August 2013 Blue Duck Weather News

August 2013 Weather News! Sixth Anniversary Special Edition

Welcome my faithful readers. It is hard to believe this is already the sixth anniversary edition of Blue Duck Weather! Seventy two monthly installments of all the weather information worldwide and local that any serious weather geek needs. I especially want to thank the Lovely Mrs. Blueduck for placing my monthly scripts into a blog that has almost had 7,000 views from around the world. Every time I give her my computer to put all the nonsense together she lovingly rolls her eyes at me and gets the job done come rain, shine, hot or cold.

Those of you that have been reading this weather journal from the beginning know how it came about. It began as a simple exercise in accurately recording the daily average high and low temperatures month by month, year by year. Our intent was to supply accurate data for our little microscopic study on climate change. Eventually your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather began to add daily weather events locally, then nationally and then world wide. Ever changing to keep your interests peaked we decided to add animal articles and “human interest” stories as well. With enough said your fine staff has recorded the temperature data for the last six years and below you will find six years of average temperatures for The Land in the great south west desert and the Land in New Mexico at approximately 7400’ in elevation.

2008- 77.21 degrees and 48.33 degrees.
2009- 71.36 degrees and 49.65 degrees.
2010- 71.16 degrees and 48.25 degrees.
2011- 69.04 degrees and 50.43 degrees.
2012- 72.33 degrees and 51.35 degrees.
2013- 70.82 degrees and 49.18 degrees.

As you can see 2008 was by far the warmest on The Land. This year was actually the second coolest! Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was the third coolest.

Beginning with this anniversary edition the amount of rainfall on the Land in the last twelve months is included at no charge! 5.73’’ fell in the last twelve months. There is no doubt we are into about a fifteen year drought that some say may extend to one hundred years. I sincerely hope not as life will change drastically as we know it now.
And speaking of droughts. Some of you may have wondered why every month we include four of the most important lakes to the South West and Arizona for water needs and agriculture. It is important to be aware of the levels, especially in these prolonged years of drought. Following is piece of alarming news that was issued this month about one of the biggest lakes in the South West and the water needs of our future.

In the coming year releases from Lake Powell to Lake Mead will be cut 8.23 million acre feet to 7.48 million acre feet. An acre foot is 325,000 gallons, enough to supply two households for a year. Powell is at its lowest levels since the lake was filling in the 1960s.
Lake Mead will drop eight feet next year, reducing deliveries to farmers and “water banks.” One CAP official said “This is the worst 14 year drought period in the last 100 years.” Based on projections shortages could trigger a 20% decrease in Arizona deliveries to agriculture.

On that bleak note let’s get right to this special anniversary edition of Blue Duck Weather!

In this special anniversary edition of Blue Duck Weather find out about an
unlikely place to find a shark tooth, a tragic accident involving a python and two young boys, a place if you have a ten million dollar home you have private fire fighters and a fire engine on your insurance plan ( a definite case of the haves and have not’s), a dog in a Chinese zoo on display as a lion, more and more pot stoned dogs turning up in northern Arizona veterinary clinics, a woman in Tucson “attacked” by javelina, the massive Rim Fire burning near Yosemite, a man attacked by a crocodile never to be seen again and bear attacks on the rise again in the U.S.

The average temperature on The Land this month was 89.37 humid, sweltering degrees. Thankfully there were only ten days over 105 degrees and two days over 110 degrees. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 65.98 degrees.

The Land received 1.65 inches of rain for the month bringing the total to 4.46 inches for the year. Phoenix has had 4.74 inches, Glendale not so lucky with only 2.53 inches of rain.

Lake Mead is 47% full, Powell is 45% full, Pleasant 43% and Roosevelt 44%.

8-1- Havasupai water in the bottom of the Grand Canyon tested after flash flooding five days ago contaminated the water supply. St. Mary’s Food Bank has provided 30,000 bottles that had to be flown in by helicopter. The only other way to reach the village is on foot or by mule, an eight mile one way trek. Severe thunderstorms on the plateau caused Havasu Creek to rise fifteen feet above normal knocking out sewers. Dozens of tourists also stranded and the Red Cross has set up shelters.

One man killed and another injured helping to fight a forest fire in Oregon when a tree fell on them. They were private contractors known as tree fallers. They specialize in clearing trees to open paths for firefighters.

