NOAA Weather issues 'Excessive Heat Warning'

Cactus Cowboy

Well-Known Member
NOAA Weather has an 'Excessive Heat Warning' in effect for this area, forecast calls for a high of 107 here in Benson today, 108 tomorrow and Monday, with temps even higher down in Tucson and Phoenix. I saw one graphical forecast that called for 114 degrees in Phoenix before Sunday evening... plenty hot. Moi, I'm forted up with the A/C cranked, looks like we'll be dealing with triple-digit daytime highs for at least a week, maybe longer. Oh, well, I still own my home free & clear, lol... that's the GOOD news! Anybody planning to visit the Southwest in the near future, bring plenty of agua... water, the fluid of life! Cheers!!! :rolleyes:
 
Good thing I stopped by the library earlier this week, now I have some books to read during this heat wave... I just finished a good Western, MONTANA TERRITORY by Charles G. West, that Army scout John Hawk is bad@$$, one tough hombre to kill, lol. In this book, he trails some evil outlaws who robbed and murdered a group of Quakers... good read, I recommend it to those who like Westerns. Our local library has a great selection of Westerns, many in large print too, which makes things easier for me after I had Lasik surgery. I can see like a hawk in the field, 20/15 vision in each eye, but I have to wear reading glasses for small print and numbers. Meh, a worthwhile trade-off, and I no longer have to wear glasses while driving, a big plus. Anyway, I think I'll watch a movie now.., you guessed it, a Western, lol. Cheers!!! :cool:
 
Gotta get cleaned up and run to the store before it gets too freakin' HOT... gotta resupply with vino & maybe some hard cider, all I have right now is the blue agave tequila & rum on my bar, and that's NOT what I wanna drink in hot weather, lol.

These honeybees frequent my birdbath during warmer months, and I'd swear upon a stack of old SkateBoarder Magazines that these bees use the birdbath as some sort of Club Med, taking dips in the pool to cool off, lol.

No lie, I'll look out and see some bee floundering in the water, but the little guy isn't really floundering, he's swimming clear across the pool to crawl out to safety on the far side. It's kinda weird, but no worries, if they wanna use the birdbath as a swimming pool, it's okay by me.

If I see a honeybee wearing board shorts from the nearest surf shop, I'll know my hypothesis is correct, lol. Every now and then, I find a dead bee floating in the birdbath, some weak swimmer who got gripped and drowned... but the strong swimmers, I'd swear they deliberately jump into the pool to cool off, lol.

Well, I'd better get cleaned up and be on my way, the temperature is already beginning to rise... gonna be another scorcher later, so I'll be hunkered down and forted up with the A/C cranked, lol. Got a long run of hot weather ahead, might as well be prepped for it... no 50-mile road march in the hot sun, lol. Cheers!!!

P.S. Did y'all see that gorgeous crescent moon last night? That was AWESOME!!! Should be nice again tonight, we'll see... sometimes, I think I'm a prize-winning idiot for not looking at the night sky more often, lol. Especially here at elevation where we have a million stars overhead every night.

Friend o' mine has a cool app on his phone, he simply holds his phone up in any chosen direction and this app shows all the constellations overhead... I suppose the phone orients itself and pulls the info from files or whatever, but it's still some pretty trick gadgetry, ya know?

Moi, I'm an old rogue dinosaur and I fell through the cracks a long time ago, while this 'March of Technology' is relentless... frankly, I can't keep up with it, but I CAN look up at the night sky and enjoy the view, that much is certain. Y'all be good, I'm off to get showered and hit the road. Hasta luego, youse nautical heroes!!!
 
