Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 110: Flash Flood Disasters and the Heat Still to Come with Gary Lezak

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110: Flash Flood Disasters and the Heat Still to Come with Gary Lezak · CattleUSA Daily

• 0:00
  Happy Friday. Welcome to another episode of
• 0:02
  the Cattle USA Daily podcast. Today we are bringing you your
• 0:06
  weekly weather report with Gary Lezak and the Weather 2020 team.
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  And today we are talking all things major weather events,
• 0:13
  some things that happened over the past week.
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  We're discussing those and how they've affected the weather so
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  far. And then we are discussing the
• 0:20
  rest of the summer. So what do we have in store for
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  July? We are talking some heat waves
• 0:26
  that are potentially going to come in, talking anti cyclones,
• 0:29
  I think I got that word right. And just everything else that we
• 0:32
  are going to be seeing over the next couple months in any highs
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  and lows within the weather. So without further ado, let's go
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  ahead and jump into this episode with Gary.
• 0:44
  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily Podcast, your go to source for
• 0:47
  the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
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  updates shaping agriculture today.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
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  agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
• 0:58
  Now let's dive into today's episode, Gary.
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  Morning, and if it's not morning in other parts of the day.
• 1:12
  I love it. I love it.
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  Gary, how are you? How's life?
• 1:16
  How's everything? Everything's good, but I heard
• 1:19
  you like overproofed your your loaf and it didn't rise.
• 1:26
  How dare you break that on here. I want to know what happens.
• 1:30
  I mean, this is your sourdough recipe, right?
• 1:34
  Yes, my it's. The first time you've ever had a
• 1:37
  problem with it, right? Yes, it is.
• 1:39
  It is. It's an own fault.
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  OK, so it's warmer, right? It's summer, so things proof
• 1:45
  faster. And like a silly goose, I
• 1:48
  thought that it was a good idea to, instead of bulk, let my
• 1:51
  stuff like bulk ferment overnight all together, I went
• 1:54
  ahead and separated it into three different loaves and so
• 1:57
  three different containers. Well, when you do that,
• 2:01
  ferment's a lot faster because there's less of it.
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  And so it rises and it falls much faster.
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  And so when I woke up the next morning, there wasn't a nice big
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  puffy thing of sourdough in each bowl.
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  It was kind of a flat little BLOB.
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  And I was like, maybe, maybe I can save this.
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  Maybe it just needs a minute. And so then I went ahead and
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  shaped all of it and then I put it in the fridge so it could
• 2:25
  firm it and like finish rising in the fridge.
• 2:27
  We were going golfing for the day.
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  Well, I came back and they were all kind of bricks in the
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  fridge, not really rising and fluffy and like, we're going to
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  throw this in the oven and see what happens.
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  And I threw one in the oven and it nothing happened.
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  It was, it was indeed a brick, came out like a brick.
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  And so I had to throw away 3 loaves of sourdough and it was
• 2:45
  quite unfortunate. Quite.
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  But you recovered, and there's a new loaves brewing.
• 2:50
  Yes, we have. We have two new loaves that are
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  they are rising right now and they're going to be ready to
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  bake here in about an hour. So I am coming back from
• 2:58
  disaster. I'm not letting it bring me
• 3:00
  down. I heard I heard you say the.
• 3:03
  Word I. Heard the word you said ferment
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  ferment. So fermenting.
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  I just looked it up. Fermenting is a process where
• 3:10
  microorganisms like yeast and bacteria breakdown carbohydrates
• 3:16
  like sugars in food or drink, converting them into other
• 3:19
  substances like alcohol and acids.
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  So this process is used to create a variety of foods and
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  drinks, including beer, wine, yogurt, sauerkraut and
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  sourdough. Yep.
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  Would you look at that? Would you look at that?
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  Yeah, that's amazing. It's really cool.
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  And like when it ferments it, you can see all like because it
• 3:37
  eats holes in it and that's why your bread is like has like when
• 3:40
  you have sourdough bread, that's why like you see all the holes
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  in it. That's like the fermenting holes
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  where it's like eating away all of the.
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  I need Lauren's sourdough. I need some sourdough.
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  I'm going to get your address from you and I'm just going to
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  ship you a loaf and we're just going to hope that it shows up
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  in good condition and you can enjoy some sourdough.
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  Yes, I mean. I.
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  Shoot my own horn, but my husband says it's better than
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  the sourdough bread we were buying before I started making
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  it myself. So.
