Mesonet Ticker for September 9, 2026

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
September 9, 2026  September 9, 2026  September 9, 2026  September 9, 2026


Persistification




Persistence, defined as the release of a salty fluid from the body's sweat
glands through the skin.

Oh wait, that's perspiration. Silly me, now how could I have made that mistake
(directly after I looked at today's temperature forecast)?

Persistence, the action or fact of persisting.

You see, heat domes tend to PERSIST in the presence of big time droughts.And
for that matter, droughts tend to persist in the presence of big time heat as
they get into a sickening positive feedback loop. So you have to take your
wins when you can get them, even if you know these things tend to persist.

So APPARENTLY there's gonna be a weak cold front move into the state tonight
through tomorrow that APPARENTLY will bring us some rain, and along with that
rain there will be clouds (DUH!) and less sunshine (DUH DUH!). And that means
a big break from our never-ending (except it will) heat-dome nightmare.

So tomorrow you can wear your "I SURVIVED THE 2026 HEAT-DOME NIGHTMARE" t-shirts,
then put them back into the closet until later this month (or December) when
we actually DO break this heat wave for real because it's back to the heat on
Friday.

*&$^%# (translate that as you best see fit).



Oh, today? Be afraid. Be very afraid.





No, we're not done with the triple-digit temperatures in the state after
today. Keep in mind we see 100s well into September, and even into October.
That latest triple-digit temperatures I can find in the state occurred on
Oct 17, 2016. The Mesonet sites at Buffalo, Beaver, Slapout and May Ranch all
hit 100 that day, with Buffalo topped out at 102 degrees. The Beaver
and Gate NWS COOP sites show 100s as well on the 18th, but those temperatures
were recorded the morning of the 18th, so those undoubtedly came on the 17th.
So let's call it the 17th, with Buffalo (the greatest place in the state...fight
me) leading the way at 102 degrees.

Will that happen this year? Almost certainly not! But hey, it's Oklahoma. Weird
climate things can and will happen. We do have that life-changing amazing fall
cold front that's continually on the horizon 10-11 days out in the forecast
models. One of these times, it's actually going to come through for us. But
getting some rain in here will help a bit by providing a bit of soil moisture
for the still-powerful-but-dwindling amount of sunshine to work with. So
instead of just all of that energy going into sensible heat from baking the
soil and turning us into a giant Easy Bake Oven, we'll get some cooling latent
heat action from evaporation.

Every little bit helps. I should know, just ask my scalp!

Now, back to that rain, the forecasts are still trying to hone in on the
amounts, but it looks like northeast OK is in the bullseye with dwindling
amounts to the southwest, unfortunately. Sorta like what we see here in the
mean amounts (and for southwest OK, that's mean, not mean, if you know what
I mean) over the next 48 hours from the ECMWF ensemble forecast.



Or the NWS' gridded 48-hour forecast, complete with incongruities between
forecast offices (and we all know just how painful that can be).



And heck, it's raining right now for crying out loud!



I mean, get out the magnifying glass but it IS there. Hey, that's what my barber
says!

At any rate, we have the battle between fall trying to blossom vs. persistence.

My advice? Be hopeful, but verify.

Gary McManus
State Climatologist
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climate Survey
gmcmanus@ou.edu
                

---