Weather Facts & Records:

The weather has never been something we can count on. It seems like whenever we're expecting rain there won't be a cloud in the sky, and vice versa. But these are minor weather glitches compared to the following anomalies. The following are weather records that turned potential average days into one for the record books.

Temperature:

  • The hottest world temperature occurred in Al' Aziziyah, Libya in September 13, 1922. It reached 136°F.
  • On July 10th, 1013 in Death Valley, California the temperature reached 134°F, the record for the warmest temperature ever in the United States.
  • The coldest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere was -81°F. This happened Feb. 3, 1947 at Snag in Canada's Yukon Territory.
  • Siberia hosted the coldest recorded temperature for an inhabited area on February 6, 1933. The temperature dipped to -90.4°F.
  • Antarctica has experienced the coldest ever temperature on earth. On July 21st, 1983, the temperature was -128.6°F. This temperature does not include wind chill.
  • On January 23 - 24, 1916 in Browning, Montana the record for the most dramatic 24 hour temperature difference was set. In this time period the temperature fell over 100° from 44°F to -56°F.
  • The fastest rise (and fall) in temperature is 49°F in two minutes (-4°F at 7:30AM to 45°F at 7:32AM). This occurred January 22, 1943 in Spearfish, South Dakota. Note: At 9am the temperature peaked at 54°F and then over the following 27 minutes dropped back to -4°F.

Rainfall:

  • The location with the highest average annual precipitation is Cherrapunji, India. It gets an average of 450 inches of rain a year.
  • The location with the lowest average annual precipitation is Arica, Chile. It only gets an average of 0.03 inches of rain a year.
  • The most rain to fall in 1 minute was 1.23 inches. It happened on July 4th, 1956 in Unionville, Maryland.
  • The most rain to fall in 1 hour was 12 inches. It happened twice, June 22, 1947 in Holt, Missouri, and then again January 24-25, 1956 in Kilauea, Hawaii.
  • The most rain to fall in a 24 hour period was 73.62 inches. It fell March 15 and 16, 1952 on Cilos, Réunion (an island in the Indian Ocean).
  • The longest lasting rainbow occurred over Sheffield, England on March 14, 1994. It lasted from 9am to 3 pm.

Snowfall:

  • Silver Lake, Colorado is home to the most snow to ever fall in a day's span. In 1921, between April 14th and 15th, a whooping 75.8 inches fell.
  • The deepest snow depth record (not from one storm) was recorded March 11, 1911, at Tamarack, California. On that day they had a total of 451 inches on the ground.
  • The most snow during a winter was recorded at Rainier Ranger Station, Washington 1971 - 1972 where they had 1122 inches.

Other Precipitation:

  • The largest hailstones were produced April 14, 1986 in a storm over Bangladesh. The hailstones weight up to 2¼ lbs and reportedly killed 92 people.

Winds:

  • The fastest recorded wind speed in a hurricane was 200 mph. This was the sustained windspeed in hurricane Camille's eye wall on August 17 - 18, 1969.
  • The fastest recorded surface wind speed on earth was 231 mph on Mount Washington, New Hampshire in April 12, 1934.
  • The fastest winds on earth (300+ mph) occur during tornadoes.

Atmospheric Pressure:

  • The official record for highest atmospheric pressure is 32.01 inches (1083.8 mb). This measurement was taken at Agata, Siberia, on December 31, 1968; however, this record may have be broken on December 19, 2001. On that day in Tosontsengel, Mongolia, an uncertified measurement of 32.06 inches (1085.6 mb) was recorded.
  • The lowest recorded atmospheric pressure was measured at 25.69 inches (870 mb) on October 12, 1979. The location was in the center of in Typhoon Tip while it was over the Pacific Ocean. At 1,350 miles wide, Typhoon Tip also holds the record for the worlds largest (in size) tropical cyclone.

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