CONTACT:  Patricia Viets, NOAA             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                           April 1, 1998

Fans of global weather facts now have a new resource on the World Wide Web, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

NOAA's new Web page answers questions such as: What's the hottest temperature recorded in North America? What's the rainiest place in Asia? What spot takes top honors for the coldest temperature?

Answers to these and other questions about extremes of temperature and precipitation from around the world can be found at:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/globalextremes.html The new Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation page is also accessible through:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/severeweather/severeweather.html

The new page is courtesy of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The center, now headed by its former senior scientist, Thomas Karl, is the world's largest data center for climate data and information. The center archives worldwide weather observations, satellite, and radar information. It also produces a suite of climate products that are used by scientists and researchers around the world. The center also conducts research dealing with global climate change.