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  Well, I can imagine. I'm ready for it.
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  I love it, but yes, we are. We're coming back from disaster
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  today. I am bound to determined to make
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  a better loaf of. Sourdough and.
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  Not let it bring me down. We should.
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  All know that. In the future, never, never
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  separate out your stuff before you bulk permit.
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  Yeah. How's everything with you, Gary?
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  I hear you are no longer on the air.
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  And you are. You're back to life and not
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  waking up at 1:00 in the morning to be on the air.
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  Yeah, I filled in for Lindsay Anderson at KSHB, the NBC
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  station in Kansas City, and I filled in for 12 weeks.
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  My assignment ended Thursday. The fans want me to keep going,
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  but I'm done. Are you going to sleep in?
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  I woke up at 5:00 in the morning and that was sleeping in and I
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  went to work out, had a really good workout.
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  My shoulder is almost 100%, which is good.
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  It took seven weeks. So injury is is almost 100%, but
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  it's not quite there yet. We're getting there.
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  Progress is being made. Yeah, so, but yeah.
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  And then since then, you know, the day I left, the next day is
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  July the 4th, and we're getting a little disruption here.
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  All good. Am I good?
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  Can you see me OK? Yep, I can see you all.
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  Right on my end, it's frozen. So anyway, 321, I finished my
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  work on TV on Thursday, July 3rd, and then Thursday night and
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  Friday morning we had a major weather disaster in Texas, you
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  know, so along the Guadalupe River.
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  And it's fascinating what happened. 100 as of right now,
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  111 people are dead. There's another 150 or so
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  missing. So that death toll could rise.
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  They haven't found anybody alive since July 4th.
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  So what a scary, horrible way to end your life.
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  It's a nightmare for the families going through it.
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  It's like, did this really happen?
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  When something sudden like that happens and people are enjoying
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  their lives along the riverbed on a holiday weekend, it's hard
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  to believe. I, I can't even imagine what it
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  would be like for those families, you know, So there's a
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  whole LRC connection to it. So should I tell you about that?
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  Yeah, tell us about it. Tell us about it.
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  So you know the when a flash flood warning is issued, how
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  many people act when there's a tornado warning?
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  A lot of times people don't act on a tornado warning until you
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  see it coming towards your house and it's one minute from hitting
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  you. Then people act, they scramble
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  again into the safe place in the last second.
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  Oh my gosh, I'm actually going to puzzle get hit because the
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  odds are so low you're going to. So even with the tornado
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  warning, people don't act with a flash flood warning in what they
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  call flash flood alley through there.
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  You would think that they would be a little better prepared, but
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  that was a historic flood, probably the worst one they've
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  ever had. But they've had others, the LRC.
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  Here's where the LRC comes in. The battering cycling is about
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  41 days. We've been going over example
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  after example after example. Well, on June 29th and 30th,
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  Tropical Storm Berry formed right near the Mexico coast.
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  That moisture from Berry moved inland, moved N into Texas and
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  it's over Southeast Texas. On July 3rd and July 3rd night
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  that thunderstorm complex starts forming and you can see on
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  satellite picture that it gets pulled into that complex of
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  thunderstorms and we end up having this major flood, flood
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  warning. So there was two or three days
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  before that developed to know that if something did form,
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  there would be an enhanced probability of a major flood
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  even if there were even 6 hours warning.
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  But here it would help. But here is where the LRC comes
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  in. Last fall, October 19th and
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  20th, there was a Tropical Storm Nadine that formed as the LRC
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  was setting up for the year. Once Nadine formed, we can use
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  that formation where it formed track towards Mexico to predict
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  that around late June, early July, there may be a tropical
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  system. And I'm not just saying that it
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  is in our hurricane forecast guide that we put out March 24th
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  that predicted that the first early season projection of
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  Apostle tropical system is late June, early July forming right
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  where Berry form moved into Mexico.
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  So there's a whole LRC connection.
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  That witness said Texas watch out around July 4th weekend.
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  I'm not saying I didn't predict this flood.
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  I'm not. I am.
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  Maybe in the future we'll be able to predict something as
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  localized as that and as horrible as it is.
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  But 3 or 4 hours before, maybe the warnings are a little more
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  stronger, the authorities are a little better prepared and they
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  can go into campsites and start warning people.
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  There's, it's raining like crazy.
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  There's a potential for a flood. We advise you to move to higher
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  ground. And let's say 10 people did that
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  would have been killed. It's 10 people that were saved.
