* 19 was the coldest in the lower 48 this morning at Saranac Lake, New York.
* 6 below zero was the coldest in Alaska at Ft. Yukon. Ironically that station north of the Brooks Range also holds the all-time high temperature record for Alaska which is 100.
* 101 was the hottest Sunday at East Mesa, Arizona near Phoenix.
* 1/2 of 1% is all of the lower 48 that was covered by snow this morning. That was a decrease in coverage from recent days. Very little additional snow fell over the weekend. Not much new snow is expected at least through midweek.
* 168 inches of snow was on the ground at Mule Creek, Montana this morning. That is one of those high altitude automated snow-measuring stations at an elevation of 8,317 feet. I would love to visit there. I love those strange sounding place names and I have still not visited Hot Coffee, Mississippi.
* 21 was the “reported low” at Newfound Gap in Smoky Mountain National Park this morning. Wonder if that is an error, because the low atop Mt. LeConte, much higher in elevation, was 31. It was 32 in Gatlinburg at the National Park Headquarters.
* 7 inches is the snow cover at Barrow on the Arctic coast of Alaska. I believe that is the most they have had so far since it cooled off.
* 2.60 inches is all the rain they have had in the last 10 months at San Diego.
* 8.32 is their normal amount by now, so they have received only 31% of their average rain this year.
* 10.77 inches is the average rain for San Diego for an entire year.
* 53.99 inches is the average for Birmingham–just to use as a comparison.
* 300% is the increase in population in California since 1950. (Yes, it has tripled.)
* 50% or more of the new housing, which has been built during that time, is in a fire danger zone.
* 35.5 million is the population in California.
* 222.2 is the number of people per square mile in California. This contrasts sharply to only 6.2 people per square mile in Montana, 1.1 in Alaska and 88.4 people per square mile in Alabama.
* 180 degrees on the compass means due south. If you were to head due south from Birmingham, you would eventually pass very close to Cancun, then you would go across the middle of Honduras, after that you would enter into the Pacific Ocean near Managua, after that you would stay over the open Pacific for what seems like zillions of miles until you reached Ellsworth Land, which is part of Antarctica.
* 12 billion is the number of strokes of lightning around the world every year. This includes all kinds–cloud to ground, ground to cloud, cloud to cloud, in cloud and cloud to air. Yes, lightning is frightening.
* 111 mph is the highest known measured wind speed during those Santa Ana winds last week. It was clocked on Laguna Peak in Southern California. The humidity at the time was only a few points above zero and the air was full of dust and smoke. Can you imagine?
