January Blue Duck Weather News 2012

January 2012 Weather News!



Happy New Year! January was a very active, if not strange weather month. Little snow for most of the nation, record heat and tornadoes that usually strike in the spring. And yet Alaska has record breaking cold and snow and toward the end of the month Europe was experiencing some of the coldest temperatures on record.

Nome, Alaska froze so quickly you will read the drama as it plays out trying to get fuel to a town with an iced up harbor, a feat never done before by sea vessel this late in the winter.

Now, down here in the sunny West you have read in this fine weather journal about bee attacks on humans and animals, some severely injuring or killing them. It seems they happen in the summer or fall but a good associate and friend of mine almost died last week after being stung over fifty times. He is also very allergic to bee stings. He was moving brush with a bobcat when he disturbed a hive and was stung. He drove himself to the hospital and then collapsed. He actually heard the staff say “we’re losing him”. My friend was unconscious for over four hours. Thankfully he is alive and well today.

In this exciting edition of Blue Duck Weather you will read all of the weather facts and more! A possible explanation of the world wide bee decline, never before seen warming of the U.S. in January, a tree branch in a storm impales a driver, filling a massive lake may cause earth tremors from the weight of the increased water load, Indians so proud they kill themselves when they cannot provide food for their families due to bitter cold, billion dollar weather disasters, a snow prayer ceremony brings results, raining bird shit so bad is disrupts an entire town, the largest rattler ever caught, the first gray wolf seen in California since 1924 and believe it or not, The giant Galapagos tortoise may not be extinct.

In January on The Land and in Phoenix there was no rain. On average we pick up almost three quarters of an inch. We are off to a slow, dry start causing concerns for another active fire season this summer.

The average temperature on The Land was a pleasant 53.37 degrees. Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico had an average of 35.50 degrees.

Lake Mead is 57% full, Powell 65%, Pleasant 73% and Roosevelt 66%.

And now all the weather news that fits for misfits and weather geeks around the world!


1-1- Spring like temperatures at The Land with a high of 71 degrees.

Another no burn weekend in Maricopa County. “Maricopa County officials say it is impossible to enforce people from using their fireplaces.” (You think?)

An Arizona man is reunited with his dog that was lost near Butte, Montana for a month. When he stopped his vehicle in Dillon the dog got out of the camper without notice. The pooch wandered rugged terrain, endured freezing temperatures and BB shots and had a lame foot.

The dog was rescued a reunited with his owner from a lost dog ad on Craigslist.

An avalanche kills a 45 year old skier in British Columbia. He was a victim among a group of eleven led by a guide to do some heli-skiing. He was completely buried by snow.

The first gray wolf seen on the California-Oregon border since 1924. A GPS collar was placed on the wolf last February. Since then the wolf has wandered three hundred miles from the location he was collared at.

1-2- The ASU student that became stranded in the snow on December 11th turned on a “road to nowhere” when she became stuck. She took Highway 99, a little used road south of Winslow designed to be a “shortcut” to Highway 260 just west of Heber. The road is paved for forty miles. It then becomes an unpaved forest road.
In 1991 the state of Arizona was considering abandoning the road but it still remains open. The young woman said she left Phoenix with no particular destination. (She was touted for her skills for surviving the snow and cold for ten days but no particular destination tells me she had not a clue what she might be in for.)

Statewide snow pack in Colorado is 73% of average, 97% at the San Francisco Peaks and 202% in the White Mountains. These percentages are important to try and determine how much spring snowmelt will be added to our lakes and reservoirs.

High winds in Boulder, Colorado cause a three foot tree branch to smash through an automobile windshield, impaling the driver in the chest. He was able to steer the car to safety with his wife inside before he died. ( You talk about your time being up.)

First major snowstorm of the winter in the central U.S. with Lake Effect snow and one foot of snow in Michigan. Strong winds with zero visibility close I-75 south of Cincinnati. Slick road conditions case fifty crashes near Indianapolis.

Ten people jump into an icy Utah River to help save three trapped children after the car they were in lost control and ended upside down in the Logan River. The father managed to escape but could not rescue the kids. The people who jumped into the river turned the vehicle upright. One man shot out a window and cut the seat belts with his knife to free the children.

One hundred blackbirds go berserk from fireworks in Beebe, Arkansas and smash into each other and buildings and dying on New Year’s Eve. (Where the fuck is PETA?)

1-3- Lake Effect snow and wind batter the Northeast and showers are as far south as Atlanta. Winter Weather Advisories posted for areas downwind of Lake Erie and Ontario throughout the night.

Winds over 100 mph kill two in Britain with 102 mph winds reported in Scotland. Train service and ferry traffic cancelled.

1-4- Record lows reported in Florida.

Flagstaff warms up to 68 degrees and the snow pack is melting rapidly at the Snow Bowl. The average temperature is 42 degrees.

California snow pack survey shows water content so far this year at only 19%.

A bus in southern China loses control on a snow covered bridge and plunges into a valley thirty feet below. 16 people killed.
1-5- Record high temperatures in the Dakotas with 55 degrees in Bismark, 32 degrees above normal.

98% of the United States is above 32 degrees, never before heard of. 118 high temperature records broken.

1-6- Record breaking temperatures in the Midwest today will be moving northeast. Minot, North Dakota, an all time record of 61 degrees, Des Moines, 65 degrees, Rapid City, 73 degrees, International Falls 46 degrees and St. Louis 66 degrees.

A dog, thought to be dead in an avalanche in Montana, has shown up at a Montana motel where is owner had checked in four days prior. His master was killed by the avalanche.

1-7- Arizona wildfire risks will rise this spring in warm and dry conditions persist and we may have a repeat of 2011.

The National Weather Service has officially declared last year as the driest on record in Texas. 500 million trees have died.

A Russian tanker is heading for Nome, Alaska cut off from the rest of the world by sea ice. The tanker is carrying 1.1 million gallons of diesel and 300,00 gallons of unleaded gasoline. Fuel in Nome is nearly nine dollars per gallon.

1-8- Eleven inches of snow fell in Show Low and four inches at the Snow Bowl in eastern and northern Arizona. And yet it was sunny and warm down here in the desolate desert.

Three days of snow with three feet of accumulation in parts of the Swiss Alps. Extreme Avalanche Warnings are posted.

Scientists may have found a reason for the mysterious world wide honey bee die off occurring over the last several years. A parasitic fly deposits eggs into the bee’s abdomens that causes the bees to leave hives at night and die.

1-9- As Lake Mead continues to rise a series of small tremors have been measured in the last year. The lake now has 4.8 million acre feet of water more than it did in 2010. It is only theory buy many seismologists believe that when Lake Mead originally filled in the 1930s the added weight of the water led to a series of tremors.

Near Missoula, Montana a bus on icy I-90 crashes head on with another vehicle. Two folks are dead and eight in serious or critical condition.

Heavy rains, flooding and an unconfirmed tornado strikes the Houstan area. The Mall of the Mainland in Texas City closes due to structural damage from the winds. Five inches of rain prompt Flood Warnings.

The tiny town of Cordova, Alaska is asking for state help to dig out of massive snow levels that have collapsed roofs, triggered avalanches and trapping some people in their homes. The Prince William Sound community has no road access to the town. Fifty National Guard members were on their way yesterday to help folks dig out. Snow is higher than some home’s doors.

1-10- Want snow, head for the southern U.S. Midland, Texas has received twenty inches so far this winter with half falling yesterday. A daily snow record was set yesterday for the city. Midland has had more snow than most northern U.S. cities this winter.

Most of Alaska is under Winter Advisories with 60 mph winds recorded in Homer. A main highway (and there ain’t many in Alaska) is cut off outside Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula.

Eight are dead and twenty missing from mudslides in Brazil.

A few survivors of the giant Galapagos tortoise, thought to be extinct in the 1840s,may still exist on a island in the Pacific. DNA testing was performed on 1600 and 84 were direct offspring.

1-11- From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports that yesterday was a warm 63 degrees (almost the same temperature on The Land.) This afternoon, with the wind chill, it is 5 degrees.

Since November 1st, Cordova, Alaska has received fifteen feet of snow and forty four inches of rain adding to the hardened snow pack. Avalanche conditions are extreme with strong wind gusts and white out conditions. School children have missed twenty five days due to the snow.

A fuel tanker and a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker trying to make it to Nome, Alaska are stuck in sea ice. Aerial teams, and a drone, are scouting the safest passage. They are ninety seven miles away, and if they make it to Nome, it will be the first time ever a fuel tanker reaches a western Alaskan town cut off by sea ice. (Now, I know it is not spring but the song “When it’s Springtime in Alaska it’s Forty Below” by Johnny Horton sure comes to mind.)

