Are We In For A Wild Ride, Or Not?

Are we headed for a “wild ride” this year, or just the usual chaos with a new label? We kick things off from our hidden studio in Southern Illinois with the kind of talk everyone can relate to: spring weather that can’t make up its mind. Then we zoom out to the big climate headline driving the conversation, as NOAA signals the La Nina pattern has ended and El Nino may develop later this year. We unpack what that shift can mean in real terms, including the possibility of a stronger warming pattern, hotter seasons, and ripple effects that could shape hurricane season in both the Atlantic and Pacific. 
 
After that, we run a fast, listener-friendly “weather around the world” check. You’ll hear current conditions like humidity, wind, pressure, and air quality from places like Phoenix, Spokane, Australia, and a surprise stop in Beijing. That Beijing report hits differently, with unhealthy air quality and low visibility that make you appreciate clean air in a new way. 
 
We also drop our seven-day earthquake report with totals across magnitudes, call out a notable 5.7 near Silver Springs, Nevada, and share why even a “low week” still deserves attention. Then we pivot into space weather: a coronal hole facing Earth could send high-speed solar wind our way with potential G2 geomagnetic storms, lining up with dark new-moon skies for aurora viewing. We even shout out a photo that captures Starlink satellites in the same frame, raising a real question about how much is too much. We wrap with a Supreme Court ruling on internet providers and piracy, plus ways to support the show. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us what the weather is doing where you are.

Transcript

Welcome And Show Spirit

Bruce 0:00

Are we in for a wild ride or not?

Capella 0:04

Welcome to the ugly quacking duck. We like to joke that we're the worst podcast in the unknown universe, but we're pretty sure that's just our charm. We're here to offer a different perspective on the things you see every day, moving away from the usual noise to bring a little more light, perspective, and an uplifting spirit into your routine. Life is plenty heavy as it is, so we're just here to help you find a reason to smile. Thanks for stopping by.

Bruce 0:30

It's Friday again.

Sunny 0:33

Oh yeah. Yay, Friday.

Bruce 0:36

Bruce, you know what that means? It means you are listening to the ugly quacking ducks recording that was done on Friday, April the 17th. And we want to welcome you. I'm Bruce.

Sunny 0:49

And I'm Sunny, and we're all glad to be here, and thank you for listening.

Bruce 0:56

That's right. We really do appreciate it. And we are recording this show. Where, Sunny?

Sunny 1:03

In Southern Illinois, in our hidden studio near Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Bruce 1:12

That's right. In the Midwest, in the United States. And if anybody's out there listening in Southern Illinois, welcome. If you're part of the United States, welcome. If you're part of the rest of the world, welcome. And if you're part of the known or unknown universe, welcome.

Sunny 1:32

Yes, and we want to say hello everybody.

Bruce 1:41

It's been a pretty nice week here. Again, this is Friday while we're recording this. We had some rain in the during the week. A little bit cooler weather. It wasn't near as hot after the rain. Probably gonna get that way though. It was really kind of humid beforehand, and I'm sure wherever you're listening to us, you've had weather that you can relate that to. Up and down and crazy, but that's the way we are here.

Sunny 2:14

Yeah. It just goes up and down, up and down and wait, let's get cold. Oh no, let's get hot.

Bruce 2:22

Yeah, and then summer's gonna go pop and it's gonna get really humid and we will have no spring.

Sunny 2:30

Well, don't talk like that. Maybe we'll get a beautiful spring.

Bruce 2:34

Well, since we're already in spring, and it's been really nice but up and down, I guess we can say that.

Sunny 2:42

There you go. See, think positive. We're gonna claim it.

Bruce 2:47

Alright, there we go, we're gonna claim it.

Sunny 2:50

So you said Bruce, are we in for a wild ride? Or not. Yeah, that's what you said. So what did you say that for?

Bruce 3:02

Well, of course, it's about the weather.

Sunny 3:05

Well, figure that.

