The other day, the Weather Channel reported that hail the size of ping pong balls were going to hit a nearby county. I thought that was rather large and almost unbelievable for my neck of the woods. It got me thinking , what other interesting weather phenomenon has occurred throughout the years? In this article, you will encounter a handful of interesting weather records and facts dealing with rain.
Intense Rainfall
During the first week of June 2002, Exmouth (located in Western Australia) received about 322mm of rain, where 305 of the total rainfall occurred in a span of 24 hours on June 4. However, the most rain to fall in a single 24-hour period is 1,850mm (or 74 inches), which took place at Cilaos , located on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. This event occurred from March 15 to 15 in 1952.
Driest Location in the World
The driest location in Australia is Mulka Bore, which is found west of Lake Eyre (in the southern part of the continent). This place sees an average annual rainfall of 100mm (or 4 inches). However, if you’re looking for the driest place on the planet, it is Wadi Halfa in Sudan, where the annual average rainfall is clocked in as being less than 2.5 mm (which rounds out to less than 1/10 of an inch).
Wettest Location in Australia
Can you imagine living in a place that had an average of 314 ‘rainy days’ per year? This is what it’s like in most consistently wet location in Australia , Waratah.
Longest Dry Spell in the United States
The longest recorded dry spell to occur in the United States was in Bagdad, California, where they did not experience rainfall for 767 days.
The Wettest Places in the World
When based on the yearly average total, Mawsynram, India, is considered the wettest place in the world. This city receives an average of 11,870 mm (or 474.8 inches) of rain each year. Hawaii is home to the wettest place in the United States , Mt Wai-‘ale-‘ale , that averages more than 460 inches of rain each year at the summit.
The Wettest Town
Dorrigo (found in New South Wales) is considered the wettest town in the world because it receives an average of 2,004mm per year.
Annual Precipitation
Cherrapunji, India is known for having the highest average annual precipitation (an average of 450 inches of rain per year), while Arica, Chile gets honors for having the lowest average annual precipitation (average of 0.03 inches of rain per year).
One-Minute and One-Hour Downpour
Unionville, Maryland saw an intense downpour of rain in just one minute , 1.23 inches had fallen to the ground on July 4, 1956. Twelve inches of rain fell in a one-hour time span in two locations in the United States , Holt, Missouri on June 22, 1947 and Kilauea, Hawaii on January 24-25, 1956.