Amazing Weather Facts You Might Not Know

While Maryland holds the record for the most rain in one minute, Mawsynram has the distinction of being the rainiest place in the world. Every year, it gets an average of over 30 feet of rain. That is astonishing and hard to imagine.

Many people have experienced a heavy rainfall. However, on April 7, 1956, Unionville, Maryland had a rainfall that set records. In just one minute, just under one and a quarter inches of rain fell.

Thankfully, the rain lessened and the storm only lasted about 50 minutes. All told, the storm dropped a little over two and three-fourths inches of rain. If the rain had continued to fall as hard as it did when the record was set for the greatest amount of rain in one minute, the storm would have dropped about 62.5 inches of rain. That is more than five feet of water!

The state of South Dakota has also been known to have weather extremes. On July 23, 2010, the town of Vivian had a tremendously strong thunderstorm that dropped giant hailstones. One of those stones, said to be the record setter, measured eight inches across and weighed nearly two pounds or a kilo.

Every year, in various places in the world, hail causes tremendous property damage. Hail can destroy entire fields of crops, it can cause roof damage, and it often causes extensive damage in broken windows, especially at car lots. It can also cause severe damage to trees and often kills livestock.

The town of Yuma, Arizona should be an easy place for meteorologists to give weather forecasts for. It has a unique claim to fame. You see, there are roughly 4,380 hours of daylight per year and Yuma gets an average of 4,000 hours of sunshine each year. That easily makes Yuma the sunniest place on Earth.

Without even looking at weather data, a weatherman in Yuma could forecast sunny weather and the chances are that he/she would be right nearly every time.

Hurricane, typhoon, and tornado strength is measured primarily due to wind speed. For instance, a category 5 hurricane has wind speeds in excess of 157 miles per hour. However, this airspeed might be considered as a breeze in Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica. Each year, the winds there are recorded and close to 200 miles per hour.

The strongest surface wind speed ever recorded was on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. That wind speed was officially measured at 231 miles per hour.

Montana holds a number of weather records. One of them isn't very well known, though. In 1887, a snowstorm hit Fort Keogh. During that storm, the largest snowflake ever measured fell. It measured 15 inches across and about 8 inches thick.

The weather we experience day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year may at times be severe, but it is worthwhile to keep in mind that it isn't what is happening elsewhere. It is helpful to remember that the world is a very big place and we only experience a tiny portion of it.