1-12- “The worst winter anyone can remember in Alaska has piled snow so high people can’t see out the windows of their homes.” Valdez has had twenty six feet of snow since November. Anchorage has had 81.6’’, breaking a record of 77.3’’ set in 1993-94.

The first winter blast hits with parts of Connecticut having the first snow since October. Chicago cancels 425 flights today due to snow. For Illinois, today marked the first significant snow in eleven months.

A tornado tears through towns in North Carolina injuring 15, destroying 9 homes with 47 damaged.

South African rangers find eight poached rhinos in one day, dead and stripped of their horns. 448 were poached last year, a new record.

1-13- The Arizona Game & Fish Department is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of a deer poached December 30th near Fort Huachuca. The buck was shot and beheaded, with the body left to waste.
Two suspects are wanted for questioning, both white males wearing camo. They were described as six feet tall with slim, athletic builds. One had a dark beard and both carried scoped rifles.

1-14- The bitter freeze last February in the Arizona deserts have killed off older saguaro cacti, notably in Tucson’s Saguaro National Park. Temperatures then were in the low teens for several days in a row.

Thirty one inches of Lake Effect snow falls in Buffalo, New York.
Seven inches of snow in Massachusetts with 30mph winds.

The Russian tanker carrying 1.3 million gallons of fuel for Nome has gone as far as it can. Nome’s harbor is iced up and the fuel transfer will have to be done with a mile long hose. Spilling fuel is a major concern.

Winter Weather Advisories issued above 6500’ in Arizona until noon tomorrow.

1-15- Winter Weather Advisory extended for northern Arizona until noon tomorrow.

1-16- Thirteen inches of snow at Sunrise, Arizona. No measurable rain in Phoenix and none so far this year. Normal rainfall for this date is .49’’.

1-17- Seattle, Washington could get six inches of snow tonight. Their average total for an entire year is 5.9”

Fuel is being pumped by two parallel hoses, seven hundred yards long each, from the Russian tanker to Nome. Without the fuel Nome would be out completely by March or April, long before the next barge delivery in unfrozen waters possible.

A sixty six year old snowshoer missing on Mount Rainer for three days has been found alive by three rescuers. The man was alert, conscious and in stable condition. He said he used fire starters to burn leaves and eventually his extra socks and paper money. Rescuers were working to bring in a Snow Cat vehicle to transport him out of the area since severe weather prevented a helicopter from landing.

Mexicans are rushing aid to communities in the remote northern mountains in Mexico. “Dozens of Indians had killed themselves because they couldn’t feed their families due to severe cold weather.” (Desparation, pride or both?)

1-18- 4.2’’ of snow in Seattle, 13’’ in Olympia and 20’’Rochester, Washington. Schools are closed.

30,000 people are without power in the Portland, Oregon area as a powerful snow storm turns into rain. Wind gusts of 100mph reported.

“Powerful spring like” storm sets off tornadoes in Indiana, Kentucky and Mississippi.
1-19- Ice closes Seattle airport and 200,000 are without power due to downed power lines from fallen trees and ice. A State of Emergency is declared by the governor.

Two adults and their young children drive into a rain swollen creek in Albany, Oregon. The man and his five year old son were able to get out. The body of a twenty month old child was found later but mom is missing and presumed dead. The car has not been found.

100 mph winds stop search for overdue hikers and climbers on Mount Rainier in Washington. They are experienced but four days overdue.

The fuel transfer in Nome is complete and successful without any oil spills.

Two more billion dollar disasters added to the record set in 2011; Tropical storm Lee and severe weather in the Midwest and the Rockies in July. The total is now 14 with losses at 55 billion dollars. The previous record was set in 2008 with nine over a billion dollars.

1-20- The snow storm approaching Chicago is thought to be large enough that sixty garbage trucks have been converted to snow plows.

First rain in San Francisco in two months.

2011 was the warmest on record for Spain and Norway. The average global temperature was 57.9 degrees, a bit cooler than last year.

1-21- Wind gusts up to 70mph in northern Arizona.

Fourteen counties in South Carolina are under Tornado Watches.

Eight inches of snow in Chicago with the cancellation of 700 flights. As the storm moves quickly through the North East it is only the second time since Ocotober significant snow has occurred.

The driest winter in Reno, Nevada in 120 years and a fast moving wildfire destroys 29 homes and 10,000 are evacuated. The fire was accidently caused by an elderly man who “improperly discarded fireplace ashes.” He reported the cause and is extremely remorseful. No charges are planned to be filed.
Scientists in Indonesia have discovered a large gray monkey so rare many believed it to be extinct. The Miller’s Grizzland Langur has been found in an area far from its previously recorded home range.

1-22- Two inches of rain in Reno brings flash flood concerns in the 3200 acre fire zone that was fully contained yesterday.

1-23- A tornado with winds recorded at 150 mph has killed two and injured one hundred in Alabama. This type of storm is rarely seen in January. It reached from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Winter Weather Advisory issued for the Grand Canyon to the White Mountains in Arizona above five thousand feet.

Lake Tahoe finally receives snow, one two two feet since last week. The snow pack there has only been 25% of normal for this date.
The storm came a week after a group of Paiute, Shoshone and Washoe tribal members performed a ceremony seeking spiritual help for snow.

1-24- Six inches of snow at the Grand Canyon.

One snowmobiler dead and his brother rescued in a snow cave in a Colorado avalanche.

“Space hurricane” from solar flares are sweeping over our planet causing some flights to be rerouted. This is the biggest flareup since 2003.

1-25- No rain at all in Phoenix so far this year and .71’’ below normal.

Spring like moisture dumps a record of 6.8’’ of rain on Austin and 30,000 without power in San Antonio. An unconfirmed tornado also reported.

Forty dead and twenty missing from a landlside on the South Pacific island of New Guinea.

1-26- Up to ten feet of snow falls in eastern and central Europe. 340 people rescued from stranded vehicles and 1300 given temporary shelter. Overnight temperatures sixteen degrees below zero.

Severe flooding and landslides kill six people in Fiji.

1-27- In northern Kentucky there has been a plague of several hundred thousand European Starlings every evening since Thanksgiving. The birds are shitting everywhere and people cannot go outside without umbrellas.

1-28- 49mph wind gusts in Bullhead City, Arizona.

The American Prairie Foundation in northern Montana receives seventy one bison calves from Canada. Their intent is to rebuild the herd and with the new calves the herd will number 216. The nine month old calves will be held in isolation for a month before being released into the main herd.

1-29- A twenty four year old snow boarder has died after becoming trapped in an avalanche in steep Utah backcountry. It is the 9th avalanche fatality in the West this season. His body was found using avalanche beacons.

Scientists investigate 77 dolphin deaths beached on Cape Cod. Whether they got lost or sick is a mystery.

1-30- Fort Yukon, Alaska has ranged from fifty below zero to sixty two below zero in the last three days. There have only been three other years when it has been this cold in the history of weather keeping. The average temperature for January in Anchorage has been 2.7 degrees, well below the average of 15 degrees. ( Timely after just seeing the movie “The Grey.”)

Drought forces Texas cattle ranchers to drive cattle north to Nebraska. 250,000 head moved there in the past year.

“Junary” where temperatures are in June in many places. Nine tenths of the country is above average. Fifty high temperature records have fallen from Colorado to Kansas.

At four a.m. yesterday morning fog and smoke caused a freeway pile up on I-75 in Floriday that killed ten folks and injured eighteen. The crash was so bad the NSTB was called in and they are usually only used for airline crashes. The smoke from the wildfire is suspected to be arson.

1-31- Temperatures in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions are in the 50’s and 60’s, twenty degrees above normal. There is speculation this may be the warmest January on record.

Forty eight folks have died from extreme cold across central and eastern Europe. In Kiev, Ukraine temperatures dropped to ten below zero.

An ever increasing population of huge pythons, many of them discarded pets, are wiping out large numbers of mammals in the Florida Everglades. Raccoons, Oppossums and bobcats are among them.

And this nightmare contribution from the Lovely Mrs. Blueduck: A fifteen foot eastern Diamonback rattlesnake, the largest on record ever, has been caught in a new home subdivision near St. Augustine, Florida. It weighed 170 pounds with a head the size of a human. It has a five foot, six inch striking distance.

