How Hot Is It?

It's really hot! I gort this from Jeff Masters blog site:

One of the greatest heat waves in North American history peaked June 30 and July 1, and will still bring some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded to portions of the Western U.S. The extraordinary heat wave, caused by an unusually extreme standing wave pattern in the jet stream, brought Earth's highest June temperature ever recorded on Sunday, June 30, when the mercury hit 129.2°F (54.0°C) in Death Valley, California. The only higher temperatures ever recorded on the planet occurred in Death Valley on July 10, 12, and 13, 1913, when readings of 134°F, 130°F, and 131°F were recorded. This 100 year-old record heat wave has many doubters, though, including Mr. Burt, who noted in a 2010 blog post that "The record has been scrutinized perhaps more than any other in the United States. I don't have much more to add to the debate aside from my belief it is most likely not a valid reading when one looks at all the evidence. Normally when Death Valley records its hottest temperatures they occur during region-wide heat waves. On July 10, 1913 the next highest temperatures recorded in southern California (aside from Greenland Ranch) were just 119° at Heber and 118° at Mammoth Tank." If Mr. Burt is correct, then this Sunday's temperature of 129.2°F in Death Valley was the hottest temperature in recorded history on Earth.

June 27, 2013
102° Santa Fe, NM set an all-time heat record for that city
105° Albuquerque, NM: tied 2nd highest temperature on record

June 28, 2013
105° Salt Lake City, UT: hottest June temperature on record
114° Zion National Park, UT: hottest June temp on record, and only 1° short of their all-time record of 115°

June 29, 2013
100° Ely, Nevada: hottest June temperature on record (previous 99° June 22, 1954)
101° Eureka, Nevada: hottest June temperature on record (previous 98° on two occasions)
105° Salt Lake City, Utah: hottest June temperature on record (again, see June 28)
122° Palm Springs, California: hottest June temperature on record (tied June 28, 1994) and 1° short of all-time record of 123° set on August 1, 1993
128° Death Valley, California: hottest June temperature on record (tied previous 128° set on June 29, 1994)
It was 119° in Phoenix, Arizona their 4th warmest reading on record.

June 30, 2013
129° Death Valley, California: Earth's all-time hottest June temperature
115° Lancaster, California: all--time heat record (previous record 114° on July 18 and 19, 1960)
117° Las Vegas, Nevada: all-time heat record (tied with July 19, 2005 and July 24, 1942)

All-time June monthly records were set or tied at:
104° Elko, Nevada (previous 104° June 24, 1981)
103° Tonopah, Nevada (previous 102° on two occasions), this was also just 1° short of their all-time record of 104° set on July 18, 1960).
106° Winnemucca, Nevada (previous 106° on June 24, 1988)

July 1, 2013
127° Death Valley, California
110° Boise, Idaho: tied for 2nd hottest temperature on record

Does Geology Explain the Loch Ness Monster?

Apparently, it does! Read here.

Basha's Grocery Store Fire June 24, 2013 7 PM

We saw black smoke from the front of our house and ran over to the store to take some photos.

Looks like only the front façade in the roof area was burned.

Birds of Paradise in New Guinea

This video is just awesome. It could even make a die-hard geologist forget about rocks and start looking at birds!

Flooding on the Danube River

An amazing image of the Danube River in Grein, Austria on June 6, 2013. There is a lot of trust placed in the strength of that flood wall!

Marble Canyon Lodge Burns To The Ground - 1:30 AM June 19, 2013

Undisclosed photo

We received word this morning that the Marble Canyon Lodge, originally established in 1920, caught fire at 1:30 AM and burned to the ground. Initial reports on exactly what buildings were involved confused us. I guess it had been awhile since I used the Post Office at Marble Canyon, and when the article stated that the PO was OK, I thought of its old location in the main lodge. This was not to be the case however as the picture clearly shows the main building. These photos are courtesy of Allison Leigh Schmidt who operates the small jewelry shop east of the lodge. Her structure was saved!

Photo courtesy of Allison Leigh Schmidt

It must have been quite a sight in the dark of a rural Arizona night to see such a structure completely engulfed in flames. The motel section of the Lodge is apparently intact and perhaps no one will lose their reservations at the inn. Who knows. But all of those books and chicken grease are now gone.

Photo courtesy of Allison Leigh Schmidt

The Cost of Doing Nothing

In June, 2010, the Shultz Fire ripped across the southern flank of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff and charred 15,000 acres of Ponderosa pine forest. Now a monetary figure has been assessed to the fire and it is a staggering $147 million dollars. Read the report here. Sadly, the report mentions that if $15 million dollars in forest restoration work had been done before the fire, it would have been more easily contained and perhapos not so catastrophic.

Dr. Wally Covington, a forest researcher at NAU in Flagstaff offers his insight on the cost of "doing nothing." Read his assessment here. We are at the brink of fire season here and so far so good. But one good day can turn on a dime and the whole scenario changes.