Weather and Climate Extremes

Abstract

This report consists of world weather and climate extremes that have been extracted from various sources. The report contains discussions covering the measurement of various meteorological elements, measurement practices, and instrumentation. All extremes are presented in terms of their location and date and, where supportive information is available in the professional literature, detailed discussions of the extreme event are provided. The elements covered in this report include surface air temperature, precipitation (rainfall, snowfall and hail), wind, thunderstorms, air pressure, solar radiation, dew point temperature and fog. The report contains five maps. There is one each for the worldwide extremes of temperature, precipitation, and other elements. The remaining two maps show U.S. state extremes for monthly temperature (absolute maximum and absolute minimum) and precipitation (maximum monthly and maximum 24-hour).