Weather by the Numbers

(Usually, 95% weather, but also some other stuff.) (Updated 12:10 pm)

(First, scroll down and see the excellent post David Black furnished from Rex Free, a ham radio operator from Lawrence County. It is a call to action to never let down your guard during tornado events.)

* 40 below zero was the coldest temperature in the USA lower 48 this morning at Embarrass and International Falls, Minnesota. (UPDATED at 12:10 pm to mention that International Falls did reach -40 also between 6 and 7 am) I am 92% certain that that is the coldest in the lower 48 so far this winter. It was 39 below at Little Fork. International Falls is legendary for being the coldest in the country so many, many times over the years.

* 69 below zero was the coldest in Alaska on Saturday morning at Chicken. On that same morning it was 60 below at Northway.

* 52 below zero at Eagle was the coldest Sunday morning in Alaska.

* 50 below at Beaver was the coldest in Alaska this morning.

* 80 below zero is the Alaska all-time record. It occurred at Prospect Creek Camp located east of Bettles.

* 1893 is when Hot Springs was discovered and became a health resort with the name of Circle Hot Springs. It is in Eastern Alaska.

* 20,000 square miles is how much of Alaska is taken up by glaciers. Roughly 3% of our biggest state.

* 65 below zero is the current temperature at Ojmjakon, Russia with a pressure of 30.91 inches. It was also 54 below at Summit, Greenland, so there is still plenty of bitter cold arctic air in the far, far North Country and on the other side of the North Pole. The large mass of arctic air, which has now entered the USA, will slide off to the NE and we will not feel any extreme cold in Alabama.

* 27 below zero was the low in Churchill, Manitoba with wind chill of 48 below. That town on the SW shore of Hudson Bay is billed as the polar bear capitol of the world. It has always been on my must visit list, but there is only a 2% chance that I will ever get there.

* 26 was the temperature of the soil at the 4-inch depth in Chicago this morning, so the ground is most surely frozen to at least 1/2 foot deep.

* 42 inches is how much snow Chicago has received this season and that is 17 inches above average.

* 58 inches is the snow amount so far at Rockford, Illinois–a whopping 31 inches above average.

* 2,301 feet is the highest point in Minnesota–about 106 feet lower than Alabama’s Mt. Cheaha. The Minnesota high point is called Eagle Mountain. It is located in the extreme NE part of the state in the so-called Arrowhead section.

* 3 below zero was the low in Chicago this morning. They are expecting 13 this afternoon, a low of 11 tonight and a low of 7 Tuesday night.

* 47 inches of snow has fallen on Lacrosse, Wisconsin so far making it the fourth snowiest start since 1908.

* 19 inches is how much snow Milwaukee has received just in the last 10 days making 68 inches this season. Amazingly, the average amount by February 11 is only 36 inches.

* 115 is how many years the first fire plug in Birmingham lasted. It was installed on the corner of Morris Avenue and 18th Street on December 1, 1890. It remained in service for that 115 years. (This fact from the Birmingham Public Library as published in Birmingham Magazine. Birmingham Magazine is an excellent publication and loaded with information.)

* 24 was one of the coldest temperatures reported in Alabama early this morning at Vinemont in North Cullman County. Lows across the state were generally in the mid and upper 20s and lower 30s.

* 79 was the 8:00 p.m. temperature in Manila (just to warm you up).

* 1950 was the publication date of “The Unique Bedside Book of Weather Lore” published for the Royal Meteorological Society in London. It is loaded with hundreds of items of weather lore.

Here are just two items:

“As the days grow longer,
the storms grow stronger.”

“If there is spring in winter, and winter in spring,
the year won’t be good for anything.”

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