----------------------------Original message----------------------------
At the moment Eastern Germany, Southwestern Poland and the Czech
Republic are threatened by extreme rainfall.
 
Describing maps in 'Petermann's geographische Mittheilungen'
-while heavy rains are beating on my office windows- one reads
sometimes to the point historical accounts. In annual 27 (1881)
Hermann Ziemer lists the places and dates with the heaviest
measured rainfall within 24 hours till that time:
 
Germany: Breslau 114.6 mm (August 6, 1858; in 2 hours 94.7 mm
fell)
         Brocken 126.7 mm (July 31, 1858)
         Hoechenschwand 126.2 mm (February 16, 1876)
Southern Alps: Bernhardin 254 mm (September 27/28, 1866)
Italy: Genua 812.2 mm (October 25, 1822; though he questions the
amount)
France: Joyeuse 789.2 mm (October 9, 1827)
Belgium: Place unknown 791 mm (October 9, 1807)
America: Catskil at the Hudson 487 mm (July 26, 1819; within 7.5
hours)
Asia: Purneah (India, Bengal) 889 mm (September 13, 1879)
These are but a few figures from a long list.
 
When you know these figures, which probably can be enriched with
data for the period 1880-1997, you look at rainclouds with
another view. And one wonders whether the greenhouse effect is
playing us tricks or nature!
 
Jan Smits
Map Curator Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of The
Netherlands