A good friend of mine was stung over fifty times last week by bees and is highly allergic to them. He was moving a pile of debris in his yard when he disturbed the nest. He was able to drive himself to the hospital but blacked out when he got there. He had to be revived several times and almost died. He could hear the hospital staff say “we’re losing him”. Day to day shit doesn’t seem all that important to him right now. He is so grateful to be alive. Although scary, his account of dying and coming back to life was inspirational to me.

With that happy ending we will leave you with the inspirational gospel standard song for the month. “One fine morning when this life is over I’ll fly away.” I think of that line many times but the very next song that comes to mind is “The Crystal Ship” by the Doors. I know I am sick and need help, but so does this weather journal.

Until next month when bees are knocking at your mortality remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Honorable, Distinguished, Somewhat twisted, Professor MR Blue Duck.

December Blue Duck Weather 2011

December 2011 Weather News!



For the first two weeks in December the West dominated the weather news, including Arizona. You will read about two remarkable snow survivals right in Arizona.
Unfortunately the deadliest weather in the world for the month happened in the Philippines by massive flooding and drowning of folks who had little warning to escape.

Also in this fine edition (as always) of Blue Duck Weather News you will read where 150mph winds occurred in the United States, rare shifts in the California Santa Anna winds cause pure hell, dog shoots his master duck hunter in the ass, man that survives on his trek to the wilderness on frozen beer, new record set this year for billion dollar weather disasters, mass suicide or crash landing of thousands of birds, a Russian team that will attempt to conquer the second highest peak in the world in the winter (a feat that has never been done), a contribution from DarrDuck that will show you the strange phenomenon of “Kelvin-Hemholtz” waves and the “South Pole Christmas miracle.”

But first let us get into the boring statistics recorded at the Blue Duck Weather station. December was a “cold” month for desert standards. Most high temperatures never reached 60 degrees, there was a week and a half of rain, clouds, fog and mud. There were also a number of freezing temperatures with lows bottoming out at 29 degrees. (I will take that compared to 14 degrees last February.)

The average temperature at The Land was 47.88 degrees. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 29.58 degrees.

Rainfall for the month at the Land was a respectable .74’’ but the year only finished at 4.92’’. Phoenix received “officially” 4.61’’.

Lake levels in and around the state, the ones that matter to our agriculture, survival and toilet flushing are as follows: Lake Mead is 56% full, Pleasant 65%, the mighty Powell 67% and Roosevelt 65%.

12-1- Eight inches of snow fell at the Snow Bowl in northern Arizona, five inches in Flagstaff and Prescott with two inches on the ground. Winter storm warnings are still in effect and I-40 is closed near Williams.

The high today at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill was 59 degrees at an elevation of 7400’.

The high at The Land, elevation 1100’ was 58 degrees.

A rare change in wind patterns is driving the Santa Anna winds in southern California east. Wind gusts up to 100 mph in southern California, 102 mph in Utah. Six tractor trailers blown over below the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino City. Pasadena schools are closed and 300,000 thousand without power.

Brush fires and emergency response calls every twelve seconds! Los Angeles Airport is closed. As these winds move east High Wind Warning issued for six states.

From his secluded location in Colorado RyDuck reports at 3:30 p.m. twenty degrees and five inches of snow on the ground.

12-2- Flagstaff, Arizona schools close due to the snow and Show Low has two feet on the ground.

A thirty seven degree low on The Land with a dew point of 37 degrees and humidity of 93% caused dense fog even though there was little rain the night before.

At Mammoth Mountain in California 150mph winds were recorded. The wind instrument does not record anything higher than that!

200,000 homes still without power in Southern California. Pasadena was the heaviest hit with 40 buildings “red tagged” as being uninhabitable.

A fifty car pile up in fog and icy road conditions leave one dead in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Biologists have found an extremely rare albino dolphin off the coast of South America.

A dog in a boat with his “Master” shoots him in the ass with a shotgun. The gun was on the bow, the safety off, when the dog got excited while hunting ducks. The dog set off the gun with his paw.

12-3- Snow level drops to 4,000 feet in Arizona with snow in Oracle. I- 40 closed and hail reported in Gilbert.

One hundred thousand still without power in Southern California from hurricane force winds two days ago.

A respected wildlife biologist was a casualty form the high winds in Big Sur when a tree blew over and killed him instantly.

Arizona Game & Fish officials have verified a highly probable ocelot sighting in Cochise County. Photos of the sighting were provided by a homeowner yesterday. Verification included paw prints at the scene.

The Southern Arizona Cattlemen’s Protective Association is offering a reward for information about the killing and partial butchering of a cow on a ranch in Green Valley, Arizona. The beast was shot at least once and its front quarters removed.

12-4- First freeze temperature of the season on The Land at 32 degrees along with heavy fog. There is a Freeze Warning issued for Pinal County tomorrow morning.

Six days ago in a man in Nome, Alaska set out on a cruise in his 1990 Toyota Nacoma to see how far a road would take him. Forty miles north of town his truck plunged into a snow drift. He was wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a light jacket. The man had few supplies with no food or water.

His cell phone wouldn’t work and he knew he was in deep shit. He put on a fleece sleeping bag liner he had in the truck and wrapped a towel around his feet. Occasionally he started the truck to run the heater and listen to the radio. The temperature dropped to seventeen below zero by the second night of his ordeal.
He said the cold was more painful than the hunger but he found a few cans of Coors Light in the cab that were frozen. (He probably had more than a few before he went on his run with no provisions in Nome!) He cut the lids of the beers like you would a can of beans with a knife and ate the frozen contents.

He was rescued alive on the third day of his ordeal. Later he said he lost sixteen pounds in three days!

Earlier this year your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather reported about the small utility company that serves Maricopa and surrounding areas. They had the unmitigated balls to shut the power off for nonpaying customers last February when temperatures dropped into the teens. They were criticized by the Corporation Commission for shutting down power in a threat to life situation.

Today the utility company announced they are establishing an assistance fund based on customer and community member donations. Not a word about what they will donate or set aside to contribute to the fund!

12-5- Morning snow at an elevation of 2500’ in the north valley including Fountain Hills, Carefree and parts of North Scottsdale. (For the first time in thirty five years I had a subcontractor pull off of a job because of snow. He said there were flurries lasting forty five minutes and snow sticking on the ground.)
U.S. 60 closed between Superior and Globe due to snow.

Sun Rise Ski Resort in the White Mountains opens in three days with 26’’ of snow.

64mph Santa Anna winds in Santa Barbara, California.

Now Arizona Game & Fish are discounting the ocelot sighting in Cochise County. “Ocelot experts” studied the photos and determined that some markings were not consistent with an ocelot. They believe it was a serval, an African cat popular in the pet trade business.

A Bald eagle carcass was found in a paper bag with rocks on it by a hiker near Tucson on November 21st. Arizona Game & Fish has offered a five hundred dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer.

Because of the drought in Texas thousands of horses have been abandoned by owners due to the ever increasing cost of hay and feed. Twenty to forty calls a week about horses along the side of the road. Abandoning horses is against the law in Texas.

12-6- Eleven degrees below zero in Greer, Arizona this morning.
I-10 closed in the entire state of New Mexico from Arizona to Texas from wind and snow.

Officially the north Valley received one half inch of snow yesterday morning.

Los Angeles is asking state and federal governments to declare the region a disaster area after last week’s brutal wind storms. 15,000 are still without power.

Five months later two remaining bodies have been found and recovered after being swept over the Merced River fall in Yosemite last July.

12-7- Twenty five degree low on The Land this morning.

Snowstorms cause traffic jams and vehicle crashes from Amarillo to Austin, Texas yesterday. Today it hits Tennessee and moving up the coast with heavy rain.

“America smashed the record for billion dollar weather disaster with a deadly dozen and counting.” There were more weather catastrophes that caused the dollar amount than it did in all of the eighties even with figures adjusted for inflation. Extreme weather this year killed over a thousand folks.

“Scientists blame an unlucky combination of global warming and freak chance. The six large outbreaks of tornadoes can’t be attributed to global warming.”

In Pima County, Arizona a woman is sentenced to 10 hours of community service for unlawfully feeding javelina. She was cited after repeated requests by Arizona Game & Fish officials to stop. A state law makes it illegal to feed wildlife in Pima and Maricopa counties, other than birds and tree squirrels.

12-8- An elderly New Mexico couple left Chandler, Arizona last week to head home on U.S. 60. They made a wrong turn and ended up on a forest road before their transmission went out. Snow storms moved into the region and the couple survived in the car until two days ago when the vehicle ran out of gas and no longer provided heat. The two left on foot and the woman died shortly after. After trying to revive his wife the man stuck to the road leaving markers behind him so his wife could be found. He walked until evening and then took shelter under a tree. Yesterday he continued on and was located by a Game & Fish officer. The man is doing well in a Globe hospital. ( What a tough man in his eighties. I sure feel bad for his wife of sixty years but this man had a whole lot of luck and some survival skills, mentally and physically. A tendency to give up all hope after losing your spouse in the cold lonely woods shock most people literally to death.)