8-2- Flagstaff, Arizona ties a record set in 1919 for the wettest July with 7.58”!

An EF2 tornado has been confirmed in Jacksonville, Florida damaging 20 homes and tornadoes even reported in north east Colorado.

8-4- U.S 89 and 98 near Page, Arizona reopened after flash flooding two days ago.

Massive downpours of rain across Pakistan destroys 100 homes and caused a factory wall to collapse. 14 souls lost.

Millions of tiny fragments of plastic, some so small it takes a microscope to view them, found in the Great Lakes.

8-5- Flash flooding kills 58 in eastern provinces of Afghanistan with 30 missing.

8-6- A cool 80 degree high at The Land today with .18” of rain. (What a blissful and peaceful break from this oppressive summer.) The high in Phoenix was 92 degrees, and that was reported after midnight.

A young child trapped in a car that was swept away dies in flash floods near Waynesville, Missouri. Several water rescues and dozens of others forced out of their homes. Seven inches of rain from midnight to this morning!

A large wildfire burning near Athens, Greece with 49 others across the country. Some are cause by negligence such as open barbeques, industrial work or discarded cigarettes in hot, dry windy conditions.

A prehistoric shark tooth is found near the Village of Oak Creek in Arizona. The Devil Tooth shark tooth is 260 million years old and represents a time when a shallow ocean covered northern Arizona.

Dozens of Great Whites in Cape Cod feeding on seals. The seals are protected and thousands beach on the island. Fishermen say sharks aren’t the problem is all the fish the seals are eating. A recent sighting reported a 13,500 pound Great White!

8-7-State of Emergency in Missouri due to flooding. The Waynesville River crested at 21 feet, a new record. I-44 closed.

Torrential rain in Georgia this morning. Mudslides block traffic on Highway 5 in Gilmer County with 5’’ of rain.

New wildfire near Denning, California blows up to 2500 acres this afternoon.

Hurricane Henriette becomes the strongest storm of 2013 hurricane season with winds of 90mph. It is 1545 miles east of Hawaii.

A one hundred pound python strangles two young boys in Canada. It apparently escaped from its enclosure, crawled through a ventilation sytem and fell through the roof into the room the boys were sleeping in. The brothers were visiting a friend whose father ownes an exotic pet store on the floor below.

8-8- The Silver Fire near Banning California has blown up to 11,000 acres overnight. Four firefighters and one person burned severely. Fifteen homes have been damaged or destroyed. 2,000 evacuated and the fire is out of control.

The governor of Missouri calls on the National Guard for help with flooding. Fifteen inches of rain in two days! 25 rescues and 100 evacuations near Hollixer. Turkey Creek that runs through the center of town rose 15’.

In Nashville, 200 rescued by boat and eight inches of rain. South Kansas has received six inches of rain.

8-9- A “stalled front” from Oklahoma to West Virginia affects 17 states with days of saturating rain. 60 year old man swept away in Oklahoma City trying to rescue loved ones from a car. His body was found six blocks away. North Georgia, already saturated received 4-6” of rain last night.

The Silver Fire near Banning, California has burned 16,000 acres with 26 homes destroyed, 539 threatened. At times the wind driven fire speed has been 35mph. The fire is 25% contained. 100,000 acres have burned in California this year, doubled from this same time last year.

All time heat records in Austria and Hungary. 104 degrees in a heat wave that has lasted two weeks.

A quail observation from your fine editor at Blue Duck Weather News: Here it is in August and I have noticed many chicks scurrying about the desert. This seems odd as usually they are seen in late April and May. Is it the lack of rain and grass that has quail breeding so late in the season? I suspect so but I am glad to see them instead of nothing at all. The quail is a tough little bird and during hunting season even tougher to get a bead on.

8-10- “Without Warning.” Man’s body recovered from debris from a fast moving mudslide in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Crews searching for three others. Water rose 12’ above a creek bed.

Flood Advisory in Safford, Arizona with 1.5” of rain falling per hour.

The Silver Fire is 50% contained at 14,000 acres.

8-11- Flash Flood Warning issued for Tucson, Arizona. Some areas receiving two inches per hour.

