weatherfactarchive

Weather Fact Archive

 

1/27/2008

The lowest temperature ever recorded in Florida was -2 degrees F on February 13, 1899 at Tallahassee, FL.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Florida was 109 degrees on June 29, 1931 at Monticello, FL.

Source: National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, through May 2004.

2/3/2008

Arica, Chile, a coastal town on the Pacific Ocean in the Atacama Desert has an average annual precipitation of only 0.02 inches per year. In fact, between October 1903 and January 1918 not a drop of rain fell on Arica.

Source: Weatherwise, Jan/Feb 2008.

2/10/2008

There are an estimated 25 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the United States each year, killing an annual average of 67 people.

Source: National Weather Service, NOAA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce

3/23/2008

The mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the first to develop a thermometer or, as he called it, a thermoscope. Unfortunately, Galileo did not leave any reports of observations made wtih this instrument.

Source: A Guide to Weather, Fog City Press, San Francisco, 1996.

5/6/2008

Clouds are white because all the colors of the spectrum are scattered by the water droplets that make up the cloud. The result of this is resonstituted white light. If the light does not pass through to the viewer, or another cloud is casting a shadow, clouds may appear gray or black.

Source: A Guide to Weather, Fog City Press, San Francisco, 1996.

5/30/2008

Waterspouts are classified as tornadic or non-tornadic with the majority of them less intense non-tornadic in nature. The non-tornadic waterspouts are caused by a pre-existing rotation near the surface of the water, combined with some form of updraft and usually only last about 15 minutes.

Source: A Guide to Weather, Fog City Press, San Francisco, 1996.

1/23/2009

Smog is the term originally used for the combination of smoke and fog. Smog forms when smoke or haze is present and there is an increased number of condensation nuclei. When water vapor is present and the relative humidity increases due to nighttime cooling, smog will form.

Source: A Guide to Weather, Fog City Press, San Francisco, 1996.

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