The day after Irene

Good morning from the slowly recovering northwest end of Augusta, Maine.

Hurricane Ireen was much kinder to our region than she was to other parts of our state. We certainly did not receive the weather that states to our south did.

Our location was out of power from 5 pm on Sunday through most of the day on Monday. At one point the press reported that over half of Maine's power was down. The majority of our damage is a result of flooding. Here in Augusta, the Kenebec river remains 21 feet above normal.

The relative humidity is 80%

It is 63º f.

Wind velocity is up to 1.3 MPH out of the east southeast, today's maximum gust was 2 mph.

Barometric pressure is 30.01 and rising. The lowest reading during Ireen that we recorded here at the cornfield was 29.15 and dropping.

Compared to many, many other communities, Augusta got off extremely lucky.

God bless the inventor of portable generators.

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Q: What are all the all-time records for high and low barometric pressure in the USA?

A: Using average sea level pressure of 29.92 inches of mercury as a point for comparison, the highest barometric pressure ever recorded in the USA was 31.85 inches in Northway, Alaska, in January 1989. The lowest barometric pressure ever recorded was associated with the landfall of the Labor Day hurricane in Key West, Florida in 1935, which registered a minimum pressure of 26.35 inches of mercury. Both are also records for North America.

It is likely that tornadoes have had lower barometric pressures, but they have not become part of the official record. (yet)

Other parts of the world have had more extreme readings.

For example, the highest barometric pressure ever recorded on Earth was 32.01 inches, measured in Agata, U.S.S.R., on December 31, 1968. Agata is located in northern Siberia. The weather was clear and very cold at the time, with temperatures between -40° and -58°.

The lowest pressure ever measured was 25.69 inches, set on Oct. 12, 1979, during Typhoon Tip in the western Pacific Ocean. The measurement was based on an instrumental observation made from a reconnaissance aircraft.

An excellent reference for extreme weather records like this is Paul F. Krause's technical report Weather and Climate Extremes, the contents of which I haven't found anywhere online. The report can be ordered through the National Technical Information Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.