A woman seen clinging to a tree on banks of a swollen creek is still unaccounted for from the flood in Manitou Springs, Colorado. One and a half inches of rain fell in 30 minutes. 40 vehicles have been towed out of mud and debris.

Utar, the most powerful Typhoon of 2013 strikes the Philippines with gusts up to 105mph. Nine fishermen are missing.

8-13- The Elk Complex Fire in Idaho has burned 125 square miles. It has been determined to have been caused by lightning.
A few miles south, residents of Pine have been evacuated. This fire has burned 190 square miles and is the Nation’s top priority fire.

A survivor of the Manitou Springs flood said a four foot wall of water swept through her house and pulled her to the bottom. After being swept out of her house with a broken foot and leg a block later she managed to grab a tree branch and pull herself up on an embankment.

Two inches or rain today and 65mph winds closes roads in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

8-14- The Patch City Fire near the mountain resort of Park City, Utah has destroyed 10-15 structures. Sixteen square miles have burned.

8-15- Forty four wildfires are burning across 11 states. The Elk Complex Fire in Idaho has burned 111,977 acres.

The fifth named tropical storm of the season, Erin forms in the Atlantic.

8-16- 1600 homes are evacuated near the resort community of Pine Valley in Idaho. “Private insurers have dispatched their own crews to provide structural protection of homes valued in the tens of millions of dollars… there are private engines that companies have sent in.”

8-17- Excessive Heat Warning issued for the Phoenix area for the next three days. (Hell and bliss. Exactly the kind of heat to bring back the cooling monsoon rain hopefully.)

And all the South is getting is rain when they already have had enough. Wettest July on Record from New Orleans to Charlston, North Carolina. And now a “stalled front” is bringing more rain.

The Beaver Creek Fire near Todell County, Utah has burned 12,000 acres.

A twelve foot Arctic shark from Greenland has been caught in the warm Gulf waters. It is the first deep swimming shark to be caught in the Gulf. It was swimming at a depth of six thousand feet to try and stay cool. ( How the fuck do you “fish” in six thousand foot water? How would you feel a tug or even reel in six thousand feet of line? How would you even know where to fish? This makes my brain tired.)

8-17- 114 degree record in Phoenix today.

In central Idaho the Beaver Creek Fire has burned 100,000 acres, threatening the Sun Valley Ski Resort. It is only 6% contained.

8-18- The Skull Fire west of Prescott has burned 3,000 acres.

At 3:35 p.m. The Land received .35’’ of rain in twenty minutes! It may not seem like a big deal but that is a lot of rain quickly and the desert was flowing.

Thousands more in Idaho evacuated from the onslought of the Beaver Creek Fire. 150 square miles burned and 9% contained.

8-19- Major flooding in Manila and the Philippines and twelve million people have been placed on alert.

8-20- “West on Fire” reads the headlines. A Level 5 Decleration Alert is announced. It is the hightest level of preparedness.

Excessive Heat Warning issued for the Phoenix area until eight p.m. tomorrow.

Non stop rain cripples Manila. Half of the capital city is under water, 12,000 have been forced out of their homes and 94,000 affected.

8-21- Twenty one inches of rain fell in Manila in one day last Friday, a month’s worth of rain!

8-22- A fire has erupted fifteen miles from Yosemite National Park. The Rim Fire has burned 84 square miles, camp grounds evacuated and 2500 homes threatened. The fire thripled in size overnight and two homes have been destroyed.

Lightning kills two men in Kentucky trying to seek shelter in a barn.

Monsoon flooding in Pakistan kills 139 and one million others affected.

Flagstaff vet clinics are reporting stoned dogs from eating pot. They come in dazed and confuzed, shaking and falling asleep. They seem to be getting into their owner’s stash. It is becoming more and more common with two to three cases reported a month. Wild mushrooms are also a problem. ( I wonder if dogs hallucinate.)

8-23- 40 mph winds in Yuma, Arizona with hail and downed power lines.

Littleton, Colorado receives enough hail to break out the town’s snow plows.

The Rim Fire near Yosemite has blown up to 106,000 acres, growing four times overnight. Residents of Pine Mountain Lake are urged to evacuate. It is the top priority fire in the nation and Canada is sending in 5 Type 1 crews to help its neighbor.