Schools closed in western and southern parts of Tennessee after four inches of snow fell yesterday.

Wind gusts up to 100 mph in Scotland. A wind speed of 151 mph recorded on a summit in Aberdeenshire. Many schools and major bridges closed.

A hillside loosened by heavy rains collapses on a bus killing six near Bogota, Columbia. 3500 homes flooded with water up to five feet deep. Rains since September have caused 140 deaths.

12- 11- North east states, due to budget cuts, will eliminate heating aid to the poor.

“We have a lot of terrified people who can’t see how they are going to survive.”

12-12- Winter Storm Warning for northwest Arizona above 5500’ to the White Mountains until 12-14. Six inches of snow has already accumulated in the higher elevations of Gila County.

12-13- Flagstaff schools closed with thirteen inches of snow in the last twenty four hours. 1.81 inches of rain recorded in Queen Creek, Arizona.

The most recent mudslide in Colombia has killed a child and fifteen are missing.

12-14- 17.6” of snow in Flagstaff, 33’’ at Forest Lakes and 9’’ in Prescott. The most rain was recorded in Apache Junction at 2.20’’.

A five mile stretch of the Hunt Highway was closed this morning in the San Tan Valley due to a six foot by ten foot sink hole in the road caused by heavy rain.

The biggest wave ever recorded off Ireland yesterday at sixty seven feet high.

Near St. George, Utah thousands of birds died on impact after mistaking a Walmart parking lot for a body of water. Two thousand surviving birds were rescued and released. Storm clouds over the top of city lights made the parking lot look like a nice, flat body of water to the birds.

12-15- Dense Fog Advisory issued for entire southern Arizona this morning south to the Mexican border and west to Dateland, California. It was so humid at The Land it registered as .01’’ of rain.

Warm temperatures in the Northeast have delayed many ski resort openings. Most are usually opened by Thanksgiving. As of yesterday 16 of New England’s 52 ski resorts were open.

12-16- The Snow Bowl in Flagstaff and Ski Valley on Mount Lemon in Tucson have enough hard pack snow to officially open today. Tomorrow the snow level is expected to drop to six thousand feet.

Near Lorient, France, high winds completely beach a cargo ship and 220 tons of fuel is leaking, threatening the beach.

Swiss airports canceled and diverted flights as a winter storm delivered 93mph winds and heavy snowfall. A severe avalanche warning is issued for the Swiss Alps.

Russian authorities are trying to rescue 100 endangered beluga whales trapped in the midst of large chunks of polar ice in the Bering Sea.

12-17- Twelve hours of nonstop rain in the southern Philippines have killed 436 people due to Tropical Storm Washi. Entire villages were swept to sea as a wall of water drowned many as they were asleep in their beds.

A team of fifteen Russians are attempting to climb to the top of K2, the world’s second highest peak, in the winter. This has never been accomplished before. The mountain range straddles Pakistan and China. The temperatures in the winter can be forty below zero with winds of 40mph.

The team will begin their ascent around Christmas, will not be carrying oxygen tanks and will have porters at base camp only. Their gear and food, including three fresh slaughtered yaks and a “little vodka” is being flown by Pakistani army helicopters charging 7,000 dollars per hour.

12-18- Winter Weather Advisory issued through tomorrow night in northern Arizona.

A Blizzard Warning has been issued for parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

A Blizzard Warning is defined as life threatening winter weather conditions are likely including wind gusts of 35mph and visibility less than a quarter of a mile.

“Typhoon Washi leaves 1400 dead or missing in Philippines. Flood washed away entire houses with families inside……”

12-19- Blizzard Warnings issued for seven states from New Mexico to Kansas.

Funeral parlors are overwhelmed in the southern Philippines from the death toll due to Typhoon Washi and officials organize the first mass burial of 700. They also say 80 are missing but the Red Cross estimates 800.

12-20- Forty one degrees plus ninety two percent humidity and a forty degree dew point at The Land produced enough moisture to record as .01” of rain. Hell, we’ll take what we can!

Six killed in deadly storm throughout the Great Plains. Snow drifts up to ten feet in southeast Colorado. Drifts five feet high on I-25, the main route between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Colorado. The interstate was closed. Ten inches of snow fell in western Kansas and in Amarillo, Texas rain and snow are a welcome sight with the prevailing drought.

Philippines typhoon death toll up to 957 with 49 missing. 38,000 people there are affected.

12-21- Winter begins in Arizona at 10:30 p.m. With this being the shortest day of the year there is 9.56 hours of sunlight.

From his secluded remote location in Colorado RyDuck reports that the chance for snow is 100%. The high temperature for tomorrow is forecasted to be 15 degrees at seven thirty in the morning. From there it will only drop.

This month we have an amazing DarrDuck contribution, one I have never heard of: A series of huge breaking “wave clouds” lined the horizon in Birmingham, Alabama on December 16th. Amazed, people took photos and sent them to a local weather station asking “What are these tsunamis in the sky?” The clouds are examples of “Kelvin-Helmholtz waves.” Whether in the sky or ocean, this type of turbulence always forms when fast moving layers of fluid slides on top of a slower thicker layer, dragging its surface.


12-22- An A.S.U. student has been rescued after being trapped for more than a week in a remote area south of Winslow, Arizona. She got stuck in the snow in her vehicle. The young woman had two candy bars and melted snow in a water bottle in the sun. Survival experts say she did everything “right” to stay alive.

Rescuers yesterday pulled a family of three from a car that had been buried in a snow drift for two days on a rural New Mexico Highway. They had to dig through four feet of ice and snow to rescue them. State police said they had received a distress call and launched a search two days ago. Both parents had pneumonia but the young child was fine.

A fifty one degree high at The Land with a 9mph wind left a wind chill of 46 degrees.

12-23- Drivers are warned of snowy conditions on I-10 near Wilcox, Arizona. (I’ve driven that stretch many times on my way to the beloved Mount Graham.)

Unconfirmed tornadoes injure seven in northern Georgia. Reported major structural damage to homes and 19,000 without power.

70 mph winds recorded at Warm Springs in the Angeles National Forest in California.

Twelve inches of snow in western New Mexico and blizzard conditions exist in other parts of the state. Every ski resort in New Mexico is open.

Snow welcomed in west Texas due to the prolonged drought.

Denver International Airport cancels flights due to heavy snow.

12-24. Bah Humbug! Maricopa County declares no burn days for Christmas weekend. (At least Santa won’t burn his ass coming down the chimney unless it is my house!)

12-26- “Flagstaff has notified the state that it has secured the needed water resources to accommodate demand and growth for the next one hundred years.” In part they have reached an agreement with the Navajo tribe to import as much as seven million gallons of water per day from the aquifer under the Red Gap Ranch forty miles away.

North Texas experienced a rare white Christmas especially with the severe drought conditions that have plagued the area the past year.

The death toll from the Philippines flood is up to 1236. Bodies have been found in the sea more than 60 miles from the worst hit areas. Officials have stopped counting the missing. 60,000 homeless for Christmas.

12-27- Despite issuing no burn days in Maricopa County over the Christmas weekend the county exceeded federal health standards for small dust pollution. Officials claim wood burning fireplaces were likely the primary cause of the pollution.

Ninety dead because of the cold in India that folks are not accustomed to. Forty degrees may seem mild by some standards but most of the dead were the homeless and the elderly.

12-29- Drought and bark beetles devastate New Mexico forests. The tree mortality rate is up 140 percent this year, especially in southern New Mexico.

Lack of snow this year is a big problem for ski resorts nationwide. The largest resort, Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine, had hardly any snow fall this month.

Wind gusts up to 50 mph force long flight delays at two major airports in NYC.

12-30- Dense fog or smoke may have caused a predawn pileup on I-10 in New Orleans that left two dead and sixty one injured. Twenty five were taken to the hospital.

Wind gusts up to 70mph in Denver.
Vermont reopens the last highway damaged by Hurricane Irene four months ago.

Eleven killed as Cyclone Thane strikes southeast India with 85mph winds and heavy rain. All deaths were caused by walls collapsing or electrocution.

12-31- Warmest day all month at The Land with a high of 73 degrees! There are actually patches of green grass growing on the desert. (Eat your heart out, you miserable snow and cold bound people in other parts of the world. This is why the deserts of Arizona are the dumping grounds for folks wanting a little paradise in the winter.)

