Weather Trivia Day
- The naming of hurricanes and tropical storms officially began in 1953.
- The wind doesn’t make a sound until it blows against an object.
- Average global temperature is up 0.94°C (1.7°F) since 1880.
- Fire whirls are tornadoes made of fire caused by wildfires.
- At any given time, on average there are about 1800 thunderstorms occurring on Earth with 100 lightning strikes per second.
- For each minute of the day, 1 billion tonnes of rain falls on the Earth.
- A molecule of water will stay in the Earth’s atmosphere for an average duration of 10-12 days.
- Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth.
- The fastest speed a falling raindrop can hit you is 18 mph.
- It was so cold in 1684 that the Thames River in England froze solid for two months.
- Mawsynram in Meghalaya, India is the wettest place on Earth with an annual rainfall of more than 11 meters.
- Highest Temperature Recorded on Earth is 56.7°C (134°F) at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913.
- Lowest Temperature Recorded on Earth is -89.2°C (-128.5°F) at Vostok, Antarctica on July 21, 1983.
- A cubic mile of ordinary fog contains less than a gallon of water.
- In 1899, it was so cold that the Mississippi river froze over its entire length.
- The air located around a lightning bolt is heated to around 30,000°C. This is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun.
- The average width of a tornado’s funnel averages about 100 to 200 yards, but it may be as wide as a mile.
- Snowflakes falling at 2-4 mph can take up to 1 hour to reach the ground.
- The country most affected by tornadoes is the USA which faces on average 1200 tornadoes every year.
- Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica is the windiest place on Earth with winds of 200mph been recorded.
Oct 6, 1941
A tornado hit Kansas City Missouri leaving 4 dead and causing
$250,000 damage.
Oct 7, 1992
An early fall snowstorm dumped from seven to ten inches of wet
snow across the Belleville and Munden areas in north central
Kansas. The combination of the heavy snow and high winds behind
the storm caused tremendous amounts of tree and power line damage
in this area. Approximately 20 power poles were snapped off and
some residents were without power for up to 48 hours.
Approximately 75 homes in the Belleville area sustained damage
from falling trees and branches.
Oct 8, 1871
Prolonged drought and dessicating winds led to the great Chicago
fire, the Peshtigo horror, and the Michigan fire holocaust. Fire
destroyed more than seventeen thousand buildings killing more
than 200 persons in the city of Chicago, while a fire consumed
the town of Peshtigo WI killing more than 1100 persons. In
Wisconsin, a million acres of land were burned, and in Michigan,
2.5 million acres were burned killing 200 persons. “Tornadoes of
fire” generated by intense heat caused houses to explode in fire,
and burned to death scores of persons seeking refuge in open
fields.
IN 1919…An intense tornado moved through the town of Hoisington,
11 miles north of Great Bend. It damaged or destroyed 60 homes
which resulted in $200,000 in damages. Business papers and
cancelled checks were found at Lincoln, 55 miles to the
northeast.
Oct 9, 1949
A tornado moved north northeast from 10 miles south of Rush
Center to 6 miles northeast of LaCrosse. Four farms were hit as
the tornado passed 4 miles southeast of Rush City. Barns and
silos were destroyed on three farms.
Oct 10, 1973
Fifteen to twenty inch rains deluged north central Oklahoma in
thirteen hours producing record flooding. Enid was drenched with
15.65 inches of rain from the nearly stationary thunderstorms,
which established a state 24 hour rainfall record. Dover
Oklahoma reported 125 of 150 homes damaged by flooding.
Oct 11, 1928
What was probably a family of small tornadoes moved northeast
from the northwest corner of Finney county, passing west of Amy
and south of Healy. Many farm buildings were destroyed and one
home was twisted.
IN 1954…A tornado moved east from 4 miles north of Catharine KS
to 8 miles north of Gorham. A home was unroofed, and oil derricks
were blown down. A pickup truck was tossed 30 feet into the air.
Oct 12, 1918
Forest fires ravaged parts of Minnesota from the Duluth area
northeastward, claiming the lives of 600 persons. Smoke with a
smell of burnt wood spread to Albany NY and Washington D.C. in
24 hours. Smoke was noted at Charleston SC on the 14th, and by
the 15th was reported in northeastern Texas.
We have a wedding to attend today in Middleville at Bowen Mill – the ceremony is suppose to be outside which will be a wet one to say the least. It started raining at 5am here in Otsego.
Our high temp today so far is 64° – temps will hold in the mid 60s until we get towards late afternoon then they will drop off quickly with an overnight lows in the low 40s/upper 30s. Rainfall amounts could be .50 to .75 of an inch. Temps tomorrow will struggle to reach 50° with gradual clearing. Cool temps will be the theme next week as we are reminded that we are in fall now….
We have a major below normal temp stretch coming! Get ready!
Get ready? We’ve been waiting over a month for temps to drop and it’s been day after day of above. I wish it would stay like this for a while but by later next week we swing right back above normal again.
As Mookie already indicated the so called big warm blob it trying to form in the Northern Pacific. When this happens it can cause high pressure just south of Alaska and this could cause a more NW flow of cold air into the central US. And now this fromSteve Dimartino “The QBO at 30 MB around the Equator is currently at 8.25 m/s but has been declining slowly since May. The QBO trends would suggest a new negative state in the QBO is likely to evolve by the start of this winter. The QBO changes propagate from the bottom of… Read more »
Flood advisory for west Michigan now more rain is on the way with cool temps ….Stay tuned …INDY
29 out of the last 31 days have been average or above average! Incredible stretch of warm weather!
Uh oh. The big warm blob is forming in the Pacific again. Last time this happened it allowed very cold polar air in our area during winter.
The words of the day “below normal temps”! Get ready!
As I have stated before the site, I go to for much of my historical information is now down and at this time I am not sure for how long. However, at a different site (not as much nor as good of information) I did find this bit of useful information. So far this year (January to September) the mean at Grand Rapids is 51.7° the 30 year average is 52.2° for a departure of -0.5° At Detroit the mean this year is 53.6 the 30 year average is 53.4 for a difference of +0.2° down at Toledo the mean… Read more »
Once again, GR is the coldest relative to average. Hmmm
Must be a conspiracy!!!!
Slim
Too funny!
Did you know that this past September 62.26% of the United States was “very warm” and 0.0% was “very cold” in fact the last time over 10% of the US was “very cold” is September was back in 2006 20.54% The bad part is I do not know what is “very warm” nor what is “very cold” but looking at the chart I can say it has been mostly warm in September since the 1970’s
A lot of good weather trivia.
Here at my house I recorded 0.16″ of rain so far. Did not see any lightning this AM. The current temperature here at my house is now at 61. The NWS weather history archives is still down due to what they claim are budget issues and I am not sure how long that will be down. I have located a different site but the information there is not as good as it is more general in nature and it uses maps. I much prefer actual numbers over a map.
Slim
MV your last line says is all cool temps will be the theme next week as we are reminded we are in Fall!!! ..Other then more rain what’s more to say have a good Friday …INDY
As of 7am we picked up .51 of an inch of rain – temp is 60*
Good trivia facts! The wind not making any sound until it hits something……does that mean tornadoes are quiet until they touch the ground?
Good lightning show when I got up at 430 this morning. Crazy mild overnight.
The local met said were 20° above average this morning. It’s always warmest before the cold front. 😬