8-24- A State of Emergency is declared in California as the Rim Fire threatens water and power supplies to San Francisco. It has grown to 125,000 acres and there is a smoky haze all the way to Reno, Nevada.

Tropical Storm Ivo is causing Flash Flood Watches in all of wester Arizona.

Slowest start to the hurricane season on record.

And from the Lovely Mrs. Blueduck: Six people have been mauled by bears in five states in the past week. In Yellowstone there have been 64% more attacks this year than last. *Watch out Joan.

8-25- Cool, cloudy high of 85 degrees on The Land. Bullhead City receives 1.77” of rain, Sedona 1.19”.

Teams are assigned to protect the massive Sequoias as the Rim Fire grows to 133,000 acres and is 7% contained.

Record breaking heat in the Midwest and some schools are closed. Inadequate or no air conditioning make classrooms unbearable.

Tidal bore waves injure thirty onlookers on the banks of a river in eastern China. They were gathered to see high tide on the Qiantang River. Due to the influence of Typhoon Tranni waves came inland over 21’ high.

A twenty four year old man is missing and presumed dead after being attacked by a sixteen foot long crocodile in Australia. He ignored warnings and went swimming in a river infested with crocs.

8-26- Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for Pinal County with 40mph winds and hail reported south of Florence. Blowing Dust Warning for Maricopa and 52mph winds in Casa Grande.

Moisture from Tropical Storm Ivo drenches part of north Las Vegas and dumps three inches of rain in Clark County. There were 18 water rescues in Las Vegas alone.

The Rim Fire is the size of Chicago and can be seen from the Space Station.

Massive storm hit’s the Phoenix area, worst hit Tempe and Buckeye with 70mph winds. 80% of trees lost at Avondale Park. 62mph winds reported in Chandler.

8-27- At four thirty in the afternoon it began raining hard at The Land preceded by a wall of dust. Then hail the size of dimes to quarters began pounding the west wall of the house and sounded like it was going to break the windows. Violent winds blew off part of the porch roof. A shelf on the front porch with at least two hundred pounds of weight on it blew over and smashed to pieces. In twenty minutes we received over a half inch of rain. It let up in about an hour with .75’’ or rain. Yours truly is an official weather spotter so I called in my severe weather report to NOA with my official identification number. The poor Mrs. BlueDuck did not make it in because of flooding until after eleven that night.

Four thousand firefighters are on the Rim Fire. It is only 20% contained and has burned 179,480 acres.

Officer in Connecticut kills a montor lizard when a homeowner reported her chickens were being attacked. She thought it was an alligator. This lizard can grow up to five feet in length.

8-28- A baby dies after being left in a hot car in Scottsdale. The dad said he went into his place of employment for about an hour and forgot about the child. Later information came out that the “dad” was smoking pot with another person outside the eatery and bar where the dad worked. The “dad” has been arrested and jailed.

Two women in two days have died while rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee.

8-29- Flooding closes the Loop 303 in the west valley near Peoria this morning.

Tropical Storm Juliette is producing heavy rain and winds in Baja, California.

8-30- One inch of rain this afternoon near Black Canyon City and five miles of Arizona 74 is closed due to flooding near Lake Pleasant. Inch and a half of rain in east Mesa and Apache Junction.

The Rim Fire has burned 311,000 acres and is 30% contained. Yosemite however is open for business this Labor Day weekend. (Makes me sick!)

A Tucson woman is teated at a local hospital after “being attacked” by javelina when she was on an early morning walk with her dog. Apparently she saw the pigs eating out of a tipped over garbage can and fell when she tried to get away. The woman said as many as three of the pigs charged her. She suffered some cuts from the the fall and lacerations from the piggies but managed to get back home.

Game & Fish officials say it may have been her dog that provoked the attack. “Javelinas act instinctively to a dog’s presence because they don’t distinguish it from a coyote.”

8-31- Eight inches of hail in twenty minutes near Hay Springs, Nebraska! The area appeared to be covered in snow.

Hofefully in the year (s) to come the fine staff at Blue Duck Weather will be able to continue to bring you weather news as it breaks and we shall continue to earn your readership.

The perfect weather song for the month is “Thunderstorms and Neon Lights” by Hank 111.



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


The Distinguished Quack MR Blue Duck