Bruce 3:06

Yeah, uh we are being called for a weather pattern change later this year. So that's where that comment come from. USA Today had an article that come out and I want to draw your attention to it. Um the scientists of NOAA, National Org Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, boy, it's a mouthful, has said that we are no longer in the La Nina climate pattern. It's ended officially, and that we are going into the El Nino weather pattern later this year. Now they are predicting that it's going to have major implications for weather worldwide and could impact the hurricane season in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. And some computer models that the scientists use to forecast climate patterns said that the oncoming El Nino could you be you unusually strong and have dubbed it a potential super El Nino. Though federal scientists don't use that term, but they used it on this article.

Sunny 4:29

Yeah, I like how you pointed that out, Bruce. That's pretty good.

Bruce 4:34

Well, thank you. I enjoyed pointing that out too. Now we were or have been in the El Nina phase, and I thought it was pretty hot during the summer last year, but apparently it wasn't as hot as it could be because the El Nino is a natural warming of the Pacific Ocean, which affects the weather around the world and often leads to some of the hottest years on record. So there you go, folks. They don't know what they're talking about. We don't know what we're talking about, but they're saying it's gonna be hot. Can you say that better? Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, it's gonna be hot. We already knew that though. It don't matter if it's an El Nina or El Nino, it's gonna be hot. And just in case you were wondering, that El Nina shift happened in December when it ended there, December 2025. And we're I guess we're comparing and starting the new pattern now. So but it's gonna affect us later this uh year. Kinda weird.

Sunny 5:50

So what you're saying is we gotta wait and see what happens.

Bruce 5:56

Exactly. Isn't that the way it always is?

Sunny 5:59

Yeah. They tell you one thing and then we wait and see if it goes somewhere else.

Bruce 6:05

Pretty much.

Weather Roundup Across The Globe

Sunny 6:07

Are we gonna do the weather around the world?

Bruce 6:10

Yeah, let's do that since we're already on it.

Sunny 6:14

Alright, I wanna do Australia.

Bruce 6:19

Okay. Well let's take off where we don't need to be.

Sunny 6:25

Uh that's everything and everywhere we are.

Bruce 6:30

Exactly. Always. Alright, for Friday afternoon, it is 85 degrees here at our location at the studio's location. In Mount Vernon, Illinois, it's showing 82 degrees. Uh feels like 86. Uh nice. Uh the wind is coming from the south uh 20 miles an hour. Air quality is 47, not too bad. Pressures 29.85 and falling. Visibility is 10 miles and humidity 61%. All right, Sunny, do you want to do Spokane, Washington or Phoenix, Arizona? Uh Phoenix, Arizona. All right, here we go. Take it away, Sunny.

Sunny 7:23

All right, in Phoenix, Arizona right now, it is eighty three degrees, and it is warm. But not that as warm as it is here. That's kind of weird, Bruce.

Bruce 7:39

Well, that's according to where you're getting the temperature, because according to the weather channel, it's eighty-two degrees in the Mount Vernon area. It's eighty-five out here where we're at, so we are warmer than Phoenix, but Mount Vernon is not.

Sunny 7:59

All right, that makes sense. Not really. But the wind there is four miles an hour west to southwest. Twenty-four for air quality, that's really good. Pressure's twenty-nine point eight seven and falling. Visibility is ten miles, and humidity is sixteen percent. Get that folks? Sixteen percent.

Bruce 8:30

Thank you for that, Sunny. That was a good reading. And in Spokane, Washington, right now it's fifty degrees, and the wind is coming from the south, five miles an hour. Air quality's nineteen, which is again good. The barometer is going down, and it's thirty point twenty two, and visibility is at ten miles. That seems like that's everywhere right now. Humidity is thirty-six percent.

Sunny 9:05

And this is sunny once again with Australian planes in Australia. See, I can read it is forty-four degrees at this time, and it is evening or night, and it is three miles an hour for the wind from the east-southeast. Air quality is thirteen, the pressure is steady at thirty point nineteen, visibility nine miles. And humidity again is high in Australia 79%.

Bruce 9:47

All right, thank you for that. Hey, Sunny. Yeah, Bruce. I've got a surprise for you and the listeners.

Sunny 9:57

Oh, you do? What is it?

Bruce 9:59

Let's do one more weather at another location. Let's do Beijing, China.

Sunny 10:07

Oh, really?