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Whew... another scorcher today, with no end in sight, just marginally lower triple-digit temperatures. Sipping a chilled beverage right now, waiting for it to cool off outside before I cook dinner. Roast beef, I never did cook it the other day... but my Nu-Wave Infrared Oven does a good job on roasts, and it doesn't heat up the house either, so I'll use it tonight. Mashed potatoes & brown gravy, with a fresh green salad on the side. Works for me. I hope this heat wave doesn't mean we're gonna have a long hot summer... I'm already looking forward to fall, lol. Meh, at least it cools off here once the sun sinks toward the horizon... not much breeze today, but maybe it'll pick up here shortly, sometimes it does that and it cools things down even faster. I'd sure hate to be in Phoenix, with the brutal temps they've been experiencing at lower elevation... ugh. :confused:

Edit: Speak of the devil, here comes that breeze now with the treetops & wind chimes moving... 'bout time, lol. :rolleyes:
 
Holy Cow! That wind kicked up till it was HOWLIN' and it created a big ol' dust storm in the valley, lol... fortunately, the dust wasn't headed my way, but there must be some homesteads & haciendas down there that regularly get COATED with dust, aye? Meh, this IS the high desert, where weather is dynamic and it can change PRONTO, lol. I was hoping for a little rain, and we might still get some, we have a weird sky out there right now, and plenty o' clouds... Cheers!!! :rolleyes:

P.S. This 'Red Blend' rotgut vino is tasting pretty good, and I have PLENTY of it, lol... might hafta watch a flick before I make dinner, but boy, that howlin' wind sure cooled things off outside! Treetops & wind chimes are still moving, makes for pleasant audio, lol. WAHOO!!! ;)
 
Whew, another scorcher at roughly 110 degrees... NOAA Weather has been claiming 108 for this area, but one neighbor has a reliable thermometer in the shade further down the hill, and he has seen readings of 110 for the past week or so. Those poor slobs down in Phoenix have it worse, I heard they're seeing temps from 116-118 degrees, plenty hot. I'll be glad when this heat wave backs down on Sunday, it's supposed to drop down to 102 or whatever, which should feel like the Arctic after this brutal heat. Moi, I'm lying low and riding it out under the A/C, my utility bill will probably be sky-high next time. Oh, well, such is life, I still enjoy living here in rural Arizona, last bastion of freedom in this godforsaken country, lol. Hey, on my store run this morning to resupply for the weekend, I bought some BEER---I've been drinking vino for awhile, but I decided to give beer another day in court, aye? Haven't cracked my first yet, I've been waiting for the day to cool off a bit, but I'm about to crack one, lol. I've been holding off so I'll enjoy that first taste, should be fun getting reacquainted with my lifelong friend. I've kinda forgotten how beer tastes, lol... but I'll know in a moment, it's about time to grab a cold one and maybe watch some entertainment on the 65" curved screen. I mix it up between the reading and the movies, that's what I'll be doing all weekend... too bloody hot out there for strenuous outdoor activities. :rolleyes:

I'M OFF, I HEAR A COLD BEER CALLING MY NAME FROM THE FRIDGE, LOL. CHEERS, YOUSE NAUTICAL HEE-ROES!!! :cool:

P.S. My best friend on the coast tells me it's only in the upper 70s out there, so he doesn't have to deal with this brutal heat wave... the lucky b@stard, lol. ;)
 
Man, another scorcher here today, but the end is in sight... the heat should ease down by tomorrow, but it has been a long hot week, lemme tell ya. Guy at another website told me that Phoenix recently set a record (for this time of year) at 118 degrees, so I reckon we've had it easy here in Cochise County at 110, lol. Still, I'll be glad when this heat wave ends, my three A/C units are struggling to keep the temp down in my home... of course, I have all three on the economy setting, I could probably ratchet them up and chill the place down for real, but I'm trying to save money.

I wound up watching the original 'FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE' yesterday while drinking a few cold beers, that mule was damned funny... and having been in the Infantry, I found his observations upon 2nd Lieutenants to be absolutely correct, lol. That general was friggin' hilarious too, I've seen him in other films but I can't remember the actor's name. Meh, no worries, he had his run, and I'm sure all the stars of those Francis films are long dead, including the mule, but they'll live forever in the film archives, lol... maybe I'll run across more Francis flicks on my Roku Streaming Stick, it has been a long time since I watched all of 'em.

