Quiet day so far across Alabama, so I will throw out some numbers. Some of these numbers have absolutely nothing to do with weather so they may or may not be of interest to you. That is what the scroll key is for.
* 1.053 billion is how many broilers were produced in Alabama during the past year. We rank third behind Georgia and Arkansas.
* 173,131.000 is how many of those were raised in Cullman County, by far the leading producer. Followed by Dekalb, Marshall and Blount County.
* 1,317,000 is the number of laying hens in Dekalb County. They lead Cullman, Marshall and Randolph in that category.
* 14 is where Alabama ranks nationally in egg production.
* 105 below zero is the temperature at Vostok, Antarctica. That is exactly what was forecast for today.
* 43 was the lowest in Alaska this morning at Wonder Lake in Denali National Park.
* 38 was the lowest temperature down here where all 48 states are connected. It was at West Yellowstone, Mont. That station held the all time low for the USA for a long time until the -70 occurred at Rogers pass, Mont., in January 1954.
* 118 was the hottest in the USA yesterday. Guess where? Yes, Death Valley.
* 9.47 inches is how much rain fell at McGregor, Iowa, just in the last 24 hours.
* 7.31 inches fell from the same storm system at Prairie Du Chien, Wisc.
* 2.41 inches is one of the heaviest amounts in the state of Alabama in the last 24 hours–at Blount Springs.
* 5,500 cubic miles is the volumn of water in the five Great Lakes.
* 94,000 square miles is how much area the Great Lakes take up.
* 6 quadrillion gallons is the estimated amount of water in the lakes.
* 9.5 feet is the estimated depth of the Great Lakes water, if the lakes could be drained and the water evenily spread out over the lower 48 states. That would assume a completely flat nation, of course. That one fact completely blows my 4th grade mind!
* 43 inches is how much rain fell in only 24 hours at Alvin, Texas on July 25-26, 1979. It is a record for all of the USA.
* 1840 was one of the greatest drought years ever for Alabama. Famine seemed imminent. The Black Warrior River at Tuscaloosa almost went dry and a great many fish die.
* 29 inches is how much rain Huntsville received for the entire year of 1840.
* 1954 may have been our worst drought ever. It is difficult to compare them because of huge differences in population, water needs, you name it. But I still say, a major drought is one of the most depressing or discourging weather events.
* 160% is what the relative humidity felt like when I walked my little dog late yesterday. We had just received heavy rain and thick patches of ground fog made it look erie.
Outta here…