Bruce 10:08

That's cool. You actually got their weather? Yep, I thought that would be a nice twist.

Sunny 10:14

All right, what is it?

Bruce 10:16

Well right now it's fifty-six degrees there. They've got a light mist. The wind is two miles an hour north northeast. The air quality is a hundred and ninety-two. That's unhealthy. The air or the barometer's twenty-nine point eight six steady. Visibility's three miles. Three miles. That's very, very shallow visibility. The humidity's ninety-five percent. Man, can you imagine? That sounds very uncomfortable.

Sunny 10:53

Wow, that's a stark difference from our other.

Bruce 10:57

Yes, it's very, very. I think I may leave their weather in our report because it's such a difference from like Phoenix, Arizona. It's big difference.

Sunny 11:10

I agree.

Bruce 11:11

We ought to read that every week. All right, if we do one every week, we'll do that. Yay. You just had to do that, didn't you?

Speaker 1 11:26

Oh, you know it.

Bruce 11:31

So, Sunny, do you know what time it is? No. It's time for our seven-day earthquake report.

Sunny 11:41

Oh yeah. Let's go for it.

Bruce 11:45

All right, let's go for it. As of today, 417 2026, we're gonna go back seven days to get the earthquake report. And for all magnitude earthquakes, a total for the seven-day report is two thousand four hundred and three. Two four zero three, which gave us a twenty-four point zero three percent. And for the two point five and over earthquakes, we are looking at three hundred and forty-eight. And that gives us a fourteen point forty eight percent. And for these four point five and over earthquake, we had seventy-four, which gave us a twenty one point twenty six percent. And would you like to tell us, Sunny, take a guess of how many earthquakes we had that was six and over?

Sunny 12:46

Yes, I'd like to. I guess two.

Bruce 12:50

All right, that's pretty good. Guess two, but it was actually one. Yep, that's right. We had a six point oh earthquake south of the Chromatic Islands, and that was it for this last seven-day report.

Sunny 13:06

Hey, that's good.

Bruce 13:11

Yeah, then numbers was a little bit low, so yeah, we got some celebrating to do, but we still had a lot of earthquakes around the world, and there is one that I like to make note of. If you're in the Nevada area, Silver Springs uh on the 13th, I believe it was, had a 5.7, which is not a six or over, but boy, it's getting close. So we still have earthquakes. Like I said, we had 348 that was 2.5 and over. So there's still chances of people getting hurt and damage and stuff. The six was actually out in the ocean, so that was a good thing. And let's just hope that uh we're not building up for a major earthquake or a set of major earthquakes, because this month, the very beginning seven-day report on the third, which was actually from March, this month has been low, which is good unless we're building up for a major shakeup. Let's hope not.

Sunny 14:24

Yeah, let's don't yeah, let's pray that it does not happen.

Bruce 14:30

Yes, let's pray for that for sure.

Radio Battery Build And Solar Charging

Sunny 14:37

Well, Bruce, that's a pretty good report overall. It's looking good. Let's just hope it stays that way. What have you been up to? I seen you out there working on that battery again.

Bruce 14:50

Yep, I was out there. Um I got most of my parts in that I needed, so I hooked it all up. The battery is now running my Yezu radio out there, and uh I forgot to order me a little cigarette lighter plug to go on my equalizer, so I had to wire it up direct for now, but I'm gonna get one probably tomorrow when I go to work, and I'm gonna be able to plug it into the front of that battery box, which will give me the ability to shut it right off with the switch. Right now it's wired up to the battery posts on the battery box, which are hot all the time. So I'm gonna have to unplug it from the equalizer to keep it from discharging on the battery all night long when I'm not using it.

Sunny 15:44

So you're boring everybody to death by just telling me what you did.

Bruce 15:50

Well, I like talking about it.

Sunny 15:53

Yeah, that's why I asked you because I knew you'd like to go blah blah blah blah. Hey, it's my hobby. Yeah, we know. Everybody that's listened to you knows.

