Weather by the Numbers

* 109 is the expected high temperature in Las Vegas tomorrow.

* 112 was the high in Phoenix yesterday.

* 114 is forecast for Phoenix both Saturday and Sunday with lows of 82 to 84. The entire desert has been cooking lately.

* 2.38 inches of additional rain at Springfield, Missouri in the last 24 hours–definitely not needed. More than 2 inches are projected for Western Iowa in the next few days.

* 20 levees have failed so far along the Mississippi River according to one national news outlet. I believe that the reporter should have said “20 levees failed or overflowed.” There is a big difference. A levee break, of course, is much more serious than an overflow.

* 27.1 feet was the Mississippi River stage this morning at Quincy, Illinois. Flood stage is 17 feet.

* 30.7 feet is the crest forecast for Quincy Sunday morning–almost 14 feet above flood stage.

* 26.9 feet is the river stage now at Hannibul, Missouri. Flood stage is 16 feet.

* 29.4 feet is their crest forecast for Sunday afternoon. If it were to crest just a bit higher than that at 29.6 feet, that is expected to happen only once every 200 years.

* 58 was the low at Montgomery Dannelly Field this morning breaking the June 20 record by 1 degree. The old record was 59 in 1965.

* 51 was the coolest temperature we have found in Alabama this morning at both Black Creek and Broomtown in NE Alabama. A list of some of the other cooler temperatures:

53 Crossville, McCalla
54 Vigo, Ft. Payne
55 Concord/Hueytown, Cullman
56 Pinson, Tuscaloosa
57 Anniston Airport
58 Vinemont, NE Trussville/Old Mill Run
61 SE Trussville, Pleasant Grove

* 30.46 inches is how much rain St. Louis has received this year–an excess of 12.28 inches.

* 209 is how many hail reports that the Storm Prediction Center received yesterday in Middle America. One of those hail reports was described as the size of cherries at Oakland, Iowa. I don’t remember seeing that before.

* 120 was the hottest in the country yesterday in Death Valley.

* 28 was the lowest this morning at the old standby location of Stanley, Idaho.

* 39 was the low atop Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park this morning.

* 0 is the number of expected tropical disturbances in the next several days in the Atlantic Basin, which also includes the Caribbean and our friend, the Gulf of Mexico. The Tropics are as quiet as a turtle.

I was fascinated by this bit of poetry submitted by the ABC 33/40 skywatcher at Vigo this morning. His name is Bill and Vigo is located east of Piedmont. They have missed out on the rain quite a bit lately. Bill loves to be in a garden. This is what he wrote this morning:

“Rain, rain, come today,
let some moisture come this way,
the soil is dry,
the grass is brown,
please, God, don’t let us down.”

I am out of here.

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