WELL, I GUESS I'LL CHILL OUT AND WATCH A MOVIE, IT'S STILL PRETTY GOLDURNED HOT OUTSIDE... HOT ENOUGH FOR THE WATER LEVEL IN THE BIRDBATH TO NOTICEABLY DROP, I'VE HAD TO TOP IT OFF SEVERAL TIMES PER DAY IN THIS BRUTAL HEAT WAVE. :eek:

MAYBE I'LL DO THE BIRDS & THE BEES A BIG OL' FAVOR AND TOSS SOME ICE IN WITH THE NEXT PITCHER OF WATER, LOL... :rolleyes:

Edit: Holy Mackerel! I dumped two trays of large ice cubes into the big ol' plastic pitcher I use to top off the birdbath, then dumped the works into the birdbath... looked out two minutes later, and ALL the cubes had already melted, lol. Damn, that water in the birdbath must be hot, never seen ice melt so fast in my life! :confused:
 
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WOOHOO!!! Breeze is up and it's already noticeably cooler compared to yesterday morning at the same time, so maybe this is the lucky day we see some relief from this brutal heat wave! Can't happen too soon, that's for sure, those poor slobs down in Phoenix have REALLY been gettin' ROASTED at 118 degrees, lol. Here, we've had readings of 110 for the past week, so I'll be glad to see the heat go... p!ss on it, lol. I even cracked a beer at 0745 hours on Sunday morning to celebrate... for any religious types offended by such a notion, all I can tell ya is, "THE WILDERNESS IS MY CHURCH!!!" :rolleyes:

"And now for something completely different..." Perhaps you've heard of Cerberus, the Three-Headed Dog? Well, this is Catberus, the Two-Headed Cat, lol. Actually, it's Tiger horning in on Fathead's breakfast this morning, that knucklehaid! That's Tiger on the left, Fathead on the right with the torn-up ear, he's a scruffy ol' tomcat I've been feeding since his former owners evidently abandoned him, the wankers. He's not such a bad cat, just a little ornery at times... reminds me of myself, lol. No worries, both cats had enough to eat, in fact all five cats I'm feeding ate like royalty. Meh, they're like my kids... CHEERS! :cool:

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Holy Cow! I didn't know there were so many wildfires burning in Arizona, makes me wonder if some of these are arson fires... I went out at dusk to replace the water in the birdbath with fresh water from the hose, then noticed the glow of wildfires on the skyline of the northern Dragoons. It looks like volcanic activity from here, but it's wildfire action... guess this run of hot weather has made everything that much easier to burn, especially since we've had no appreciable rain yet in monsoon season. I looked up 'AZ wildfires' on the web and it looks like there are plenty burning, though some of the info might have been dated. Anyway, it's crazy over there on the mountain skyline, hope the crews get the fires under control before too many animals lose their lives or their habitat. :confused:
 
Shots of the wildfire which seemed to be knocked down this morning, but kicked back up once the wind rose... those night shots taken minutes ago are a bit blurry thanks to the cheesy Canon cam, but lights on top are the fire on the range, the lights below are the town where I live. There's a bonus shot of Tiger & Crackhead on the kitchen floor.

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Here's hoping the breeze doesn't pick up too hard later... we have a chance of monsoon rain manana, so as long as the wildfire doesn't roar to life again, we should be okay. It's a trip, seeing this thing rage off and on due to the wind, I'm hoping for a good torrential downpour tomorrow. :rolleyes:

Dunno why, but this song popped into my head this morning, and I've been singin' it ever since, even while doing the dishes. Meh, it's my home, I can sing as loudly as I want, the cats won't complain... though they might leave the room, lol. Here's a sailor's song if ever there was one, aye? ;)

"I WAS GAMBLING IN HAVANA... I TOOK A LITTLE RISK..." :eek:

Lawyers, Guns & Money

Dunno why this song popped into my head, I haven't heard it in years, lol. And technically, the lawyers couldn't practice in another country... maybe they're just being sent to give advice, lol. Friggin' lawyers, the song reminds me of that ol' lawyer joke:

"A BUSLOAD OF LAWYERS WENT OFF A CLIFF... THE TRAGEDY WAS THERE WAS AN EMPTY SEAT!" :D

Lol, y'all be good, I'm off to get cleaned up and handle some business... hasta luego, youse nautical heroes!!! :cool:
 