Bruce 16:07

Okay, well, for their information and for you, Sunny, I actually got it hooked up today. It is running. Right now I've got the charger. I got a little solar panel, it's not a very big one. Uh it does about 20 volts, I think, at what, 10 amps or something like that. It's not very strong. But I've got it plugged up hanging on the outside wall of the garage, and it is trickle charging that battery. So I'm curious to see how much voltage goes away from it when I start talking and how quick it charges back up. Like I said, I can always put hook up the AC charger that plugs into the wall and charge it right back up, but I want to see if I can maintain a good level while talking and not talking, just listening. And, you know, for solar charging. I've got a bigger solar panel I can throw out there in the yard and fire it up if I really have an emergency and need to quick charge it. But that's for my solar uh generator, so I don't want to use it all the time. And I can pick up another one that's bigger if I need to. But anyway, that's enough of that. Yeah, you bet it is boo-hoo. Wait a minute. That wasn't a boo-hoo moment.

Sunny 17:33

Oh yes, it was for all of us that suffered through that long, boring explanation. Boo hoo.

Sun Hole Auroras And Starlink Photo

Bruce 17:43

Oh, good grief. You're a nightmare, Sunny. Let's add just a little bit of space news to this uh episode. Uh the sun has a hole in its atmosphere, or that's what they're calling it. It's a very large hole and it's opened up in the direction facing Earth. So, what that means, everybody, is there's gonna be high-speed solar wind flowing from this hole, and it should arrive here tomorrow. If you're listening to this later on, it won't matter, but April the 18th, which will potentially spark G2 class geometric storms, and the new moon's gonna be out, so that means it's gonna be dark skies and a beautiful opportunity for picture taking of the auroras. There you go, folks. The Aurora picture taking is on for tomorrow night. And if you are listening to this and you have the opportunity to tune in to chapters for my episode, I'm going to include a picture from Dan Bush from Albany, Missouri. He took a picture of uh it was a sunrise picture or a little bit before sunrise on April the 16th of the comet going over. But what he caught was Star Link satellites going over the earth. Supposedly we have ten thousand of them now flying over the earth and it's uh more than most of the time we have comets. So um it's becoming a little bit of a query when too much or some what is that saying?

Sunny 19:37

When is enough, that one?

Bruce 19:39

Well, that's close enough, yeah. Too much is not enough or a little bit's way too much, but yeah. I'll leave that picture up on my chapters and check that out, okay? There you go, guys.

Sunny 19:56

Well, that's nice of you. I hope that you have a chance to tune in and see that. That's gonna be that's wild. Thank you, Dan Bush.

Supreme Court ISP Copyright Ruling

Bruce 20:08

Well, we're just gonna keep this episode a little bit short because we're at the end of our monthly time. Tomorrow's the 18th, and it restarts our count. So we'll restart our episode count at that time. So today we're gonna keep it short. We just wanted to tune in and let you guys tune in and catch, you know, the reports for the earthquakes and some solar stuff and a hair bit news. I've got one news article I want to cover. Um, I already did a little bit, but this one is something I've been wanting to do, and I just haven't been able to squeeze it in. But it is also from USA Today. Oh, you just slipped that one in, but barely I caught you.

Sunny 20:57

Yeah, you been you did yeah.

Bruce 21:01

All right, well, uh, it wasn't too bad though.

Sunny 21:04

Well, I'm glad. I was a little bit worried, that's why I quit real quick.

Bruce 21:09

Nope, we needed a little bit of that. Okay, this is from uh USA Today, again, another article. This is uh about the Supreme Court ruling on March the twenty-fifth. See, I've held this for quite a while, I'm late. But they ruled against the music industry's effort to punish internet service providers. Yeah, they took a lawsuit up all the way up to the Supreme Court. See they were saying that service providers ought to be held accountable for illegal their users who illegally copy and share content. And the Supreme Court said, Nope. It was against Cox Communications liable for the defense. Deep damages, steep damages after it continued to provide the internet service to customers who had been flagged repeatedly for privacy. And I um I think I kind of stand up and agree with that because uh I think they ought to go after those people, not the providers. And I've used this um comparison about other things, but it's like somebody that goes out and buys a car, soups it up, transforms it into a mean machine with uh, you know, all kinds of equipment on it, and runs over somebody and kills them. And they take a lawsuit up against the manufacturer of the car. No, you go after that guy. He's the one that did it. He's the one that took our automobile, the tool, and transformed it into something else, and used it for something else. And anyhow, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Sunny 23:15

Oh boy, you did a good job there, Bruce. Sticking to it. Yeah. Not really, folks. He's nuts.