Arizona Game and Fish is offering a one thousand dollar reward for information leading to the slaughter of five javelina, left to rot, near Pima on or about December 15th. A sow, boar and three piglets were found shot to death.

Warm weather and heavy, wet snow are creating avalanche conditions in western Canada. A backcountry skier was killed yesterday. He was injured two days ago but an air rescue was impossible because of night approaching.

With another calendar year of weather reporting, along with some misfits to keep you amused, your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather has made every attempt to keep you informed, updated and aware of new weather records on this ever changing planet. Some say the weather is getting more severe around the world due to climate change. Your Editor in Chief will only present you the facts, the conclusions are up to you. With that said we will leave you with the song of the month by Tony Joe White, “Run For Cover.”

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

The Distinguished, Honorable, Baffled, Full of Shit, MR Blue Duck.

November 2011 Blue Duck Weather News

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.

October 2011 Blue Duck Weather

October 2011 Weather News!

The quote for the month is so good your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather chose to begin this month’s introduction with it. When asked a question by a reporter in the Rose Garden in 1948, President Harry Truman responded “Son, remember this: Never kick a cow turd on a hot day.” Can you imagine anyone saying this in today’s p/c bullshit world?

October weather was fairly mild worldwide. It seems there are more animal stories reported than weather ones. The big weather story is the severe, month long flooding in Thailand and the other is “Snow-tober”, the freak storm that paralyzed the North East at the end of the month with many towns cancelling Halloween.

However in this somewhat boring edition of Blue Duck Weather (aren’t they all?) you will read about more news from Japan’s deadly tsunami last March and the lingering after effects, why Arizona was the number one state last year for insurance claims due to weather, the slow agonizing death of a whale shot by some idiot in New Jersey, NASA dispatches rubber ducks for science, a red tailed hawk survives being shot by a nail gun (how did the bastard get that close?), PETA accuses Sea World of violating captive killer whale’s 13th amendment rights, a young dog that survives a gas chamber, an amazing underground wildfire in Georgia and yes, shrinking animal sizes in the last half century due to “global warming.”

The average temperature on The Land was 73.80 degrees. Some folks would call that ideal weather I suppose but fourteen days had highs over ninety degrees. The average temperature at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill in New Mexico was 50.90 degrees. There were two mornings there in the twenties.

The Land received .11 inches of rain on October 4th. The total rainfall for the year is 3.42 inches. Phoenix stands at 2.75 inches.

The big lakes that matter in Arizona are looking pretty dismal and we better get some much needed rain this winter. Pleasant is down to 38% and my beloved Roosevelt has shrunk to 62%. Thankfully for the Southwest Mead is growing from a pisshole to a toilet at 51% and the mighty Lake Powell is at 72% capacity. Now let us get to all of news that makes news!

10-1- This summer’s monsoon season brought 1.06” of rain officially to Phoenix. The average is 2.71”.

Ophelia is now a hurricane with 120mph winds. It is expected to pass east of Bermuda.

Japan lifts some evacuation advisories around the tsunami devastated nuclear plant to reassure tens of thousands it is safe to go home. A twelve mile banned zone still surrounds the plant.

Southern England’s high of 85.8 degrees was the hottest on record for this date. The average maximum temperature is 59 degrees.

Typhoon Nalgae, the second in a week pounds the rain soaked Philippines.

10-2- Because of the hailstorm last October 5th Arizona is the number one state among those suffering insured natural disaster claims losses in 2010. 150,000 cars, homes and other property was damaged to the tune of 2.7 billion dollars.

The death toll from Typhoon Nalgae and Nesat combined is 59 in the Philippines.

Hurricane Ophelia is has sustained winds of 110mph and is expected to pass over Newfoundland, Canada.

10-3- A hail storm in Flagstaff three weeks ago has resulted in millions of dollars in damage to buildings and property.

10-4- A deadly dust storm in southern Arizona made national news today. Being a local I thought it extremely rare and unusual that it happened at noon instead of late in the day. It seemed to come out of nowhere and the clouds followed dropping some rain late in the day. “A blinding” dust storm today caused three different pileups along I-10 in southern Arizona near Pichacho. 25 vehicles were involved. One person dead, two extremely critical and 15 hurt. Near zero visibility prevented rescue helicopters and the injured had to be transported by ambulance.”

The Tanner Fire that began on August 20th near Young, Arizona has burned 5500 acres and is nearly 72% contained. It was allowed ,for the most part, to be a controlled burn without aggressive fire fighting.

Near Boise, Idaho a passerby and his daughter fought off a mule deer buck attacking a woman on a stroll. The two grabbed its antlers and beat it with a hammer after the buck raked her body with his rack and gored her legs.

Two grown mountain lions are filmed in a yard in a L.A. suburb outside the San Gabriel Mountains. (They looked like they owned the place and I doubt if anyone living in the house would argue.)

10-5- First snow of the season on the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. Eight inches expected tomorrow.

More national news coverage of yesterday’s deadly dust storm in southern Arizona. “Looked like war zone.”

A strong storm in Fresno, California dumped more than an inch of rain in a short period of time. 40 to 50% of raisin crops exposed to mold from the rain and may damage them.

Federal officials are looking for the person who shot a whale at sea near New Jersey. The whale wandered around for a month before it beached itself in New Jersey and died. It starved slowly due to a bullet lodged in its jaw causing and infection that left the poor beast unable to eat.

10-6- Three inches of snow at the Snow Bowl in northern Arizona. The high in Phoenix was 76 degrees. The last time that happened (for a high this low) was in 1916. The high on The Land was 70 degrees. The temperature on Mount Graham with the wind chill was 27 degrees.

First freeze of the fall at Talking Trees and Antelope Hill with an average temperature of 37 degrees.

20,000 acres of farmland has burned in central Nebraska near the town of Stapleton. The fire began two days ago by exhaust heat from a combine harvesting beans.

Tropical Storm Jova forms in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico while Tropical Storm Irwin “swirls” around in the Pacific.
Hurricane Philippe is far off the U.S. coast and not expected to threaten land.

10-7- Wolf Creek, Colorado receives three feet of snow. The earliest opening on record for ski resorts tomorrow.

A biologist in Alaska said this is the first time in history three killer whales have been spotted in fresh water in the state. The three swam thirty miles up the Nushagak River.

10-8- The prime minister of Thailand is warning that rising floodwaters have done much damage across the nation are now threatening the captial city Bangkock. The death toll from monsoon rains since July is up to 253. “The water volume is extraordinary and is beyond expectations.

10-9- Two hundred factories have been closed due to floods in Thailand. 261 folks are dead, 2.3 million affected and the worst flooding in 50 years.

Hurricane Jova is strengthening in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

“Scientists stunned as birds power through hurricane.” They just couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Two shore birds, the size of pigeons, tracked with tiny transmitters flew through 115mph winds of Hurricane Irene.

10-15- Heavy rains in Central America and mudslides and flooding kill 36 this monsoon season. In El Salvador 4,000 people are evacuated. 6 folks are dead in Honduras.

The United States sends Marines to evaluate Thailand’s “worst” ever flood killing 297. Two thirds of the country has been deluged by rain since July.

10-16- The death toll from six days of heavy flooding up to 66 in South America. El Salvador has received 7.9’’ of rain in twelve hours. In Honduras 9 dead, 2500 homes damaged, eight bridges and twenty nine roads.

Efforts to rescue an ill engineer from the South Pole have been delayed by a bad storm. She may be suffering from a stroke.

10-17- Engineer rescued after seven weeks by a cargo plane that could fly in “warmer” weather.

One of the worst places to be this year for a farmer is west of the Mississippi River. Arkansas and Louisiana experienced both drought and flooding and the cost of inclement weather could reach one billion dollars.

A new study suggests many of Earth’s species are shrinking in size. The authors believe it is probably due to global warming. 38 of 55 animal and plant species showed a documented reduction of size in the last 40 years, including the massive polar bear.

And here is a story warm to my heart: “Nasa Dispatches Rubber Ducks For Science.” When an elaborate and sophisticated science probe failed to return any data about whether pools of melted glacial ice were showing up in the ocean a NASA researcher turned to a decidedly low tech solution; a brigade of rubber ducks!

10-18- Rainfall is way below normal for the year in Phoenix with a deficit of 3.56 inches, Flagstaff 1.56 inches.

A Haboob in Texas? 70mph winds kicked up dust 8,000 feet high near Lubbock with zero visibility today.

The death toll from heavy rain in Central America this past week is up to 84 folks.