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So, we had a dew drops earlier, but I'm really hoping for some serious rain tonight or tomorrow... got clouds stacked up in areas, so maybe my wish will come true. This wildfire has been burning for several days now, it's in a very rugged area which makes it difficult for the fire crews. I just saw a couple of military choppers fly by overhead, maybe Fort Huachuca will throw in some help as a training exercise for their pilots. I know some firefighting aircraft were dumping retardant on the fire earlier, at least my neighbor in her 70s told me they were... and she has no reason to bull$h!t me, lol. In fact, I treat her very well, she's one of my 'good neighbors'---I like knowing a few good neighbors wherever I happen to dwell. Okey-dokey, we'll see what happens, at least the back of the brutal heat wave has been broken, I'm not sure whether the temp broke 100 today, but it sure felt COOLER than that straight-up 110-degree number for a week. These A/C units and fans help, but I reckon my electric bill will be sky-high next time around, lol. Can't win for losing... :eek:
 
Hmm, looks like the stupid 'auto spell-check' changed my "few" to "dew" last time---I really should see about disabling that feature (with a hammer or a shotgun, lol). Meh, small potatoes... we've had a few drops again today, but no torrential downpour yet, despite the clouds stacked up all around, and the intermittent rumbling of thunder coming from those clouds. Hopefully we see some real rain later this evening, that would be nice, since the entire mountainside is still smoldering off to the northeast. We've had this weird "light show" every night for the past few nights, an ever-changing light show as the fire lines shift... those fire crews sure are having a hard time dealing with this one, and this breeze which just picked up isn't going to help any. Oh, well, at least the fire is still up on the mountain, and not down where the houses are in the valley. To think that all this trouble was caused by one lousy lightning strike... but that's the way it goes. I'll keep my fingers crossed & pray for rain like some old medicine man, lol. My new Injun name will be FALLING WATER... sounds better than F#%NG DOWNPOUR, yeah? :rolleyes:
 
Just bringing closure to this thread, the wildfire is out, dunno if any rain helped but there's no sign of flames tonight... those fire crews had it rough this time around, fighting that blaze in such rugged terrain with few access trails. It's out now though, which is good, and the back of the brutal heat wave was broken a couple of days ago... current daytime highs in the upper 90s feel pretty good compared to that weeklong 110-degree number, lol. Cheers!!! :rolleyes:
 
Just an update: monsoon rains have put a dent in the drought situation here in the Southwest. As some of you already know, areas of the Southwest were under 'Extreme Drought Conditions' until recent storms started piling up the precipitation. We still have a ways to go to catch up, but these welcome rains have already shut down the wildfire season, due to "greening up" of vegetation... as far as I'm concerned, it can rain every day for the next two months, my roof doesn't leak, lol. One downside is the weed crop: I've already weed-whacked twice in the past 3 weeks, and it looks as if I'll have to break out the weed-whacker once again this coming week, otherwise the goldurned weeds will get too high. Anyway, it's raining right now, we have heavy rains forecast tonight, and good spells of rain forecast for next week. So that's good news... only other problem is the increase in bugs due to wet weather, but this IS 'bug season' in Cochise County, and a few extra gnats & skeeters are a small price to pay for the welcome relief and additional precipitation. Here are some photos of recent rains, note the rivers of dirt flowing down the hill out front, lol... luckily, my home is on a terrace, so we're well-protected from flooding of any sort. :)

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Those pics were actually taken BEFORE the heavy rains commenced, lol. That cinder block in the yard is only temporary, next time I'm in the field I'll bag some more large rocks to finish my fire pit. That pit comes in handy when fall rolls around. Hey, check out the ocotillo in my front yard, the thing is 'bushier' than I've ever seen it, due to the recent rains. Those thorny branches 'leaf out' in summer, so the branches look good and thick right now, lol. :rolleyes:

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We also have some more flowers to add color to my property, lol... :D

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Last but not least, we gots kittehs riding out the storm(s)... CHEERS!!! :cool:

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That's the kitteh couch, it's a little worse for wear from all the scratching, lol... meh, I don't hear the cats complaining, and I still have the primo leather sofa in the home theater in my room, the cats haven't really torn it up yet. I call it the $1100 scratching post, lol... this old beater couch is still pretty comfortable, I've slept on it many times when family & friends visited. Crackhead likes messin' with that carpet runner, and little Phoenix snoozes away in one of several 'cat caves.' ;)
 
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