Yesterday was 2 much in the world of weather
A spectacularly meaningless phenomenon occurred yesterday when two weather stations on opposite sides of the world measured a temperature of 22.2ºC at 2:22pm on 2/2/2022.
Here’s how it played out.
New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to start the second day of February in 2022. As the day progressed, scientists at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) were keeping a close eye on temperatures across the country.
Sure enough, the meteorological stars aligned and at 2:22pm, a weather station in the small town of Turangi, on the North Island, observed a temperature of 22.2ºC. This feat was too good to pass up the opportunity to tweet.
It's all two much ✌�
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) February 2, 2022
22.2°C at 2:22pm on 2/2/2022 at TÅ«rangi pic.twitter.com/bjZLDDiguL
A few hours later, keen weather watchers in Australia were chuffed when Adelaide reached a maximum temperature of 22ºC. Unfortunately, the mercury nudged a little too high in the city and ended up hitting 22.4ºC. However, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, Minnipa on the Eyre Peninsula was sitting on 22.2ºC at 2:22pm.
The planets align.. 22 degrees at 2:22 on 2/2/22! Richie Benaud would be over the moon. #Adelaide pic.twitter.com/wXqTYpdSgD
— Michael Smyth (@MichaelSmyth_) February 2, 2022
But the day was far from over and as the afternoon sun shone across southern Europe, a weather station at Fontanars dels Alforins in Spain reached 22.2ºC at 2:22pm.
22.2°C at 2:22pm on 2/2/22 in Spain 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/QrIxhgUOzK
— Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) February 2, 2022
Either of these observations would have been remarkable on their own. But the feat was made even more exceptional by the fact that Turangi and Fontanars dels Alforins sit at almost exactly opposite points on our planet.
The antipodal point of Turangi, which is where you would end up if you dug a hole straight down though the Earth, is in central Spain, about 300km to the west of Fontanars dels Alforins.
Image: The antipodal point of Turangi (red marker) is in central Spain (blue marker). Source: https://www.geodatos.net/