat is disappearing. (I’m glad ducks aren’t disappearing.)

Until next month remember Settlers took land. Pioneers took bullets.

Professor MR Blue Duck