In Thailand the Flood Relief Operation Center has ordered all factories in the oldest part of Thailand, north of Bangock, to halt all work and prepare for evacuations. Of the 307 folks dead most have drowned.

A bear cub is caught on video walking on top of the produce section in a grocery store in Alaska. The brute was caught and set free. (Smart bear.)

10-19- 60 mph winds and ten foot waves on Lake Michigan blows windows out of one building in Chicago.

The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado damaged twenty homes in West Broward, Florida today.

Three hundred and seventeen are dead and Thailand’s prime minister admits the government is overwhelmed by the flooding.

The town of Zanesville, Ohio is in lock down after dozens of wild animals are let loose from an animal farm. The owner let them go before committing suicide. Forty eight animals have been shot by authorities including 18 endangered Bengal tigers, 17 lions and 2 grizzlies.

10-20- So far 14 days in October have been above ninety degrees in Phoenix.

Death toll from sixty inches of rain in ten days up to 105 in Central America.

A wildlife rescue group in San Francisco has spent a third day trying to capture a red tailed hawk that has been shot in the head with a nail gun. Observers got close enough to see the nail extending from a cheek through the front of the head. Even wounded severely the hawk was eating a gopher.

10-21- Floodwaters are encroaching into Bangkock’s outer districts and some areas are knee deep in water. The government took a risky chance and opened several key floodgates to let built up water flow through the capital’s cananls toward the sea. The prime minister has warned the city of nine million to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground if necessary.

A bear broke into a candy store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee by knocking a hole in a glass door. The bruin feasted on pecan logs, carmel apples and spread candy wrappers on the floor.

10-22- The Dobson family of Chandler, Arizona has ended its one hundred year old tradition of taking thousands of sheep twice a year to the White Mountains. Each year they would walk the 220 miles with the sheep on the Heber- Reno Trail for the cooler climate and wool production. Overhead costs for the expidition have become so high that the tradition is over.

A federal appeals court has upheld a law prohibiting roads on 50 million acres of national forest lands. The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule was challenged by lawyers for Wyoming and the Ccolorado Mining Association.
10-23- Baseball size hail plummets Ada, Oklahoma.

The governor of Bangkok has issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thailand capitol to prepare for floodwaters to come deeper into the capital from suburbans that are already flooded.

A California man has been shot and killed in Oregon by a hunter after being mistaken for a bear. He and a friend were hiking through a field on the way to Silver Creek Falls Park.

A Great White shark has killed an American diver off the coast of southwest Australia. It is the third of a string of fatal attacks since September 4th.

10-24- Record high of 80 degrees in Denver today. In two days the high is predicted to be 30 degrees with snow.

Hurricane Rina forms and is growing faster than expected. It is moving toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and beach resorts.

A massive amount of debris, the size of Texas, from the Japan tsunami in March is headed toward the United States in the Pacific with millions of tons of trash.

The Red tailed hawk that was shot in the head with a nail gun last week has been captured and is recovering “very well.”

Volunteers will be turning over the Zanjero Park in Gilbert as a home for displaced burrowing owls. Nobody knows the number of owls that have been impacted by development in the Valley. The rescue efforts work in partnership with home developers.

10-25- Rina is now a Category 2 hurricane headed for Cancun.

Floodwaters seep into a second airport in Bangkok, closing it. “ A five day holiday is declared to allow residents to prepare to evacuate.” The floods have caused seven industrial parks to close leaving 650,000 people without work.

10-26- After two days of record high temperatures up to eight and a half inches of snow has fallen in the Denver area today causing wide spread power outages to 87,000 people. Up to twenty two inches in Rocky Mountain National Park and roads in the mountains and eastern plains are closed.

Flash floods kill nine in Italy and six are missing. Flood waters cut off roads and bridges and several towns in Liquria are cut off from the outside world.

And from the we don’t make this shit up file: PETA is accusing Sea World of keeping five Killer Whales in conditions that violate the 13th amendment ban on slavery. Peta’s counsel has spent eighteen months preparing for the case to present to a federal court. (What has this fucking world come to?)

First windchill of the season at The Land! 74 degrees plus a 13mph wind= 72 ooshy degrees!

The governor of Thailand urges evacuations from Bangkok and tens of thousands are fleeing the capital city. Water from two to six feet expected.

Hurricane Rina moves toward several Mexican beach resorts causing evacuations. The local government has advised vistors to stay away. A huge storm surge is expected to raise the levels seven feet above normal along the coast. (Surfers get ready!)

10-27- 50,000 armed forces are standing by in Bangkok with one thousand boats and vehicles to help evacuate people. There will be evacuation centers in eight provinces that could take up to 200,000 people.

Rescuers in Italy search for survivors in mud filled villages.

10-28- The country band Sugarland returns to Indianapolis to honor the people that were killed by a powerful wind storm last summer.

Rina weakens to a Tropical Depression after knocking out power and downing trees on the Caribbean coast.

Panic causes Bangkok residents to buy all available life jackets and 3,000 rubber boats. (How about rubber ducks?)

10-29- A rare October snowstorm has knocked out power to 1.5 million in the densely populated North East. New York City broke an October snowfall record with 1.3’’ in Central Park. It has only snowed four times in October there in over a century of record keeping.
Remnants of Hurricane Rina pushing up moisture from the south triggered much colder temperatures to swing down from the far north.

Twice as much radioactive substances were released by the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan last March than previously estimated.

A stray dog was dropped outside an Alabama pound. His young life was supposed to end in a gas chamber. Instead the dog emerged scared but healthy. Now he is being called a miracle dog. He has been relocated to New Jersey where a rescue group hopes to find him a home.

10-30- Due to heavy snow in the North East some cities are urging residents to delay (?) Halloween trick or treating. Three million are without power from Maine to Maryland. Record rainfall with 27’’ in Plainfield, Mass.

A six month old wildfire sparked by lightning has burned 309,199 acres in Savannah, Georgia. Being swamp land most of the fire is burning below ground. (Something I have never heard of.) The undergound fire is fueled by dead and decaying plant matter. It’s burning deeply enough that a tree will simply fall over when the peat is burned out around it.

A surfer in Monterey, California is treated at a local hospital from shark wounds in the neck and arm.

10-31- Half of Central Park in New York City damaged by snow downed trees.

Two million are still without power in the North East. Not have this many people been without power at once since Hurricane Katrina. Halloween cancelled in some cities due to the “freak storm.” Sixty million people have been affected. Snow accumulations are 31’’ in north east New England. Eleven people have died as a result of the storm.

Parts of Florida have received seven inches of rain in last two days.

Angry Bangkok residents argue with security forces to attempt to open a flood gate that has flooded their homes. The tensions at the Klong San Wa floodgate shows the rising anger in some neighborhoods that have been allowed to flood to keep Bangkok’s business district dry.

An elk hunter is injured by a bear attack in the Grand Teton National Park. The 32 year old man tried the common safety recommendations including carrying pepper spray and dropping to the ground and covering his head. He had not fired upon the bear and he had not killed an elk which would have possibly provoked the attack.

And there you have it my faithful readers. The song of the month is appropriately titled “Weather Beaten Soul” by Reckless Kelly.

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

The distinguished, honorary, full of shit, Professor MR Blueduck.

September 2011 Blue Duck Weather News!

September 2011 Weather News!

What’s a poor duck to do and what can I say? Record heat, record drought, flooding, typhoons, hurricanes and it just seems to be the same old weather shit.
But if you read between the lines and go farther around the world than “our back yard” there are some serious weather woes. Take Pakistan for example. The amount of lives lost this summer, let alone millions of acres of farm land due to flooding is unfathomable. If this happened in the United States it would be twenty four news coverage seven days a week. And so it goes.

In this exciting feature of Blue Duck Weather you will read about record heat in Phoenix for August, heartless utility company in Maricopa Arizona, the “guard” of JFK’s grave destroyed by Hurricane Irene, pot plant farm spared by massive wildfire, a man that attacks and bites a python (we don’t make this shit up), continuing Texas wildfires, when I recorded the date for the last gasp of the monsoon season not the “official” end, bees kill a thousand pound hog in Arizona, a grizzly kills a hunter in Montana (or so it seemed at first), 9-11 recording released of another fatal bear attack, record numbers of scorpion stings in Phoenix due to the heat and a stinky problem in Illinois.

The average temperature on the Land for the month was 84.87 degrees. Talking Trees and Antelope Hill saw 61.91 degrees.

The Land received .60” of rain for the month bringing the yearly total to 3.31”. Phoenix has recorded 2.64” for the year.

