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What are some weather extremes on Earth?

 

The Earth has a vast surface area, nearly 200 million square miles. A great variation in weather covers this expanse. The following list describes just a few places with unusual distinctions:

 

The lowest temperature reading ever measured was -129F (-89.2C) in Antarctica (1983).

 

6.3 feet (approx. 1.9 meters) of snow fell in 24 hours at Silver Lake, Colorado (1921).

Copyright 2001, Paul S. Taylor  

Mt. Waialeale in Kauai, Hawaii, averages 460 inches of rain (11,685 mm / 38 feet / 11.58 meters) each year. At an altitude of nearly a mile, the cold temperatures squeeze the moisture from rising ocean air.

 

Northern Chile is one of the driest places on Earth. Cold ocean currents prevent the formation of clouds, and in places there is no recorded rain in over 400 years. Ground water and dew formation allow the growth of hardy grasses.

 

Central Uganda in Africa averages 242 thunderstorm days each year.

 

The highest air temperature ever recorded was 136F (58C), in Libya. This occurred in 1922, in the shade. Death Valley, California, has recorded a temperature of 134F (56.7C).

 

Holt, Missouri, experienced 12 inches (approx. 30.5 centimeters) of rain in just 42 minutes, in 1947.

People live near each of the above locations, in spite of the weather extremes. The Creator as given an abundance of plants and animals that thrive in seemingly impossible places. In comparison with the harsh conditions of other planets, no place on Earth is totally desolate or lifeless.

Learn more about weather…


Author: Dr. Donald B. DeYoung of Creation Research Society (ChristianAnswers.Net team member). First published in Weather and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1992). Used by permission. Text copyright © 1992, 2003, Donald B. DeYoung.

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