Ticker for April 1, 2002

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
April 1, 2002      April 1, 2002      April 1, 2002      April 1, 2002


Last Freeze Dates, in Case You Were Wondering

The last freeze of spring isn't quite as easy to recognize as the first
freeze of autumn.  The fall freeze goes about its work honestly and
openly.  Sometimes its timing is poor, and sometimes its damage is
cruel, but it has the decency to announce its presence openly.

The last freeze of the spring is not so kind.  It creeps across the
land like so many freezes before it.  It does its work and slithers
away into a springtime sunrise.  It plays dirty.  It uses decoys.
And it's long gone before it can be exposed for what it is.

The spring's last freeze is the climatologist's white whale.  Oh, the
poor tormented souls who try to catch it in the act!

Because it's such an evasive target, and because it rarely strikes on
the same night in consecutive years, the agonized climatologist can only
describe its general behavior.  This is done through - you guessed it -
normals.

On average, the last freeze of spring occurs in the last days of March
in southern Oklahoma, early-to-mid April in central and northern parts
of the state, and into late April as one travels west into the panhandle.

The last "hard freeze" (28 F) of spring occurs, on average, in early
March in southern Oklahoma, mid-March in central Oklahoma, and into
late March and early April as one travels north and west through the
panhandle.

The details are available at OCS's climate pages:
http://climate.mesonet.org/

Or, if you don't mind a dimly-lit corner and a chilling story, you can
find your climatologist's favorite haunt.  Although he's tortured by
his lifelong struggle to capture it, there's always time to tell the
tale of the spring's last freeze that slipped through his grasp.  When
he relates his story, please ... do not mock his pain.