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We rode out a really severe spring storm that spawned a tornado in the FTW area when my daughter was a senior in high school--and she is 33 now...you do the math...
We had come to SW part of FTW for softball tournament for her which was cancelled as soon as we got there--
VERY black wall cloud was easily visible but we were not sure we could drive home at that time of the day--around 5pm--and arrive before the storm hit...
We managed to find a Dairy Queen w/sheet metal type roof over the parking spaces--
parked our car there and went inside--
Dairy Queens for those that don't know them are fast food restaurants--normally cement block construction and metal roof with large glass windows around front and one side--
we could see the glass windows flexing from the wind and rain--like a fire hose from force of the straight-line wind--was coming down the channels of the metal framing--
we and the other people sheltering there were allowed back in the kitchen area--all cement and no windows--as the storm got worse...
the street outside was totally flooded--had a median divider in the 4 lane city street outside that was not visible because water was too high...
all during the storm we were surprised that there were still cars/trucks driving along that road as high with water as it was and bad as the visibility--guess they were seeking shelter of some kind...
There was tremendous hail--baseball size--that we were very lucky did not break any windows or tear down the metal parking roofs our car was parked under...
when the storm was finally over, we drove home and saw the damage left--
there were hundreds of cars abandoned on the freeways and streets that had had windshieds (and other windows) blown out by hail...
some people had parked under the overpasses to protect themselves and left cars behind them unable to move forward...
we passed one large plant/warehouse type building with the entire side of the building peeled away, exposing the interior--
VERY scary--and our college age son was at home shelter in place w/a mattress over him in the hall--
we were lucky the force was less in our home's area--we didn't have any trees in our yard fall on the roof like some people did...
Although we never SAW a funnel cloud--we certainly heard it--and consider ourselves very lucky that we basically came away unscathed...
other than that -- it has been like 110 in DFW area recently in the summer and it has been below zero--not sure how low--in DFW area as well...
both too extreme for me...one winter when it was close to zero we had our NG heater go out and only heat in house was wood-burning fireplace--not great...we camped out in front of it...
You may answer any subset of the following set of extremes-related questions. You can just give an estimate or range if you don't have exact values for the answers. You can also just give a description of the event if you don't want to use numbers.
1) What are the hottest/coldest temperatures you have ever experienced? Where?
2) What are the highest/lowest dew points you have ever experienced? Where?
3) What is the heaviest snowfall/rainfall you have ever experienced? Where?
4) What is the highest wind speed you have ever experienced (you can just give an estimate, and/or a description of the environment: hurricane/tornado/other, location, category, etc)?
5) Any miscellaneous events you'd like to mention (e.g, hailstorms, lightning, dust storms, pressure-related, etc), or any particularly extreme conditions not mentioned above?
1) Minneapolis in late 80's: -60F/-51C (I guess I only partially experienced that, you simply do not go outside. Exposed skin quite literally freezes in a minute).
Note -60F is highly unusual, but common in winter for Minneapolis to not reach a high above 0F/-17C
Hottest: 120F at Lake Havasu City, AZ, London Bridge (yes, the actual "London Bridge" originally on the Thames River that was for some reason moved to AZ):
2) highest dewpoint probably around 75F, again in Minneapolis but also Florida
3) Heaviest snowfall, again Minneapolis. Though there are a number of heavy snowstorms but most memorable is probably the Halloween Snowstorm of 1991. Ultimately about 28" of snow within about 24 hours.
4) Likely during Tropical Storm Alma off the coast off the coast of Nicaragua in 2008? 60-65 MPH?
5) Notice many of my extreme weather examples are from my hometown of Minneapolis. Notice I no longer live there...
I can actually remember watching that 'Meridian Tonight' when Fred Dinenage & Carl Tyler had the fight over the microphone lol I remember the next day at work we all had a laugh about it
As well as the tornadoes you mentioned...
I remember vividly the great storms of 1987 & 1990...
