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The Heat Wave during the
summer of 2011
was record-breaking across the United States. At it's height
during the
second half of July, 132 million Americans were under a Heat Alert. For
the
month through July 23rd, 1,966 record daily high temperatures were set
across
the country. Due to extremely high humidity levels, overnight
temperatures
didn't drop as normal and as a result an amazing 4,376 highest minimum
temperature records were tied or broken. On July 23rd at the
Minneapolis-St Paul
airport, the temperature reached 95 F degrees and combined with a dew
point of
82 F, the heat index value reached a sweltering 119 F degrees
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On February 12, 2010, 49 of the 50
U.S.
States had snow on the ground, with the lone exception being
Hawaii. Due to
El Nino and a combination of unusual
patterns, over two-thirds of the country had snow on the ground. Warmer
locations such as the Florida Panhandle, Dallas and Atlanta all
received
a rare dose of snow. From February, 6 - February 12, 2010, 1,180 new
snowfall records were set across the country.
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On the morning of February 10, 2011, Oklahoma
broke its
all-time record low temperature. Calm winds and clear skies caused the
city of
Nowata in northeastern Oklahoma to drop to an amazingly low temperature
of 31
degrees below zero. The average low temperature for Nowata was 27
degrees,
making this record low temperature 58 degrees below the normal low for
the
date. In contrast, the low temperature at the South Pole on the
same date
was only 23 degrees below zero.
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Through August 2007, the
United States experienced its
hottest year ever. During the month of August, more than 8,000 new heat
maximum and minimum
records were set or tied across the country.
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In Hawaii,
where surface temperatures are
always above 50F, there is snow. Between 1 and 2 feet of snow falls
each year in
the mountains above 5,000
feet.
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Clear skies, summer humidity as low as 4% and
higher elevations in New Mexico produce a surprisingly low mean
annual
state temperature. Delaware (55.27 F), Maryland
(54.22 F) and Virginia (55.11F) all possess a warmer average
annual
temperature than New Mexico (53.44F)
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The coldest football game ever played was
the
NFL Championship Game on December 31, 1967 in Green Bay, Wisconsin
between the
Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys when the temperature fell to -13F
degrees. The 2007
NFC Championship game in Green Bay between the New York Giants and
Green Bay
Packers was the third coldest game in history with a temperature of -1F
and wind
chill of -23F.
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The temperature in Tampa Bay and
Miami, Florida has never exceeded 100 degrees, while in Bismarck,
North Dakota the record
temperature for each of the 5 summer months of May through September is
102
degrees or higher. Although North Dakota is the 2nd
coldest state,
Bismarck's all-time high is an amazing 114
degrees, set in July, 1936.
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The greatest United States cold wave of
the 20th
century occurred during January, 1977. Snow was reported in Miami,
Florida
and temperatures across the northern U.S. from Iowa to Pennsylvania
didn't rise above freezing for the entire month.
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Although Hawaii is
the wettest state in the U.S., the city of Honolulu does not
receive a
high amount of rainfall, receiving only 18.29" annually. Cities thought
of as
"Dry cities" actually receive more rainfall than Honolulu - Flagstaff,
Arizona (22.91"), Amarillo, Texas (19.71") and Fargo,
North Dakota (21.19")
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The longest rain-free period in the
United
States was 767 days (2 years, 37 days), from October 3, 1912 to
November 8, 1914 at
Bagdad, California.
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A world record rainfall occurred at Holt,
Missouri on June 22, 1947 when it rained 12 inches in just 42
minutes. This averages to over 1/4 of an inch of rainfall per minute.
On July 4th, 1956 In Unionville, Maryland 1.23 inches of rain
fell in 1 minute.
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Phoenix, Arizona is one of the hottest
U.S. summertime cities with an average July high temperature of 104
degrees. In contrast, Flagstaff, Arizona, located only 145
miles away, is the eighth snowiest city in the United States
with an average annual snowfall of 99.9 inches.
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The average annual temperatures of New
York, St. Louis and San Francisco differ by only 1.8F degrees.
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Which is the least rainy city - Seattle,
New York City or Miami? Although on average Seattle is
cloudy 227 days a year, it only receives 39 inches of rain per year,
compared to New York City (42 inches) and Miami (60
inches)
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Is Chicago really "The Windy
City?" Of the 262 major weather reporting stations in the
United States, 27% or 72 stations average higher annual wind speeds
than Chicago, which averages 10.3 mph. For example, New
York City's annual wind speed is 12.2 mph. The humorous
explanation of the city's previous politicians being long-winded may be
a more appropriate reason for the nickname.
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Due to Florida's proximity to the
equator, the state receives more than a hundred times the UV exposure
that Maine does.
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Cheyenne, Wyoming averages the most hail
storms in the United States per year with 10 and Tulsa, Oklahoma
experiences the most severe hail storms annually.
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The United States leads the world with
an average of over 1,000 reported tornadoes each year. A distant second
is Canada with an average of approximately 100 reported
tornadoes.
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Kansas has received the most F5
tornadoes since 1880. Oklahoma encounters the highest number
of significant and violent tornadoes per square mile.
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Extreme weather across the world
occurring within the past three hours and weather records set today
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Interesting European and
Asian
weather facts and extremes, and U.S.State
climates, Top 10 Texas
and California
climate extremes
Interesting
United States Weather Facts and Extremes