WEATHER BY THE NUMBERS–3/28/07

* 9.9 is the allergy level forecast for Birmingham today. (rated as high) The 9.9 is on a scale of 1 to 12.

* 8.8 is the forecast level for tomorrow rated high to medium.

* 11 is the forecast for Friday and Saturday on a scale of 1 to 12.

* 259,128 is the average number of cars and trucks that pass through the I-75 and I-85 interchange in Atlanta daily. (Thankfully, in my tiny corner of the world, the number of cars each day is a tiny, minute, microscopic amount by comparison.)

* 0.43 is how much rain fell at Muscle Shoals in extreme NW Alabama in the middle of the night as some stray showers moved in from NE Mississippi. A street party is in order to celebrate.

* 27 is the number of days in a row with no measurable rain at Troy in SE Alabama. They have received 1.36 inches so far in March, but all of that fell at one time on March 1 during Alabama’s big tornado event.

* 46 was the high temperature in Savannah on July 4, 1816. That was the famous year without a summer. There was heavy snow in New England during the second week of June. In Vermont, there were 20-inch drifts on June 7.

* 9 is how many states in the USA that have recorded temperatures 120 or higher in past history. Alabama is not among those. (112 at Centreville on September 5, 1925)

* 90 was the number of fatalities from a violent tornado at Worcester, Massachusetts on June 9, 1953. Big tornadoes are not common in New England.

* 7 is the number of hurricane names that start with the letter A that have been retired because of their exceptional strength. That includes Agnes in 1972, Alicia in 1983, Allen in 1980, Allison in 2001, Andrew in 1992, Anita in 1977 and Audrey in 1957.

* 515 is the number of fatalities from lightning in the State of Florida between 1959 and 2004. Florida, by far, leads the nation in lightning deaths. That is because they have more electrical storms. Central Florida is the nation’s capitol for thunderstorms.

* 9 is how many days in a row the temperature has reached the 80s in Tuscaloosa. The average high so far this month–a very warm 74.3.

* 12 is the number of days in a row with no rain at Tuscaloosa.

* 8.44 inches is the rainfall deficiency so far this year in Birmingham. The total for the year stands at 6.57 inches. Last year at this time, we had received 19.10 inches.

* 12% is how much of the lower 48 states was covered by snow this morning. That is up from 8% yesterday morning due to a big snowstorm unfolding in the Rockies. A month ago today, the snow cover was 43%.

* 24 to 36 inches is how much snow is expected by tomorrow afternoon in and around Sheridan in Northern Wyoming. A Blizzard Warning is in effect. Local amounts may be as high as 4 feet. Winds will gust to 55 mph producing white-out conditions at times.

* 5 to 11 inches of snow is how much Yellowstone National Park should get from this storm.

* 317 inches is how much snow was on the ground at Leavitt Lake in the California high country this morning at an elevation of 9,399 feet. Remember, these measurements are taken in very remote mountainous areas where people normally do not live.

* 185 inches was the snow depth at Thumb Divide, Wyoming. (Don’t you just love those names!)

* 112 inches was the water equivalent of the snow pack in Elstanislaus Meadow in the high country of California. Translation: if all that snow were to melt, it would be the equivalent of getting 112 inches of rain. Water interests in the Western USA watch the high country winter snow pack religiously. That can easily determine yes or no on water shortages later in the year.

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