World: Highest Sea Level Air Pressure Below 700m

References

Krause and Flood, 1997: Weather and Climate Extremes, US Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Engineering Center pp. 89, Gales, 1970: Extremely high atmospheric pressures, Weather, 25(1), pp. 19-24, Burkova and Dzhordzhio, 1973: O mirovom rekorde davleniya na urovne morya [World record of sea level pressure], Sredneasziatskiy Regional'nyy Nauchno Issledovatelskiy Girdometeorologicheskiy Institut, Trudy (Tashkent), 86, pp. 166-174;

Discussion

At 1200GMT on 31/12/1968, the pressure at the center of huge anticyclone over Siberia reached 1083.8 hPa and was authenticated. Seven stations recorded pressures in excess of 1070 hPa, indicating that the pressure at Agata was in keeping with the general situation over the area.

This record was re-evaluated in 2012 in light of a 2001 high pressure event in Mongolia (see Highest Sea Level Pressure Above 750 meters). As a result of that investigation, the category of "Highest Surface Pressure" was restructured into two separate classifications: Above 750 meters and Below 750 meters. Because of the potential biases (e.g., standard lapse rate assumptions) associated with reductions to sea level from elevations above 750 meters, it is the opinion of the WMO Commission of Climatology that records for adjusted sea level pressure be segregated between those stations above 750 meters and those below 750 meters following established WMO guidelines for reduction to sea level calculations. Note that the Krause and Flood paper incorrectly state a pressure of 1083.3 hPa.

Previous Record

1079 hPa on 23/1/1900 at Barnaul, Russia Foreign Branch, 1968: Worldwide extremes of temperature, precipitation and pressure recorded by continental ara, U.S Dept. of Commerce; Environmental Sciences Services Administration pp. 4;