RAIN

Here are a few fun facts about rain; or a lack there of!

One inch of rain over one square mile equals 17.4 million gallons of water weighing 143 million pounds (about 72,000 tons), or the weight of a train with 40 boxcars.

Mount Waialeale, Hawaii, is the rainiest place in the world, with an average of 460" (11,680 mm). Death Valley, CA is the driest place in the U.S. with an average of 1.35" (34 mm).

Cherrapunjee is situated in eastern India about 15 miles north of the India-Bangladesh border. On June 16, 1995, an astounding 62" (1,575 mm) of rain fell in just 24 hours. The year 1974 saw a total of 967" (24,560 mm), with 323" (8,200 mm) just in July. That's 10" (254 mm) a day for an entire month.

The driest place in the world is the Atacama desert near the Andes in South America. It's marked by an almost "lunar-like" landscape, nearly devoid of plants, animals and insects. The average rainfall there is less than a millimeter a year, about the thickness of most paper currency.

Posted by Ted Zarras at 8:00 PM