Weather by the Numbers, 5/1/12

*83 percent of the cotton crop has been planted in Alabama according to the weekly report from the Alabama Department of Agriculture, Montgomery

* 25 percent of the corn is planted

* 3 percent (actually 2.99%) is how much of the Alabama land area that is already under a D-4 drought. D-4 is classed as “Exceptional” and only parts of three counties in the southeast corner of Alabama has that. Numerous counties in Central and West Alabama are OK although the past week was rainless.

* 2004 is the last year that Alabama had no tornadoes (zero!) in the month of April until this year. .  So this April (2012) was exceptional especially when compared to April a year ago.  Remember, March, April and May make up our prime tornado season (but not always).

* 106 was the hottest official temperature in the good ole USA yesterday and that was in Death Valley. Get used to hearing that because Death Valley will be mentioned many, many times. That location holds the all time USA record of 134 which is just two degrees short of the world record!

* 28 was the lowest in the Lower 48 this morning at Alamosa and Gunnison, Colo., and Klamath Falls and Lakeview, Ore. Coldest in Alaska was 1 above zero (yes, above zero!) at Anaktuvuk Pass and Noatak

* 6 is how many tornadoes were reported in the middle of the USA last evening., about four of them close to the Oklahoma-Kansas border. There were 75 hail reports, including some big hail that broke windows and windshields!

* 3 to 5 times is how much more salty Great Salt Lake is than the oceans. It is the largest lake west of the Mississippi River.

* 3 is how many real big bodies of water that Montana rivers drain into. (the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, and the Pacific Ocean.

* 47 degrees is how much the thermometer rose in only 7 minutes at Great Falls, Mont., on January 11, 1980, from a bitter cold 32 below zero to 15 above zero.

* 100 degrees is how much the temperature once plunged in only 24 hours at Browning, Mont, from 44 above zero to 56 below zero. That would make some of us brew a second pot of coffee and go looking for a coat!

* 1 is how many times I have missed receiving my daily paper in the 11 years we have lived in Northeast Trussville.  Even that occurred on the day that the Birmingham Post Herald and Birmingham News swapped from morning to evening. I really admire people who deliver papers in all kinds of weather and way before daylight. I mail the one that brings my paper a thank-you check every Christmas. I am a newspaper junkie! (Yes, I know this is not a weather item)

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Category: Hodgepodge