Lake Pleasant is drying up from nearly 100% full last spring to 36% and my beloved Roosevelt Lake is at 70%. Powell is getting impressive at 73% and even the piss hole Mead is recovering at 50%


9-1- Phoenix had the hottest August on record. One day had an average temperature of 109 degrees, the highest average low temperature of 87.5 degrees, and the highest August temperature of 117 degrees.

Although the dew points were high during the month there just wasn’t enough moisture to bring the storms that generate rain cooled air.

Thirty nine homes are destroyed in a north Texas fire with 6200 acres burned.
Central Oklahoma is under a Red Flag Warning.

Katia becomes the second hurricane of the season.

“Scientist is speechless” at the scale of ice melt in two years at the Peterman Glacier in Greenland.

Yesterday your fine staff at Blue Duck Weather reported about the mysterious chest wounds of brown pelicans in California. Game wardens now say sea lions attacked the birds as they were both competing for bait fish.

Almost a week has passed since Hurricane Irene and almost a million people are still without power. In Connecticut police are protecting utility workers from angry residents. Crews have been brought in from several states to help restore power. The problem is old, outdated snapped power poles.

9-2- Two lightning caused fires near Globe, Arizona are growing. The Frio Fire has burned 1,000 acres in the Pinal Mountains and 650 acres have burned in the Superstition Mountains. The fires are not being fought but “managed” as natural burns as long as the wind remains favorable.

A small independent electric company serves Maricopa, Stanfield and Hidden Valley (us). They shut off the power to 96 customers in this heat for non payment of electric bills. This power company is not regulated by the Corporation Commission. The Commission prohibits utilities from cutting off power to delinquent customers when weather is “especially dangerous to health.”

The general manager of the utility company said “It's difficult out there but we have a fiduciary responsibility and ultimately have to do what is in the best interests of the utility.”

Tropical Storm Lee approaches and flood warnings are issued from Mississippi to Texas. Heavy rain, not wind, this time is the main concern. One half of all oil production in the Gulf is closed. The governors of Louisiana and Mississippi issue emergency declarations.

Hurricane Irene destroyed a two hundred year old oak tree in Arlington National Cemetary. The tree “guarded” JFK’s grave.

595,000 acres have burned by wildfires in Brazil since June.

9-3- This summer’s Los Conchas Fire was the largest in New Mexico history but somehow spared 9,000 pot plants. It is a sophisticated growing operation in a remote area of the Bandelier National Monument. No arrests have been made.

There are 100,000 “silent” nuclear refugees in Japan after the tsunami and earthquake disaster on March 11th. One town that had a population of 16,000 now has a population of one who refuses to leave. Tokyo was quick to establish evacuation zones but slow to relocate refugees.

In Sacramento, California a python underwent emergency surgery after a man took two bites out of his “pet.” The man later said he had a drinking problem.

9-4- With heavy rains Tropical Storm Lee knocked out power to thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi yesterday and prompted evacuations in low lying bayou towns. Thirteen inches of rain fell in New Orleans.

President Obama visits New Jersey in the aftermath of Irene.

Hurricane Katia has sustained winds of 105 mph.

9-5- Despite drought and wildfires Arizona eagles produce record number of young this year.

The Skinner Fire near the Grand Canyon has burned 3500 acres and fall archery elk hunters in Arizona are warned.

Twenty tornadoes are spawned by Lee in Mississippi, one foot of rain in Jackson and 16,000 without power this afternoon. One man was swept away trying to cross a rain swollen creek in his car. He is presumed dead.

Sixty three new fires reported across Texas today. Fires destroy 470 homes in Austin with zero containment, five thousand families evacuated. Texans hoped Lee would bring some much needed rain but only delivered 40mph winds.
A twenty year old woman and her infant are killed in their home by a fast moving wildfire in east Texas.

Hurricane Katia is now a Category 3 storm.

Three fires are burning out of control in Southern California. The largest is the Wagon Fire.

9-6- One thousand homes have burned in central Texas near and in the town of Bastrop. 25,000 acres have burned and 5,000 people evacuated.
3.5 million acres of land have burned in Texas this year.

9-7- An eighty nine year old woman in Phoenix has gone all summer without a working air conditioner. She has even slept outside at nights to try and stay cool. Neighbors and a local air conditioning company have chipped in to replace her ducting and swamp cooler with a brand new air conditioner. (What a tough woman!)

In one of the many fires burning in Texas police are looking for four teens after a wildfire caused 1.4 million dollars of damage to an Austin suburb.
The Bastrop Fire is 33% contained but is twenty four miles wide and twenty miles long.

Remnants of Lee bring welcome relief to farmers in the Southeast but flooding to an already soaked Northeast.

Tropical Storm Maria forms, the 13th named storm of the season.

Endangered rattlesnakes and copperheads stall the expansion of a Quincy, Massachusetts cemetery. The over crowded cemetery wants 18 acres of woodland that is home to the serpants and the state must grant permission.

9-8- Since June 10th, Phoenix has had only one day with a high temperature under one hundred degrees.

A strong storm in Yuma two days ago lifted a chapel off of its foundation and slammed it onto the ground sixty feet away.

The massive fire burning near Austin has destroyed 1386 homes, more than any other fire in Texas history. Five thousand have been evacuated and the fire is 30% contained.

A fire near Tehachapi, California began five days ago when a single engine Cessna crashed, killing both occupants. It has burned 14,802 acres and is now 83% contained. Twelve homes have been destroyed and 200 evacuees are allowed to return home.

Lee has washed up tar balls thought to be left over from the BP oil spill off Alabama’s Gulf Coast.

From New York to Maryland 100,000 people are told to evacuate as the Susquehanna River is flooding to an expected crest of 41’. It is from the rain Lee brought. In Binghampton, New York the river broke a flood record and flowed over retaining walls after eight inches of rain fell. People are told to get out NOW!

Tropical Storm Nate develops off of Mexico’s coast while Maria is in the Atlantic with 40 mph winds.

Katia is a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic moving north between the U.S. and Bermuda.

9-9- One dead and two others hurt after a bee attack at a home south of Prescott, Arizona. The men were working on the home and aware a beehive was in the area.

Pennsylvania levees are in “extreme stress’’ after the Susquchanna River crested at 42.66’, beyond the design capacity and higher than the record set in historic flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. 350 homes are damaged.

The Bastrop Fire in Texas is 30% contained with 1400 homes damaged.
Ten oil rig workers are being searched for when they evacuated a platform in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Nate. The missing were aboard a life raft.
A Hurricane Watch is issued for parts of Mexico as Nate increases in strength.

Mudslides from heavy rain south of Sedona, Arizona. Highway 89A closed.

9-10- Tornado Warning issued north of Apache Junction, Arizona with 70 mph winds and quarter inch hail.

A wildfire has burned 64 buildings near Goldendale, Washington with tinder dry conditions.

Fifteen deaths have been associated with Tropical Storm Lee. President Obama declares States of Emergency in Pennsylvania and New York.

With the massive fires in Texas Pesident Obama signs a declaration declaring a major disaster exists in this state.

9-11- Severe Thunderstorm Warning near Wickenburg, Arizona. Pea size to silver dollar size hail.

The Bastrop Fire in Texas has destroyed 1554 homes and 34,000 acres.

Air and sea search teams intensified their hunt yesterday for ten missing oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico as Nate intensifies.

9-12- Two thirty year old male hikers from Missouri ran out of water on South Mountain yesterday. One died and the other had to be airlifted out. It is believed they became lost. ( Relatively speaking it wasn’t that hot yesterday but the oppressive humidity does little to help the skin cool through sweating.)

A Tornado Warning is issued south of Tuba City, Arizona.

The Comanche Complex Fire in central California was sparked by lightning this past weekend. It has grown to 23, 866 acres in a few days and is 30% contained.
Tropical Storm Katia strikes Ireland and the United Kingdom packing 80 mph winds. One dead, roads closed and 10,000 without power.

Most of the missing oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico have been rescued. Three are dead and one is still missing.

9-13- A storm with strong winds hit Maricopa, Arizona yesterday damaging 80 trees at the Duke at Rancho El Dorado golf course. Winds were recorded at 40-45 mph but one NWS meteorologist said it would take winds of 60-65mph to do that much damage to trees.

The Comanche Fire Complex is a series of four fires in central California has burned 29,338 acres and is 60% contained. 4100 firefighters are on the ground there.

Tropical Storm Maria prompts a Flood Watch in Bermuda. The storm is bringing heavy rain to Bermuda also.