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  So it's possible. But just know there's a whole
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  LRC connection there. But it just, what do you think
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  is a horrible disaster, you know?
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  It was absolutely terrible and it couldn't have happened on a
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  worse time, right? Because it was a holiday
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  weekend, so everyone was out on the river, everyone was there,
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  everyone was there camping, everyone was there enjoying
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  their lives, doing different things.
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  It just, it couldn't have happened at a worse time.
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  And it's just absolutely heartbreaking the things that
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  happen. And it's one of those situations
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  that I think about it all the time.
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  Like I, I get a flash flood warning on my phone from the
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  National Weather Service. I don't think twice about it.
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  Like I, I genuinely don't, I get a tornado warning and that's
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  just kind of the Kansan and me. We don't, we're like, OK, we're
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  going to keep our eyes open, but you don't do a whole lot about
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  it. And I think that it just really
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  humbles you when things like this happen and you're like,
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  wow, that like I guarantee you most of them were like, oh, it's
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  fine. Like it's never risen this high
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  or it, this shouldn't be an issue here or we're on higher
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  ground, we'll be fine. But it's it's just absolutely
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  heartbreaking what has happened and what continues to.
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  Probably, I don't know what kind of signs are up and there should
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  be some signage. I'm just thinking out loud, you
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  know, flash flood zone. If if there are thunderstorms,
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  especially at night, pay closer attention.
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  You never know what kind of warnings.
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  A lot of little things that could be thought out.
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  You don't want to overreact, but it was a major disaster
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  probably, probably what happened there, but it's going to happen
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  somewhere, you know, again, so. Yeah.
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  Absolutely. But with this LRC, remember it's
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  a 41 inch day cycle. So what's 41 days after July
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  4th? It's around August the 14th,
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  15th. So if there's a little
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  thunderstruck complex about them, let's remember this
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  podcast on on this week so we can go back and say, hey, we
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  thought that there's a chance of it could return either in August
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  or September. Yeah.
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  Definitely, definitely. What is, what's happening
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  outside of that? What else is happening in the
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  weather, Gary? Well, the summer pattern is
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  setting up and it is full, in full force now.
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  And so we look to see where those anticyclones are, where
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  where they are, they're going to create heat wave creating
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  machines. And so we have this heat wave
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  creating machine right now while we're talking late this week, we
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  have one forming over Southern California and Arizona.
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  That's where it's supposed to form.
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  Arizona and New Mexico, that's where these systems like to
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  form. And so we have the potential for
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  a heat wave out Southwest, but then that is forecast to move
• 12:20
  off the California coast and that brings chances of
• 12:24
  thunderstorms back to Kansas and Missouri and Nebraska and Iowa.
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  In fact, some of the latest data has like 12 inches of rain in
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  Iowa in the next 10 days. So there could be a flooding
• 12:36
  problem up there with some of the corn fields.
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  So we'll see. But the only thing that's going
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  to completely stop the rain is if one of these anticyclones
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  forms overhead. I still think later this month
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  one of those is going to happen, probably around the 20th of
• 12:54
  July, the 30th of July, maybe the first few days of August.
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  But even that's fleeting. That should move by in three
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  days. It shouldn't last very long, can
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  you? Explain how those anticyclones
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  kind of work. Yeah.
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  So yes, very good question. Anticyclones are the opposite of
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  a cyclone. A cyclone is a storm system, a
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  low pressure area that rotates counterclockwise, and an
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  anticyclone is one that rotates clockwise.
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  So you have the a cyclone can be a tornado to be a hurricane.
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  It can be a strong storm system. That's a cyclone.
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  An anticyclone is the opposite of that.
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  And the air sinks in the middle of these things.
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  But when air sinks, it causes the substance causes the heat to
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  develop. So sinking air will lead to heat
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  and and then you end up, you know, compressing the air and it
• 13:54
  gets hotter and because the air is sinking my I don't know if I
• 14:00
  lost signal with you again. Nope.
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  You're good. I can hear you.
• 14:03
  Yeah, this stupid thing, because the air is sinking, because the
• 14:09
  air is sinking, it causes it to get hot, so it could grow on
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  itself. But fortunately we have this
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  thing called the LRC, and it moves them around.
• 14:17
  We can show where it's going to move, but if one of those forms
• 14:20
  overhead you have sinking air, you end up with heat.
