Weather and Climate Extremes.

Abstract

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Extreme Weather Records

“…Such an effort in validation is an integral part of the overall effort to ensure proper adherence to sound climatological practices. Also, climate records and validation can have a dramatic impact on commercial interests, such as the engineering trade (as noted by the Army Corps of Engineers; see Krause and Flood 1997) and the insurance trade (e.g., climate change reports from Swiss Re), as well as more localized social or economic interests. For example, the city museum in Coffeyville, Kansas, has a replica on display of its 3 September 1970 hailstone and, until recently, had been promoting it as the world's largest hailstone.…”

“…The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a more extensive compilation (Krause and Flood 1997) of various world and regional weather and climate records in 1997 (Table 2). In contrast to many popular weather books addressing such records, this document had, in many cases, a discussion of the quality of the event's historical record.…”

“…For instance, the hottest sustained (e.g., not a "heat burst") temperature record for the United States (and accepted by the NCEC as the existing maximum temperature record) is 134°F (56.7°C) at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek Ranch) in Death Valley, California, on 10 July 1913. Krause and Flood (1997) discussed the analysis of climatologist Arnold Court who studied the equipment, the data-collection procedures, and the physical setting associated with the event in detail.…”

“…Although the NCDC publication Storm Data provides raw report listings of lightning casualties and injuries, it does not provide an easy compilation or identification of records. With regard to statistical analyses of injuries, damage, and regionality, Curran et al (1997) Krause and Flood (1997) is invalid; the correct figure is 1095 mm. Therefore, the 12-h rainfall record remains at 1144 mm during Tropical Cyclone Denise (see Table 4).…”

“…It would be useful to have the assemblage of existing weather-extremes records mentioned in governmental documentary or online sources compiled into a single, updateable official source similar in nature to the Army Corps of Engineers' report. As Krause and Flood (1997) discussed, the original purpose for the Army Corps of Engineers in creating a compilation of weather records was "to assist designers of military equipment with information about the extremes of the natural environment." However, more broadly, they also noted that such records have "also been useful teaching and research aids.…”