The weather

[mesquite buckeye]

108 104 105 106 107.... same, same, no rain. :'(

[Brucer]

Heavy rain here on Wednesday, slacking off a little Thursday morning. Barb & a friend were heading off to Olds, Alberta (north of Calgary) early Thursday morning. I checked the weather along their route and it looked like rain all the way. Heavier north of Cranbrook and really heavy along the TransCanada highway between Banff and Canmore.

Just as they were about to leave I noticed a news report -- state of emergency in Canmore due to extreme flooding. The TransCanada was closed to all traffic at Canmore, and so was the parallel highway 1A. So a quick change in plans -- take the southern route through the Crowsnest pass to Alberta, then take highway 22 north to Calgary. Off they went.

I had to finish a sawing job (got soaked) and came home around noon to dry out. Checked the news and discovered ...
- Severe flooding in BC north and east of here.
- TransCanada highway closed at Canmore indefinitely.
- Highway 93 between Cranbrook and the TransCanada closed due to mudslides.
- Highway 3 through the Crowsnest pass partly washed out, single lane alternating traffic.
- Highway 22 south of Calgary washed out, but the parallel highway 2 still open.
- Evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Calgary due to extreme flooding.

I figured I would hear from Barb sometime in the evening, probably from an overcrowded motel along their route. But when she called they had made it to Olds, checked into their rooms, and eaten dinner.

They made it through the Crowsnest before the traffic got too backed up. They had been diverted from turning onto highway 22 and had gone straight up highway 2 instead. All the roads around the outskirts of Calgary to the west were closed so they had to drive straight through downtown, in a downpour, during rush hour :(. But they got there. I turns out a bridge on highway 2 had washed out not long after they went over it so traffic had to detour almost to the Saskatchewan border.

Things are not good in southern Alberta. 75,000 people in Calgary evacuated from their homes, 100,000 more in other parts of the province. Close to 8" of rain in 48 hours in the Canmore area, all funneled down into the rivers that flow through Calgary. The entire downtown area of Calgary was closed on Friday, and still is as of now -- 350,000 workers told to stay home. Substations that power the downtown are flooded. Calgary Stampede grounds are currently flooded (but as of now they still plan to run the Stampede on schedule in 9 days.)

Here's a link to reports of some of the flooding in BC http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/06/21/bc-flooding-closures.html.

And this report has several photos and videos fo the flooding in Alberta http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/22/alberta-flooding-2013-pictures_n_3483989.html#slide=2602889.

The flooding is now moving into southeastern Alberta so Barb may not be able to come back the way she went. They may have to drive north for 2 hours, then west to the Icefields Parkway and south for another 2 hours just to bypass Canmore.

I'm glad we live on the side of a mountain.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah it's amazing the amount of rain pouring down out that way.

Here, it has just turned hot and humid today and with that we get thunderstorms every evening.  :

[Brucer]

I've been keeping track of the highway and bridge closures in Alberta so I could help Barb plan their trip home. She called tonight and after our strategy session she passed on a few "on the scene" stories. Most of them are pretty sad but there was one humorus one.

Calgary has a pretty famous zoo -- right down on the river. The flooding got so bad upstream they figured they better evacuate the animals (and a good thing, too, as it turned out). I don't know what they did with the elephants, but he lions and tigers got put in the city jail. Really.

[Paul_H]

I hope they were allowed to maul their lawyer.

[mesquite buckeye]

Little warm out here. One of the kids helping yesterday threw up from the heat. I was out in the sun gluing pipe for the new irrigation to the saguaros, so I was forced to punk him about not being able to keep up with an old man.

Excessive Heat Warning
AZZ501-502-504>506-509-270300-
/O.CON.KTWC.EH.W.0001.130628T1900Z-130701T0400Z/
WESTERN PIMA COUNTY-TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION-TUCSON METRO AREA-
SOUTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY-SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY-
UPPER GILA RIVER VALLEY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AJO...ORGAN PIPE CACTUS N.M....SELLS...
TUCSON...GREEN VALLEY...MARANA...VAIL...PICACHO PEAK STATE PARK...
MAMMOTH...ORACLE...CLIFTON...SAFFORD
1146 AM MST WED JUN 26 2013

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON FRIDAY TO
9 PM MST SUNDAY...

* TEMPERATURES...AFTERNOON HIGHS BETWEEN 109 AND 116 DEGREES.