• 14:22
  It can warm up to 5:00 to 8:00 to 11:50 degrees above average
• 14:26
  bad summers, it'll be 110°. But we already now know here we
• 14:30
  are already in the middle of July, right?
• 14:33
  We haven't had any heat like that yet.
• 14:35
  So the good news is that it hasn't formed yet.
• 14:38
  But do I do expect a couple of hot stretches ahead with rain
• 14:43
  all around it on both sides of it?
• 14:44
  Good to know, good to know. What else are we looking out for
• 14:47
  for the rest of the summer? As we finish up July, go into
• 14:51
  August? Any other things that we should
• 14:53
  be keeping our eyes on? The jet stream reaches its
• 14:56
  weakest point and farthest N position at the very end of July
• 14:59
  into the first week of August. As soon as you get to 1 month
• 15:02
  from right now, the jet stream will be at its weakest point and
• 15:06
  it will start strengthening. So at that point, the new LRC
• 15:10
  begins to evolve likely, and you have August 10th to 15th, the
• 15:15
  very initial stages of that, but it's still the old weather
• 15:17
  pattern. It continues all the way into
• 15:19
  September. But as we go through August into
• 15:22
  early September, the jet stream starts shifting South and it may
• 15:27
  shift rain patterns just a little bit, but it'll be an
• 15:30
  energizing part of the pattern as it develops.
• 15:33
  So storm systems start getting stronger and but that's
• 15:37
  something to look forward to between now and then.
• 15:39
  The doldrums of summer, the dog days of summer will be coming.
• 15:44
  Yes, we we are here. It's after July 4th, right is
• 15:48
  when they officially start is when the dog days of summer, I
• 15:51
  think they say they start. So we're here, we're there.
• 15:54
  It's it's warming up. It's it's getting muggy, it's
• 15:57
  getting hot. And it sounds like it's going to
• 16:00
  continue to do that here for a little while.
• 16:02
  So any other things that we need to touch on today, Gary?
• 16:05
  No, we'll do some more research on the dog days.
• 16:08
  I think it's in August because there's something to do with the
• 16:11
  dog star. Yeah, let me see if I can call
• 16:14
  it up real quick. And so I give you some answers
• 16:16
  here. Nowadays you can just texted and
• 16:19
  called. The term dog days refers to the
• 16:22
  hot, humid period of summer traditionally occurring in July
• 16:26
  and August in the Northern hemisphere.
• 16:28
  It's associated with the rising of the star Sirius, also known
• 16:34
  as the dog star, which the ancient Romans believed added to
• 16:39
  the sun's heat. So it really doesn't, but they
• 16:42
  thought it did. The more you know, the more you
• 16:45
  know. That's crazy, I love it.
• 16:49
  Amazing. So that happens in which.
• 16:50
  Way to end up the podcast. Well, hey, you know, we're
• 16:52
  bringing the fun facts to everyone today.
• 16:54
  We're talking about if you make sourdough, you know, not to let
• 16:58
  your stuff bulk ferment separately.
• 17:00
  And then if you want to know about the dog days of summer,
• 17:03
  you know, officially when they are and why they're called that.
• 17:05
  So bringing all the fun facts to everyone today, as we always do,
• 17:09
  we're we're just kind of you. Didn't say throw away those
• 17:12
  sourdough bricks. You could probably have sent
• 17:14
  them to some of your friends you don't like too much.
• 17:16
  I should have, I should have just baked them out and then
• 17:18
  been like, here you go, here's your loaf of sourdough that you
• 17:21
  asked for and it's just an absolute brick.
• 17:25
  Yeah, no, I duly noted. Duly noted.
• 17:28
  That is, that is what we will be doing next time.
• 17:30
  You know, I should have just made focaccia with it.
• 17:32
  You can overproof sourdough. Like, like if you overproof it,
• 17:35
  you can just make some focaccia. And that's what I should have
• 17:37
  done. I should have just accepted my
• 17:39
  defeat and made some focaccia, and I'd have some delicious
• 17:42
  focaccia in the fridge. But you know, had to had to
• 17:45
  power through and get some crappy bread, but it's fine.
• 17:48
  It's fine. The the rats at the at the trash
• 17:51
  facility will appreciate it. They can eat some sourdough
• 17:54
  bread. Excellent.
• 17:55
  Well, perfect, awesome. Well, Gary, as always, thank you
• 17:58
  for your time today. We so appreciate it and we will
• 18:03
  see everyone else on another episode of the Cattle USA Daily
• 18:06
  podcast next time. Have a good one y'all.