All right, who pissed off Mother Nature?

Flood waters from the Matanuska River approach the Old Glenn Highway at
about Mile 15, June 23, 2012.

UPDATE:  As if all that below wasn't enough, now we have flooding from both the rivers I live between.  No danger here, but just the same.  Is this the beginning of the down slope from solstice to solstice that's  supposed to end Dec. 12?

A group of climbers moves up to
left of the avalanche chute. Where
Japanese climbers died.
(National Park Service photo)

EARLIER POST:

Holy mackerel!  So the farmers and I were lamenting the cold May and early June.  Then the sun came out and all hell broke loose.

First, Thursday an avalanche on Mount McKinley killed four Japanese climbers. 

Then the night before last we had thunder and lightening in the area, a rare occurrence in Southcentral Alaska. I may have witnessed maybe half a dozen such storms in the last 40 years here.

Right after that the forest fires started up.  One 30 miles south of Fairbanks may force the state to close the main highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks.  All told there are 221 wildfires burning across the state right now.  Here is an interactive map that shows them.  You can click on the 32 fires located on the map to obtain more details.  

Cleveland ash cloud visible
in the distance. (Alaska Volcano
Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey webcam)

I am a little worried for a friend of mine who will travel between Denali Park and Fairbanks tomorrow.  She is on one of those tours where everything is scheduled to the minute and has to get to Fairbanks to ride the riverboat and then fly home.  If the highway remains closed it could alter those plans some. Welcome to Alaska.

But, back to nature. After all that, today a volcano erupted. It was Cleveland Volcano pretty far out of the way in the Aleutian Islands, but enough of an ash cloud can disrupt air travel.  Go here for more details.

Late in the evening the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported the ash cloud had reached an altitude of  35,000 feet.

Was it something we said?