* IMPACTS...THESE VERY HOT TEMPERATURES CAN CAUSE HEAT RELATED
ILLNESSES...INCLUDING DEATH. THOSE WORKING OR PLAYING OUTDOORS
AND THOSE WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING ARE MOST VULNERABLE.

* FOR A DETAILED VIEW OF THE HAZARD AREA...VISIT
WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON AND CLICK ON THE DETAILED HAZARDS TAB

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF
EXTREMELY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR. TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF
YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE...RESCHEDULE
STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS
AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT
WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY
OF WATER.

THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS
THESE ADDITIONAL STEPS TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK...
SCHEDULE FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED
ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL
AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT STROKE IS AN EMERGENCY...CALL 911.

&&

Even hotter inside the greenhouses. It's getting so hot some of the saguaros are stressed from the heat. Only three more months until it is nice again. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[chevytaHOE5674]

Was HOT the last few days with temps in the 80's and 90's. Had some thunderstorms pass through over the last few days, since last Wednesday the 19th over 6 inches of precipitation has fallen. Cold front just passed through dropping rain and the temp went from 92° to 61°.

[clww]

93 degrees and 75% humidity with full sunshine here at The Beach today......HOT! >:(

[ancjr]

Wet and wild all day today.  Worst seems to be north and south of the strip of relative calm here.  Driveway washed out a little.

[thecfarm]

For the last couple days we have rain at about 4-5 pm. We just went through a couple warm days too.

[ancjr]

News just reported a town 15 miles south of me got 7" of rain today... I'd say we got 7" of rain here this week.  Shaping up to be exactly opposite of last year.  Last year I remember the corn was already starting to curl around this time.

[SwampDonkey]

Only got to 80 on one day this week. The rest of the week has been showers, no steady rain. Sunday-Tueday evenings had thunderstorms. NE wind now, so that means showers for days ahead.  ;D

[thecfarm]

Started with a mist just about 5-6pm. Woke up to rain and heavy rain at times. Still raining now.

[mesquite buckeye]

112 yesterday, 112 today, 113 tomorrow. Chance of rain tomorrow. Please :'(

[SwampDonkey]

Nice cold rain to.  ;D

[mesquite buckeye]

Nice cold rain too.  ;D

That would be ok with me. Just no giant hailstorm please.

[SwampDonkey]

Hail is a rare event here. Unless it's in March or something, then we call it sleet. ;) Have seen it a couple times in summer in over 40 years, so not too common. ;D

[mesquite buckeye]

We hardly ever get more than a few inches.

Seriously, you can count on a bad hailstorm here maybe once in 10 years in a given location. That said, they can bark a tree on  the windward side. Not the whole tree, just the branches without thick bark. Or turn a cornfield into instant silage.

[clww]

93 degrees here at The Beach today, all sun, and 70% humidity. : Working on taking down a residential gum tree in a front yard. Had to stop work after I ran out of water and gatorade around 5 pm. I would have thought three liters would have been plenty.
I hate hot weather!

[submarinesailor]

We had 4 separate thunder storms today.  Boy is it wet around here.

Bruce

[mesquite buckeye]

Thirty years ago we were working ironwood dead and down near Florence, AZ. It hit 120 that day in the shade and there was not too much shade. Between two of us, we drank 14 gallons of water that day and didn't pee one time. Drank a couple more gallons when I got home before the plumbing fired up. Just thinking about it as we are hitting some crazy temperatures out here right now 117 in Las Vegas, 121 in Yuma, 125 in the Colorado River Valley and predicted high of 129 in Death Valley, which could go high and  break the all time planetary record of 134. The 136 reported in Libya has been disqualified as bad data, don't know why.

[sandhills]

Out of the last 6 days or so we've had 4 with rain, it's much needed and appreciated.  Last summer's still all to familiar, not getting the work done I need to but at least things are green so far  .  We had a little hail yesterday morning but it didn't hurt much and we got .9" of rain with it and I'm not giving it back ;D.  A lot of heat here too, I do like winter better but the corn sure is growing!

[thecfarm]

Wet here too. I thought about going out a few times. I walked by one door and it was not raining,by the time I got to the other door to go out,it was pouring. I guess I should of walked faster.   :D   But that is what it did all day. I would think about going out and it would start to rain. The dog got caught in 2 of those down pours.
I've been hearing about those high temps.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Everyday the pop up rain goes around us. Hot....humid.....and lots of LIGHTNING storms. 

[sawguy21]

Cloudy and humid here today but at least it's not raining for a change. Gonna be warm next week though, the weather guru is saying close to 40C, 110F, in some areas.  That should keep the fire crews busy.