1. b) Tsunami, which is another name for a tidal wave, is a Japanese word meaning "harbour" (tsu) "wave" (nami), and indicates a sudden, dramatic displacement of water as a result of the shifting of the Earth's geological plates, a volcanic eruption or an underwater explosion.
2. a) With more than 2,468 mm of rain per year, Environment Canada named Prince Rupert, B.C., as Canada's rainiest city. Located on that province's North Coast, Prince Rupert is also, not surprisingly, the least sunny city in the country.
3. c) The longer a frozen particle of water remains within the clouds, the larger the hailstone will be. The particle is tossed around within the violent up- and down-drafts of storm clouds, adding layer upon layer of ice with each trip up and down, until it becomes too heavy to remain aloft and falls to Earth. The stronger the up- and down-drafts, the longer the hailstone remains in the cloud and the larger it becomes.
4. a) During a violent wind storm atop New Hampshire's Mount Washington in April 1934, scientists recorded the wind speed at 372 km/h.
5. a) In 1897, physicist Amos Dolbear discovered that the crickets' chirps speed up as the air temperature rises. He studied the phenomenon and concluded that one can accurately measure the air temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) by adding 37 to the number of chirps in 15 seconds. The catch is that this only works when the air temperature is above 45 F; below that, the crickets become too sluggish to measure accurately.
6. d) Environment Canada named Medicine Hat, Alta., as the sunniest city in Canada, boasting an average of a whopping 2,513 hours of sunlight each year.
7. b) During a 24-hour period between April 14th and 15th, 1921, a whopping 75.8 inches of snow fell on the town of Silver Lake, Colorado.
8. d) Temperatures in Al Aziziya, Libya, climbed to a record 136.4 F (58 C), which remains the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
9. c) Generating about 100 million volts of electricity, lightning also instantly heats the surrounding air to more than 54,000 F. That, in turn, causes a rapid expansion of the air, and the sound of that expansion is thunder.
10. a) In still air, raindrops typically fall at approximately 7 to 18 mph (11 to 29 km/h), but they speed up in windier conditions. Once their velocity goes over 18 mph, though, the raindrops can actually break apart.
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For more fun weather facts, visit Environment Canada's website.
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