Weather Facts
Temperature Facts
On January 22 1943, the temperature at Spearfish, South Dakota (USA) rose from minus 20°C (minus 4°F) at 7.30am to 7°C (45°F) at 7.32 am (a 27°C rise in just 2 minutes!).
Temperatures dipped below freezing in the north central U.S. Five cities in North Dakota and Nebraska reported record low temperatures for the date, including Bismarck ND with a reading of 17 degrees above zero. Low pressure brought snow and sleet to parts of Upper Michigan.
The temperature at Minneapolis, MN, reached 90 degrees, their latest such reading of record.
Freezing temperatures were reported in the Great Lakes Region and the Ohio Valley. Houghton Lake MI reported a record low of 21 degrees.
The temperature at Sentinel AZ soared to 116 degrees to establish an October record for the nation.
Freezing temperatures were reported in the Northern and Central Appalachians, and the Upper Ohio Valley. The morning low of 27 degrees at Concord NH tied their record for the date. Temperatures soared into the 90s in South Dakota. Pierre SD reported an afternoon high of 98 degrees.
The temperature soared to 104 degrees at San Diego, CA. Southern California was in the midst of a late October heat wave that year. Los Angeles had ten consecutive days with afternoon highs reaching 100 degrees.
The temperature at Honolulu, Hawaii, reached 94 degrees to establish an all-time record at that location.
The temperature at Wichita Falls TX soared to 108 degrees to establish a record for September.
The temperature at Deeth NV soared from a morning low of 12 degrees to a high of 87 degrees, a record daily warm-up for the state.
Twenty-three cities in the south central U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date, including Topeka KS with a reading of 33 degrees, and Binghamton NY with a low of 25 degrees. Showers and thunderstorms in the southeastern U.S. drenched Atlanta GA with 4.87 inches of rain, their sixth highest total of record for any given ay.
In Australia, Marble Bar (WA) recorded maximum temperatures equaling or exceeding 37.8°C (100°F) on 161 consecutive days (between 30 October 1923 and 7 April 1924)
Rainfall Facts
Exmouth in Western Australia received some 322mm of rain in the first week of June 2002. 305mm of this total falling in just 24 hours on June 4.
A rainbow was visible for 6 hours (from 9am to 6pm) at Wetherby, Yorkshire (UK) on 14 March 1994. This is rare as most rainbows last for only a few minutes.
The total amount of precipitation to fall to earth in one year is 5,000 million million tones.
The amount of water held in the atmosphere at any time is sufficient to produce about 2.5cm (1 inch) of rain over the surface of the earth.
The most rain to fall in a single 24 hour period is 1,850mm (74 inches) at Cilaos (on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion) between 15 and 16 March 1952.
The Driest place in Australia is Mulka Bore, west of Lake Eyre (SA), with an average annual rainfall of 100mm (4 inches).
Clouds Facts
Clouds can reflect so much ultraviolet light from the sunlight they dramatically increase the ultraviolet reaching the ground.
Sunbathing on sunny days with clouds in the sky can be dangerous.
The biggest clouds are cumulonimbus, climbing up to 9.7 kilometers (6 miles) high and holding up to half a million tons of water.
Cloud droplets are extremely small. They are about ten thousandth of an inch across, a thousand times smaller than a raindrop.
Sunshine Facts
Lightning is 5 times hotter then the surface of the sun.
Residents of the northeastern U.S. observed a blue sun and a blue moon, caused by forest fires in British Columbia.
Melbourne (VIC) has the dubious honour of being Australia's least sunny capital with an average of 5.7 hours of sunshine each day.
In Australia, Darwin (NT) is the sunniest capital with an average of 8.5 hours a day.
Yuma in Arizona (USA) is the sunniest place in the world.
Fog Facts
The tiny droplets of water that make up fog are so small that it would take seven thousand million of them to make a single tablespoonful of water.
The fogs, which are more common in winter, occasionally cause havoc with air travel by lingering into the early afternoon.
In Australia, Canberra wins the title of the 'foggiest' capital city with an average of 47 fogs each year.
Sea fogs persist for more than 120 days a year on the Grand Banks, Newfoundland, Canada.
Dust Facts
In May 1962, strong westerly winds resulted in such a thick dust haze in Sydney, that Bankstown Airport had to close for almost 4 hours.
In Australia's capital cities dust storms are somewhat of a rarity, but have, nonetheless, been responsible for causing significant inconvenience to city life.
In Australia, the most severe dust storms usually occur across the dry interior of the continent during the summer months.
Tornado Facts
Hurricane Beulah moved into South Texas, and torrential rains from the hurricane turned the rich agricultural areas of South Texas into a large lake. Beulah also spawned a record 115 tornadoes.
A tornado traveled 275 miles across Lake Ontario, New York and Lake Champlain.
One South Dakota tornado was observed hovering in a field for 45 minutes.
In 1967, Hurricane Beulah unleased 115 tornadoes over Texas.
The tornado is the most violent of all earth's storms.
The average lifespan of a tornado is less than 15 minutes.
Other Facts
Hurricane Emily crossed the island of Bermuda during the early morning. Emily, moving northeast at 45 mph, produced wind gusts to 115 mph at Kindley Field. The thirty-five million dollars damage inflicted by Emily made it the worst hurricane to strike Bermuda since.
Cool Canadian air prevailed across the central and eastern U.S. Toledo OH reported a record low of 27 degrees. Limestone ME received an inch of snow. Warm weather continued in the western U.S. Boise ID reported a record high of 87 degrees.
The western U.S. continued to sizzle. Afternoon highs of 85 degrees at Astoria OR, 101 degrees at Tucson AZ, and 102 degrees at Sacramento CA, equalled October records. It marked the fourth time in the month that Sacramento tied their record for October.
Cold Canadian air invaded the north central U.S. bringing an end to the growing season across those states. Unseasonably warm weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S. Phoenix AZ reported a record high of 105 degrees.
Afternoon highs of 103 degrees at Long Beach CA and 105 degrees at the Los Angeles Civic Center were the hottest since September records were established in 1963. Fierce Santa Ana winds accompanying the extreme heat resulted in destructive fires.
A black frost over most of New England kills unripened corn in the north resulting in a year of famine.
Unseasonably warm weather prevailed across Florida. Afternoon highs of 92 degrees at Apalachicola and 95 degrees at Fort Myers were records for the date.
