* 21 was one of the lowest temperatures in Alabama this morning at Cottondale and Belle Mina. A few other lows:
….22 at Scrougeout, Scottsboro, Hanceville and Russell Cave
….23 Pinson
….24 Munford
….25 Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Russellville
….26 Anniston
….27 Leeds/Moody
* 44 below zero was how cold it was this morning at Old Crow, in the Yukon Territory of NW Canada and also Arctic Village, Alaska. It was 42 below in Ft. Yukon, Alaska, which also happens to be the location of Alaska’s all time high of 100. The -44 at Old Crow was with floating ice crystals in the air.
* 55 below zero is the expected wind chill tonight and tomorrow in places like Arctic Village and Coldfoot, Alaska. (catch that appropriate name?) This is extremely dangerous. If you are not dressed properly for that, you could expire very quickly.
* 95 inches of snow is how much Valdez, Alaska has already received this season. They now have 18 inches on the ground.
*12 flakes is how much snow Trussville has received this season. But, Mentone, on Lookout Mountain has received three inches.
* 37.77 is the total rain amount so far this year in Huntsville. That is a shortfall of 16.42 inches. That is better than last year when they had received only 27.24 inches by this date in the year.
* 11 degrees colder than average describes Birmingham weather for the last 24 hours.
* 460 inches is the average yearly rain amount on Mt. Waialeale on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii, making it the wettest spot in the USA.
* 194 persons per square mile is the population density of Hawaii. Compare that to the most crowed, Monaco, with 45,333 persons per square mile!
* 1.2 billion is the estimated number of lightning flashes per year around this old world. This includes flashes that take place from cloud-to-cloud and within a cloud that never strike the ground.
* $155,000 was the estimated property loss in NW Alabama’s Lauderdale County during a tragic tornado on April 20, 1920. This despite the fact that over 100 people lost their homes. Can you imagine how much that would be in 2008 dollars! That outbreak of tornadoes killed 219 people in Mississippi and Alabama including 15 deaths and 81 injuries in Lauderdale County. 19 persons were killed in Franklin Coiunty, also in NW Alabama, including nine in a single family.
* 40.324 acres of woodlands were burned over in just the month of October in 1952 as a severe drought gripped Alabama.
* 123 days with not a drop of rain was the story in one Central Alabama community two years later in 1954 when one of the worst droughts on record was in progress across Alabama. That rainless period was between July 18 and November 16.
* 111 was the high temperature in Madison on July 29, 1930 when Alabama was having one of its worst heat waves ever. That 111 was only one degree short of the state’s all-time high of 112 at Centerville in the great heat wave of September, 1925.
* 15 is how many tornadoes were on the ground at one time during the great Super Outbreak of tornadoes in April, 1974. Some of those were the powerful long-track killers.
* 106.57 inches is how much rain occurred at Mt. Vernon Barracks (Mobile County) way back in 1853 (yep, that was 155 years ago) That record was exceeded in the 1970s at Evergreen, in South Alabama. Some of this information is from the old Alabama Weather Service which preceded the formation of a national weather service. The Smithsonian Institute was also involved in establishing those very early weather sites, some as early as 1811 and some general weather notes as early as 1711! (That was 297 years ago!)
* Remember, climate is what you expect but weather is what you get!
