Long Journey Ends

We just couldn't stand another day of the hot, humid weather of Arkansas....so we packed up and headed in search of cooler climes.

In a nutshell.....Santa Fe was OK for one day.... Spectacular enchanted loop near Taos...A wonderful step back in time aboard the Durango and Santa Fe Narrow Gage....a puckering drive over the million dollar highway.....Aspen--nothing special.....Steamboat as grand as always....mountain hiking - we're too old....and fly fishing - a new hobby.

Looks like we had about 2 3/4 inches of rain during the week or so that we were gone. Weasley spent time at the Chenal Pet Palace while we ate a great meal at a restaurant at the Palace Hotel. Can't say it's good to be back....but we are back.

The 4th

Happy 4th of July. It's not expected to be as hot this weekend...but it's still too hot for me.

Hot!!!

Way to tease us.......lots of thunder.....so much lightning.....and NO rain. Now the hot weather will really set in. Look for highs this week in the upper 90's to near 100. If we reach the century mark it will be the first triple-digit temp since the summer of 08.

And don't you just love it......Somebody got their life back.


Try too stay cool. By the way we can thank Laura for the lightning pics.

100 Year Flood

A Blackhawk helicopter searches for survivors and victims of Friday morning's disastrous flood in southern Montgomery County along the Little Missouri and Caddo Rivers. The last official count I saw was 16 dead and dozens missing. It may take a few days to get a accurate tally. Six or Seven inches of rain fell in just a few hours time inundating the remote Albert Pike campground in the Ouachita National Forest.
This shot shows the devastation caused by the powerful flood waters.

Here is the USGS site for a river gauge at Langley just down stream from the campground. Notice how the water rose from 3 feet to 23 feet in such a short period of time.

First time in weeks that the national news has led with something other than the Gulf oil spill.

Several things

First, I noticed that it was -3 this morning in Canberra (that's about 28)...but then found out Claire is back in the Sidney area for her final exam. Then she is off to the Great Barrier Reef area where it apparently is always warm. I think she will then be ready to return to the states and prepare for her Harry Potter World experience with Laura.

Thanks Kelly for this info on solar activity. This is something we will have to discuss more in the weeks ahead.

Rain in the forecast for us....1 to 3 inches thru tomorrow. I'll take all the rain I can this Summer.

Dust

I just happened to be surfing this afternoon and came across a couple of interesting satellite photos. This one is from May 27th and clearly shows dust flying off the desert in Egypt and circling over the Mediterranean Sea

Two days later you can see on this composite that dust traveled all the way across the Atlantic and brushed along the coast of South America.
No dust here...yet...but plenty of hot weather. I agree with Pam that it is going to be a long - hot - Summer. Time for a refreshing trip to the beach. I hear there are a lot of values along the Redneck Rivera.

Summer gets underway

Today - May 31st - is the anniversary of the worst flood in the history of the United States killing more than 2200 people in Johnstown, PA. Other floods covered larger areas like the 1937 floods on the Mississippi which killed 1100 and left 600,000 homeless. And of course many hurricanes over the years have caused extensive flooding.


Speaking of hurricanes....the Atlantic season officially begins tomorrow, June 1st. Accuweather has a good page for following this year's storms.


Memorial Day was very warm and muggy. We had various spells of thunder and some rain. More storms my pop up later in the week.


Take note of the pic below. I stole this one from Claire's Twitter. This photo was from Hobart, Tasmania where she also got the chance of view Tasmanian Devils. She showed us on of those pics this morning while Skyping from Melbourne.

Want to bet who would win a fight between this guy and Weasley????