Q&A on the News

A: NFL players receive monetary bonuses for reaching the playoffs, with the payouts increasing each round, according to the league. The players on this season's wild-card teams earned $20,000 each, and players on teams that won division titles earned $22,000. The players on the teams that won games in the wild-card round earned another $22,000. The players on the teams that won divisional playoff games will receive $40,000 for playing in the NFC and AFC championship games. Baltimore Ravens players are slated to receive $88,000 each for defeating the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday and a total of $172,000 each for their playoff run. San Francisco players will receive $44,000 for playing in the Super Bowl and $106,000 total. Players and coaches sometimes also have bonuses built into their contracts for playoff appearances.

Q: We hear a lot about record heat, cold, snow, etc. When did modern record keeping begin? Just how many years do they go back when they compare the values?

— Terry Campbell, Big Canoe

A: In Georgia, the records date to 1888, Glenn Burns, chief meteorologist for Channel 2 Action News, told Q&A on the News in an email. The averages of all "climatological data" (average rainfall, snowfall, etc.) are based on the past 30 years, Burns wrote.