Bruce 23:25

Hey. Okay, maybe I am.

Sunny 23:28

Yeah, maybe.

Bruce 23:30

Alright, well, folks, that is all we have for the day. Sunny, you got anything else?

Thanks For Listening

Sunny 23:35

Well, I'd just like to say thanks again. You know, we do this for you guys and for us. We like to share this stuff with you, and we hope you share it with others and you come back.

Bruce 23:53

Yep, there you go. All right, let's let Capella do her job.

Capella 24:00

There are many ways you can show your support for the Uggy Quacking Duck Podcast. First, simply keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and maybe send good vibes too. Second, spread the word. Tell your friends about us, even the ones with questionable taste in podcasts. Third, share your talents. If you have skills in technology, art, or anything else that could help us, we'd love to hear from you. And finally, consider supporting us financially. Equipment, hosting, and website costs add up, and any contribution is greatly appreciated. We promise not to spend it all on rubber duckies, unless you want us to. Thank you for your support.

Bruce 24:40

Well, that's it, folks. That's all she wrote. I hope you enjoyed that episode as short as it was. Um sometimes we run them short like that, 30 minutes or so. Sometimes they're longer. We never know. We get to talking and there it goes.

Sunny 24:57

Yeah, you get to blowin' and a going and a blowin' and a going, and next thing you know, we spent an hour.

Bruce 25:06

Well, that don't happen very often. Yeah, but it does. All right, are you pecking on me again? Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you for that. And folks, thank you. We want to say that if you like any of our show, we want you to comment on it. And you can go to our detail part of our episode. It's right there on your phone or on the web page, and there's a link. Click on that, send us a fan mail. You can either send us a text or send us a recording. It'll walk you through it real easy. Real easy. We've done it.

Sunny 25:47

Yes, I've done it for sure. It was really fun, easy, and I'm still waiting to see if BuzzCast got it, if they play it back or they talk about me.

Bruce 26:02

Oh, yeah, we haven't heard that. That's a let's see, they got one coming out today, so we ought to be able to see if they got that. Because I think it went in too late for their episode recording the last week, so I think that's why you didn't hear it.

Sunny 26:18

Well, I'm excited. I can't wait to hear myself or hear about me.

Bruce 26:24

Uh don't get too egotistical.

Sunny 26:27

I'm not. I just want to see how well it works.

Bruce 26:31

All right. Well, that's for you folks to do, and we will play it over the air if you want us to. But if we contact you or if you contact us, it's through them, so there's no extra information between us, so you don't have to worry about anything like that.

Sunny 26:52

Yeah, your information's hidden from us, and our information's hidden from you.

Bruce 26:57

Yeah, something like that. I don't know if I've told it told you lately, Sunny, but thank you for being part of the show. Uh, I really miss Lily, but she's got a lot of stuff going on. She's going to school. Hopefully this summer we'll have a little bit more time together. We can do some uh podcasting episodes, hopefully.

Sunny 27:21

Well, thanks, Bruce. I'm glad I'm an alternative to Lily. Thank you very much.

Bruce 27:28

Now that's not what I was saying. I do appreciate you being here. You're a lot of help.

Sunny 27:34

All right. Just picking on you, Bruce.

Bruce 27:36

You're doing a good job today, aren't you?

Sunny 27:39

Oh yeah. I woke up and I thought, I'm gonna pick on Bruce this Friday.

Bruce 27:46

Yeah, I bet you did. All right, let's say bye. You ready? Ready. Bye. Father, we thank you for this time that we've had to do the episode. We thank you for the equipment and the support that we have. We ask you to bless those that are listening to our episodes, touch their lives, give them peace and happiness and some kind of joy away from this junk that's happening in the world and help us to enlighten their load, even if it's just long enough for 'em to take a breath and go And may that you receive the glory and all the power that has come from this. It is through your will, and we thank you very much. We appreciate the chance, the opportunity and the blessing. It is so.