NZLWN Quiz

[gabba]

 Quibdo, Columbia once recorded 781.06”/19839 mm in a single year, 1936. However it's not listed on my source as the wettest place in the world. Have another go

[cupoteacoast]

Gee I recall seeing that man's photo ... in a book or newspaper somewhere, but just cannot recall his name ... yet.  Met Service?

[beteljuice]

Beside the lower area of Victoria Falls, but I assume you really want a precipitation event rather than permanent 'mist' ?

[Rwood]

Mt Waialeale in Hawaii and Mawsynyram ?sp) in India are also often quoted, but their claims are rather doubtful. I think there is simply no clear winner among regularly measured places.

[gabba]

Well Done - another one goes to RWood

According to my source Mawsynram, Meghalaya State, India is the wettest place in the world ( 467.35”/11871 mm) based on annual average precipitation

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=74

Mawsynram (population about 350, elevation approximately 4,600’) and Cherrapunji (population about 10,000, elevation 4,309’ and also known as Sohra) are both located in the Khasi Hills on the Shillong Plateau of Meghalaya, India and are about 10 miles from one another. These are generally considered the wettest locations in the world for which there is measured data.

The Khasi Hills, wettest location in the world, are famous for the spectacular waterfalls that fall to the plains below. Photo source Wikipedia, photographer not identified.

The Khasi hills catch the full brunt of the southwest monsoon blowing off the Bay of Bengal between May and October. About 90% of their rain falls during this period. July alone averages over 120”/3050 mm, the highest monthly average rainfall in the world. Variability from one monsoon to another can be tremendous

[Weather Display]

but that what I said (I just did not get the spelling correct),for Cherrapunji
i.e

something like either kurrangupai (spelling!) in the foot hills of the himalayas, Nepal/India bordeder

[Rwood]

something like either kurrangupai (spelling!) in the foot hills of the himalayas, Nepal/India bordeder[/quote]

Cherrapunji is considerably "drier" than these other locations though - "only" 9000 or so mm/year.

[gabba]

Who is this (Actors name), what is he doing, and what movie is this from



Bonus points if you can name the characters name in the movie

[JennyLeez]

Gene Kelly
Singin' in the Rain
He was singing and tap dancing in the rain.
Movie has same name I think.
Debbie Reynolds played lady lead ( I think )

[gabba]

Haha - thought that one would go quickly. I'm going to have to think of some harder ones. Well done Jenny!

[JennyLeez]

Was one of my Dads favourites thats why I knew. He fancied Debbie Reynolds legs

[gabba]

The South pole is the southern most point of land on the earth. Where is the most northern most point on land?

 

[bett]

top of Russia or Alsaka???

[Te Puke Weather]

 Kaffeklubben Island, north of Greenland... I think that how you spell it.....

[gabba]

Yep I'll accept that - but the answer I had was the following:

Kaffeklubben Island, east of Greenland (83°40′N 29°50′W)
Various shifting gravel bars lie further north, the most famous being Oodaaq

If I hunt around on Oodaaq this is what I find:

Oodaaq or Oodap Qeqert is a bank of gravel and silt northeast of Greenland that has been considered by some to be the most northerly point of land on earth.
Oodaaq lies at 83°40′N 30°40′WCoordinates: 83°40′N 30°40′W, only 705 km south of the North Pole and 1,360 metres north of Kaffeklubben Island, lying near the northeast tip of Greenland. When discovered it measured a mere 15 metres by 8 metres.
It was discovered in 1978 when a Danish survey team led by Uffe Petersen landed a helicopter on Kaffeklubben to confirm that it did indeed lie further north than the tip of Greenland. Having confirmed the fact, a member of the team spotted a dark spot to the north and they flew over to the bank, naming it Oodaaq after the Eskimo who accompanied Robert Peary on his historic journey to the North Pole.
Gravel banks such as this are generally considered not to qualify for the title of world's most northerly point of land as they are rarely permanent. In fact several subsequent expeditions have claimed that Oodaaq has now disappeared beneath the ocean.
In July 2001, the Return to the Top of the World Expedition, led by Theresa Baker, John Jancik, and Ken Zerbst, confirmed that the previously-discovered island and permanent land feature ATOW1996, is indeed the northernmost point of land on earth.
In July 2003 American explorers led by Dennis Schmitt found a 35-metre-long bank at 83°42'N. Debate continues as to whether the bank is permanent.
In late 2004, the Eighth Edition of the National Geographic World Atlas was released. It clearly shows Oodaaq as the northernmost landmass on Earth.
In July 2007, Dennis Schmitt discovered a 'new' northernmost island on Earth at 83°40'30" N (named Stray Dog West by Holly Wenger).

So I'm going with Kaffeklubben even though it sounds like a disco that sells only coffee at the bar.

[gabba]

Tonights Question:

What is a Tempest Prognosticator and what was one of it's key components?

[hbweather]

This was a weird gadget invented in 1851 by Dr George Merryweather (well named). It claimed to be able to forecast coming storms, based on the behaviour of captive leeches in glass jars. As pressure fell, the leeches would climb to the top of their jars, to escape, thus triggering a bell as an audible warning of incoming bad weather.

One of its key components were, of course, the unfortunate leeches....

Merryweather claimed to have considerable success, and lobbied the British government to adopt his invention for coastal use, but they adopted Admiral Fitzroy's Storm Glass instead.

George

[gabba]

Well done hbweather - I thought I was safe picking that one, so I'll have to find something a bit trickier

Meanwhile, and easy one to mull over

In the Northern hemisphere (particularly North America) what is important meteorologically about February 2nd?

[Rwood]

Groundhog day, antics at Punxsutawney, Philadelphia, related to "arrival" of spring depending on whetehr the sun/the grounhog's shadow is seen that day (opposite to "common" sense - no shadow is the good version).

[gabba]

haha - well done Rwood. Hunting around I found there were all sorts of animals with their own names that did the same job as Punxsutawney Phil. Interestingly enough taken over a longish period of time, the sum total of their accuracy was 37%, which is not statistically significant over the 33% of what a random guess would be. Hardly surprising really, but all good fun!

OK the next night or so I'm going to be fairly busy, so may not get to post questions. So here are a few with a theme to keep you entertained:

Q: What is the lowest recorded pressure in New Zealand in an Extra tropical storm, where and when did it occur
Q: What is the lowest recorded pressure in the southern hemisphere in an Extra tropical storm - where and when did it occur
Q: What is the lowest recorded pressure in the northern hemisphere in an Extra tropical storm - where and when did it occur
Q: What is the lowest recorded pressure in the world - where and when did it occur
Q What is the highest recorded pressure in the world - where and when did it occur

Remember no cruising the internet for the answers, but you are welcome to look up any other reference material you may have, or just have a guess. Would be great to see some new faces taking part so don't be shy!