The snow in 2010 was pretty extreme & the heaviest in Portsmouth since 1982 (which I can't remember)...
The heatwave in 2003, when 35C was recorded in Portsmouth & 37C in Horndean...
The cold winter of 1987, although young I just remember it being quite cold
And just a few weeks ago the cyclone here in Malta was pretty amazing...
1) Minneapolis in late 80's: -60F/-51C (I guess I only partially experienced that, you simply do not go outside. Exposed skin quite literally freezes in a minute).
Note -60F is highly unusual, but common in winter for Minneapolis to not reach a high above 0F/-17C
...
5) Notice many of my extreme weather examples are from my hometown of Minneapolis. Notice I no longer live there...
Are you sure Minneapolis reached -60F? According to the National Weather Service records, the record low for the Twin Cities is only -41F. However, the wind chill in Minneapolis definitely can reach -60F. Thus, I suppose you were referring to the wind chill and not the actual temperature?
BTW, in reference to your last comment, I hope to move to the Twin Cities some day
I never answered question 5 for myself, so I guess I'll do that now.:
Lowest Wind Chill: -14F (-25C) on Jan 7,2014 on LI, NY
Highest Heat Index: 114F (45C) on July 22, 2011 on LI, NY
Highest altitude: ~10500 ft (3200 m) in Western Wyoming
If I had to single out a particularly extreme weather event, I'd probably choose Hurricane Sandy. The way it paralyzed the NYC metro for a month was unprecedented (there are still people today - 2+ years later - that haven't gotten their homes repaired or replaced). The barometric pressure of 965mb recorded that day set an all-time record at many NWS stations in the area, as did the 80-100 mph gusts.
The Feb 2013 Nor'easter also gets an honorable mention; snow plows were sent late and couldn't keep up with the accumulation rate, so our major highways were covered with 2-3 feet of snow for weeks. Pick-up trucks (as well as ordinary cars) got stuck, and people (including me) had to abandon their cars and walk home.
I can actually remember watching that 'Meridian Tonight' when Fred Dinenage & Carl Tyler had the fight over the microphone lol I remember the next day at work we all had a laugh about it
As well as the tornadoes you mentioned...
I remember vividly the great storms of 1987 & 1990...
The snow in 2010 was pretty extreme & the heaviest in Portsmouth since 1982 (which I can't remember)...
The heatwave in 2003, when 35C was recorded in Portsmouth & 37C in Horndean...
The cold winter of 1987, although young I just remember it being quite cold
And just a few weeks ago the cyclone here in Malta was pretty amazing...
Haha... pretty cool cyclones... Was not aware this happened lol
December 2001 was the coldest month I ever experienced in Serres. About -2 C the daily mean temperature with the highest in that month 9 C and the coldest -17 C. From 12-12 there were 7 days with heavy snowfalls and fell about 70 cm of snow in the city. The snow didn 't melt till the end of January 2002.
Summers of 2007 and 2012 were the hottest summers I 've ever experienced with the highest temperatures of 45 and 43 C each other. Prolonged heat waves from June through August in both summers with average highs >34-35 C and average lows >22 C.
I also experienced that heavy thunderstorm in Serres with about 50 mm of rain and hail in about half an hour. I was outside without an umbrella I felt like a duck!
December 2001 was the coldest month I ever experienced in Serres. About -2 C the daily mean temperature with the highest in that month 9 C and the coldest -17 C. From 12-12 there were 7 days with heavy snowfalls and fell about 70 cm of snow in the city. The snow didn 't melt till the end of January 2002.
Summers of 2007 and 2012 were the hottest summers I 've ever experienced with the highest temperatures of 45 and 43 C each other. Prolonged heat waves from June through August in both summers with average highs >34-35 C and average lows >22 C.
I also experienced that heavy thunderstorm in Serres with about 50 mm of rain and hail in about half an hour. I was outside without an umbrella I felt like a duck!
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