The latest flooding in Pakistan leaves 300,000 homeless, 1.2 million homes destroyed since August. 800,000 folks still don’t have permanent shelter from the 2010 country wide floods and one million need food assistance. Monsoon rains this year have killed 226 and 4.5 million acres have flooded.

9-14- Due to record breaking heat in August Phoenix Banner hospitals reported treating 1600 scorpion stings, up 40% from the year before. The scorpions sneak in valley homes around windows and under doors trying to seek cooler shelter and eat the bugs who crawl in before them.

Flash Flood Warnings posted for parts of Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties yesterday. Some areas received two inches of rain in an hour. There was heavy rain and flash flooding in Joshua Tree National Forest. Half inch hail fell in the Pine Valley area in San Diego.
Lightning stikes set palm trees on fire in Palm Springs, California.

A massive wildfire in Minnesota has burned 100,000 acres and the smoke blows all the way to Chicago prompting an air pollution warning.

Extreme flooding today in the Schultz Fire burn area near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning posted for Tucson and quarter size hail.
9-15- A two year old boy in Prescott, Arizona is recovering from a rattlesnake bite after he tried to pick up the snake.

“Frostbitz Falls”, International Falls, Minnesota is often referred to as the ice box of the nation has its earliest low temperature on record of 19 degrees this morning.
Minesotta firefighters get a break with sleet and light snow today. The 102, 400 square mile blaze began on August 18th by a lightning strike.

Maria becomes the 3rd named Atlantic hurricane this season. It is headed for Canada’s Newfoundland as a category 1 storm.

South Korean heat wave knocks out power to 820,000 in Seoul and other big cities.

9-16- Thirty two degrees this morning in Alpine, Arizona. The monsoon is over.

Bees attacked several farm animals and even killed a thousand pound hog near Bisbee, Arizona. Farmers were trying to remove a two hundred pound hive when an estimated 250,000 pissed off bees began swarming!

Monsoon floods have killed 98 in Thailand since July. 300,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, sinking parts of the resort city of Pattaya and prompting the evacuation of 79 elephants. 1.3 million acres of land are underwater.

9-17- A man’s body has been found after being swept away in the normally dry Santa Cruz River in Tucson after heavy rains two days ago. He was last seen alive clinging to a bridge pillar.

A group of hunters in Licoln County, Montana on a black bear hunt mistakenly wound a grizzly. Thinking the bear was dead they went to recover the bear. It attacked and killed one of the men before being shot to death by another in the group. (It is illegal to shoot a grizzly bear and charges may be filed.)

9-18- Today the United Nations pleads for 357 million dollars to help millions affected by Pakistan floods.

9-19- Two cousins in Federal court plead not guilty for starting the massive Arizona Wallow Fire in late May.

Landslides caused by heavy rain destroys two small factories in north west China killing ten with twenty two missing.

9-20- Heavy rain and flooding across southwest China has left fourteen dead.

1.3 million people in central Japan are told to evacuate as Typhoon Roke approaches. A nine year old boy and an eighty four year old man are missing after fallen into flooded rivers.

A Kansas man has died during a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Two men were washed out of their boat at Lava Falls and one was swept away.

9-21- The largest fire in Texas history earlier this month was ignited by sparks from power lines coming into contact with dead tree branches.

Typhoon Roke with 100 mph sustained winds in Tsunami ravaged area of Japan. Six are dead with 200,000 without power.

Tropical Storm Ophelia heads toward the Caribbean and is the 15th named storm of the season.

Recordings of 911 calls from a pair of hikers attacked by a Grizzly in Yellowstone have been released. The couple was screaming before the man was killed. The investigation shows that screaming and running possibly triggered the fatal attack.

9-22- Tropical Storm Hillary forms in the Pacific south of Mexico and may become a hurricane later today.

Two hundred tourists are rescued by helicopters at a temple in Cambodia due to extreme flooding.

9-23- First full day of Fall with a high of 102 degrees at The Land and 108 in Phoenix, tying a record set in 2008.

Flood Watches and Warnings are issued from North Carolina to New England. Many areas on the East Coast have not dried out from Hurricane Irene and later Tropical Storm Lee.

Hurricane Hillary, eighty five miles south west of Acapulco, Mexico, has sustained winds of 135 mph and is a Category 4 storm.

Tropical Storm Ophelia re-strengthens as it heads for the Caribbean.

9-24- Hurricane Hillary moves away from Mexico’s southwest coast but search teams have recovered the bodies of three fishermen caught in the storm. Despite hurricane warnings the men went out to sea in their boat.

A ten year old Idaho boy comes face to face with a mountain lion in rural Boise County. He escaped with minor scratches and Fish & Game tracked down the cat and killed it.

The hunter who was attacked by a wounded grizzly earlier this month in Montana was not killed by the bear. He died from a single gunshot wound to the chest by his companion trying to save him from the charging bear. The autopsy also found bite wounds to the man’s legs by the bear. The bullet that killed the man may have deflected off of the bear. No charges are expected to be filed.

9-25- A micro burst in west Phoenix knocked down 22 power poles.

Moisture from Hurricane Hillary may reach Arizona by end of the week.

“ A dry winter and a weak monsoon fueled record wildfires, record heat and a succession of dust storms that played like a broken record, pushing Arizona deeper into a drought that has persisted since 1999.”

Tropical Storm Phillippe forms over the far eastern Atlantic.

An elk hunter in Idaho came across a bear’s resting spot and was attacked by the bruin. He is hospitalized with a broken right arm, puncture wounds and an injured left hand. The bear is thought to be a grizzly.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife will kill two wolves after they are “blamed” for a livestock kill. (Seems one has a gps collar for tracking. This does not seem right in the natural order of things to me.)

9-26- Monssoon rains destroy homes and flood wide areas of northern and eastern India. Forty eight folks are dead and hundreds of thousands stranded by flooding. Many take shelter in trees, hills and rooftops. Rescue helicopters drop food to the stranded.

As Typhoon Nerat approaches the Philippines with 106 mph winds 100,000 people are evacuated with 50,000 in shelters and six people missing.

9-27- Nerat isolates the capital of Manilla in the Philippines with major flooding and wind gusts of 106 mph. Sixteen souls are dead.

A Lake Havasu City man in Arizona is recovering after being gored by a seventy five pound “wild” pig. The man apparently approached the pig before it lashed out at him.

The City of Maricopa mayor is interviewed on local news and as asked ED3 not to shut off power to people during extreme weather conditions. (You read it here first in Blue Duck Weather.)

An unexpected dust storm causes a major pile up on I-10 near Pichacio, Arizona. Seventeen are injured.

9-28- Bluebonnet Electric Cooperation in Texas is being sued for the largest fire in Texas history, The Bastrop Fire. It alledges that the utility had the right and responsibility to remove dead trees and branches that came into contact with live wires igniting the blaze.

Tropical Storm Ophelia causes widespread flooding and cuts off communities in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. 1600 are stranded and twelve cars washed away.

Hurricane Hillary weakens to a Category 1 storm and is not expected to strike Mexico’s coast.

9-29- Flash Flood Warnings are posted for the Catskill Mountains in New York to northeast Pennsylvania. Rivers are swollen with rain and three inches expected today. Rain from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic Coast “parked like a car tire.”

With no signs of weakening Typhoon Nerat hits eastern China with 94 mph winds and heavy rains. 58,000 people are evacuated.

India’s monsoon death toll up to 335 since June and twenty eight more bodies discovered today.

Illinois skunk population rose 46% from February 2009 to January 2010. 6700 of the stinky bastards were removed from the northeastern part of the state last year. Many of them were living under, around or near people’s homes.

9-30- The “official” end of Arizona’ monsoon season is today.

In Chicago today strong winds caused 10-16 foot waves on the popular Lakeshore Drive on Lake Michigan. Bikers and joggers were knocked down by the breached waves. 27,000 without power due to the wind.

Typhoon Nerat now beats the shit out of Vietnam with flooding and 120,000 evacuations.

Typhoon Nalgae forms and heading toward northern Philippines.

The quote of the month comes from a book called Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles. “Droughts come and stay for seven years and in those seven years the weak are driven away; mistakes and miscalculations grow into catastrophes, there is no margin for error. Drought is a lack of something, a vacuum, an empty place in danger of implosion.”

The song of the month is “Before the rains came I was snootin’ sand instead of good corn liquor” by the Blue Duck Harmonica and String Band.”

Until next month when a skunk sticks its ass, tail pointed up, in your horror filled face remember Pioneers took bullets. Settlers took land.

The Distinguished, Honorable, Award Winning Professor MR Blue Duck.