Top 10 Extreme Weather Destinations
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Sometimes, plotting a trip involves calculation of survival odds. While we could easily be describing the typical cruise ship buffet, we're going even further to some of the world's extreme weather destinations. To paraphrase the old margarine commercial, you best not screw with Mother Nature. But if your time off isn't complete without cheating death or at least talking tough from the relative safety of your barstool about the world's "most" or "'est" places (read: hottest, coldest, etc), here are 10 of the most extreme places on the globe.
Up Next: Wettest -
Number 10 -- Wettest
Location: Lloró, Colombia
Reason: Wetness can be a huge plus in the carnal context. In meteorological terms, it's a mixed blessing. Lloró, near Colombia's Pacific coast, claims an average yearly rain total of about 40 feet. But, since much of the surrounding area is rain forest, things tend to stay slippery once they get wet. That's why it gets our nod as the wettest in the world.
Up Next: Most Humid -
Number 9 -- Most Humid
Location: Ellsemere Island, Canada
Reason: Yes, Canada. We understand your immediate disbelief, so allow us to break it down -- you were probably expecting to see the Amazon get this honor. True, it does feel like you're breathing in an aquarium there. But like the saying goes: It's not the heat, it's the humidity. Since our extreme weather destinations are based on terra firma, the northernmost land settlement is on Ellsemere Island, where the Canadian forces have a permanent base.
Up Next: Snowiest -
Number 8 -- Snowiest
Location: Mt. Baker, Washington
Reason: We were just a snowball's throw from the North Pole, but ironically, it's time to head south to the spot that's seen the most snow in a single season. Northwest Washington's Mt. Baker holds this honor, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). During the 1998-99 season, a recorded 1,140 inches of the white stuff fell. Uh-huh, 95 feet.
Up Next: Driest -
Number 7 -- Driest
Location: Arica, Chile
Reason: As far as inhabited places go, that's the South American port city known as the "city of the eternal spring." Located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and just below the border of Peru, Arica is arid. For all the water around the city of 200,000, they don't get much from the skies. Every year, an average of .03 inches of rain falls. Go ahead, wash your car here. Do a rain dance. Whatever you try, it probably won't provoke the clouds and jeopardize the city's claim.
Up Next: Most Extreme Temperature Change -
Number 6 -- Most Extreme Temperature Change
Location: Browning, Montana
Reason: Another day, another 100-degree difference. A lot of people in the Midwest may guess a central state would have the most bipolar weather. However, Mother Nature's biggest mood swing is further west, in Browning, Montana. According to historic records and NASA, the temperature fell 100 degrees between January 23rd and 24th, 1916. It went from 44° F to -56° F in 24 hours. We presume there was substantial shrinkage.
Up Next: Lightest and Darkest -
Number 5 -- The Lightest and Darkest
Location: Ny Alesund, Norway & Antarctica (tie)
Reason: Given the yearly polar day and polar night, you'll either catch one of two extremes, depending when and where you are -- as far as land-based places go. The handful of year-round residents in Ny Alesund, Norway, together with the researchers in Antarctica, are all too familiar with long stretches of dark and light. Each occurs in multi-month doses.
Up Next: Windiest -
Number 4 -- Windiest
Location: Mt. Washington, New Hampshire
Reason: They call Chicago the Windy City, and Tornado Alley certainly got it's name from the area's deadly namesakes that whip up breezes well into triple-digit speeds. True, researchers did record a 318-mph puff during a twister in Oklahoma in 1999, but if you want the world's biggest non-sports, non-gastronomic, non-storm-related wind, it was clocked at Mt. Washington on April 12, 1934. It really blew, too: 231 mph was the final mind-blowing number.
Up Next: Hottest -
Number 3 -- Hottest
Location: El Azizia, Libya
Reason: Not Death Valley? Sorry. Death Valley is justifiably known for its wicked hot spells, like a 43-day stretch in 1917, when the daytime high hit 120° F or more. A few years earlier in 1913, they broke 134° F, which still stands as the hottest U.S. temp recorded. But worldwide? Nope, that was at El Azizia in Libya on September 13, 1922. It didn't happen to be Friday the 13th, but you were still jolly well screwed if you spent much time outside. That day, the mercury rose to 136° F.
Up Next: Most Tornadic -
Number 2 -- Most Tornadic
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Reason: If you live in Tornado Alley, you probably get around -- more than you like; involuntarily and rather suddenly. Weather experts remind us tornadoes can happen practically anywhere, but the U.S. Central Plains states host the most. As for the city that's been nailed most often, the honor goes to Oklahoma City. Reportedly, the National Weather Service in nearby Norman recognizes well over 100 events since recording began.
Up Next: Coldest -
Number 1 -- Coldest
Location: Antarctica
Reason: Even though it comes as no surprise, the extremes are still hard to fathom. The wind is constant with average speeds at around 12 mph, but they have been known to gust to nearly 200 mph, creating unfathomable blizzards and whiteouts. Mean winter temperatures are in the -40° F to -94° F range. In the middle of the winter on July 21, 1983, the Vostok Station recorded a temperature of -129° F. That's the coldest temperature on record!
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