* 41.09 inches is the Cullman rain deficiency since January 2005.
* 25 days had low temperatures that were freezing or lower in Birmingham in January, 1940.
* 13 days had lows under 20.
* 6 days had lows of 10 or colder
* 14 morning in a row had a hard freeze
* 1 above zero was the low on the mornings of January 26 and 27, 1940 over a heavy blanket of snow.
* 10 below zero was the low at Birmingham Airport during that severe cold. A weather station had been established at the airport but it was not yet official. It was at least the second time that people were ice skating on the Warrior River at Birmingport. The other time was in mid-February, 1889 during the “Mother of all Cold Waves.” (or was it the “Grandfather of all Cold Waves?) However, January, 1940 wasa bitter cold month. The official weather records were downtown at that time. Even so, the official high on the 25th and 26th was only 20! There was a hard freeze 14 nights in a row.
* 72% is how much of the Alabama corn crop was in good to excellent condition as of yesterday according to the U.S Department of Agriculture, Alabama Field Office, Montgomey. A huge improvement over last year when many fields were ruined by the grought.
* 87% of soybean acreage in good to excellent condition
* 59% of pasture and range land in good to excellent condition. That, too, is a huge improvement over last year.
* 56% of the state’s top soil has adequate moisture as compared to 64% last week.
* 256 inches is the average annual precipitation at Henderson Lake, British Columbia–the greatest in North America. For comparison the Birmingham average is 54 inches.
* 31.85 inches is the highest sea level pressure ever recorded in North America. It was at Northway, Alaska. (That is almost 1068 millibars!)
* 922,651 is the acreage of Olympic National Park in NW Washington west of Seattle. Mt. Olympus is the highest elevation in the park at 7,965 feet. A very nice rain forest covers much of the area because it is positioned to receive the first onslaught of moisture-laden winds coming in off the Pacific. I sure would love to go there. Bill Murray will be vacationing on the Pacific NW Coast beginning Friday. Why don’t you check it out, Bill? They are expecting 5 to 10 inches of new snow in the next 24 hours or so. (This is June!)
* 12 inches of new snow expected from this storm in and around Glacier National Park. This includes Rogers Pass west of Helena. Ah yes, many great memories about that place where the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Lower 48 occurred in January, 1954. Visited the site a few months later.
* 2.2% was how much of the Lower 48 was covered by snow this morning. That will increase in the next day or so.
* 5 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours at Paradise Ranger Station at Mt. Rainier bringing their total on the ground to 177 inches.
* 192 inches was the snow depth at Grizzly Peak in North Central Colorado this morning. Elevation there is 11,168 feet.
* 4.33 inches of rain at Tulsa yesterday. Their excess for the year so far is now at an impressive 13.41 inches!
* 4 is how many cups of coffee I have had so far today. Running behind on that so I am bailing out of this to catch up to pay closer attention to current weather.
