Over the weekend, a massive group gathered to try and see the Loch Ness monster in Scotland.
It was the largest such gathering in 50 years. And though they might not know it, these Loch Ness monster hunters were engaged in cryptozoology, the study of animals that haven't been proven to exist.
Tell me: Do you, or anyone you know, believe in the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot or any other subject of cryptozoology? Why or why not?
Flash floods and Utah’s summer monsoon season pose sudden threats
With all the talk about this being one of the wettest years in decades, has the state been hit with more flash floods?
So far to date this year, the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City has issued 61 flash flood warnings, but that number will tick up as the monsoon season continues into the coming months.
Alex DeSmet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, said on average since 1986 Utah issues about 56 flash flood warnings per year.
Last year, there were 98 flash flood warnings by this time. In 2021, that number had jumped to 125 at this date, but by the conclusion of the season it topped out at 137 flash flood warnings. In 2022, it finished at 126 for the entire year, DeSmet said.
The name "flash flood" conveys just how hard it can be to predict and avoid these natural dangers.
Thankfully, according to DeSmet, the tools needed to predict the potential for flash floods have greatly improved over the years thanks to more precise weather detection systems, cellphone images and even the increased number of people recreating in danger-prone areas and sounding an alert.
Read more about what the rest of Utah's "monsoon season" will bring.
The trial for former President Donald Trump over federal charges for election interference will begin on March 4, 2024, according to a decision by the federal judge overseeing the case.
At a hearing Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan set the trial to begin one day before Super Tuesday, in the heat of the Republican presidential primary calendar. Trump’s lawyers had asked for a trial date in April 2026, long after the 2024 presidential race concludes, according to The Associated Press.
But at the hearing, Chutkan said there was a “societal interest” in having the case proceed quickly, according to The New York Times. She acknowledged the trial may bump up against Trump’s other cases in state and federal court.
The trial overseen by Chutkan is related to charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice to look into Trump’s actions around the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticized Smith and said he and his team “have been working on this Witch Hunt for almost 3 years, but decided to bring it smack in the middle of Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent’s campaign against him. Election Interference!”
Read more about the charges Trump is facing in New York and Georgia.
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