MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... December 7, 2016 December 7, 2016 December 7, 2016 December 7, 2016
How does 38000 BTUs sound about now?
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/NWC-Space-Heater-Meter.png
The National Weather Center is famous for many things, of course. It arguably has the world's greatest collection of scientific minds concerned with severe weather research (and experience). It's one of the top radar innovation labs in the world. It houses the best (THE GOLD STANDARD) mesoscale weather observation network in the world in the Oklahoma Mesonet. It's home to the most handsome Oklahoma state climatologist (okay, there's only one, so I hold the most ugly title too). And...it's so drafty that even George Bailey would pack his bags and leave. On a cold, windy day, you'd better have a space heater handy! For example, here's my office thermostat from Nov. 12, 2014, and the wind chills that day.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/garys-thermostat.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/nov12-2014-windchill.png
That's a Level 3 NWC SPACE HEATER METER alert right there! And tomorrow morning, after that cold front with its frigid weather and strong winds has pushed through the state, I'm betting I'll have my space heater fired up.
The cold front has just intruded upon the western Panhandle and it's headed this way. Here's a flurry of Mesonet maps showing you where the front is, and just how cold it is behind it.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/current-temps.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/current.gustarrows.gif http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/current-windchills.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/todays-low-temps.png
Windchills in the single digits already. Ugh, can't wait for it to get here!
And there is indeed worse behind it!
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/be-afraid.png
Today/tonight (depending on where you are) will be bad, tomorrow morning will be worse! Here's an animated windchill forecast map showing you how that big glob of frigid, windy air is held back for just a bit today but eventually overwhelms the entire region over the next 21 hours.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/21hour-forecast-loop.gif
And here's the ugly truth from the Norman and Tulsa NWS offices.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/nws-norman-thur-windchill.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/nws-tulsa-windchills.gif
And to heck with the wind, the actual air temps aren't going to be a picnic either.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/thursday-lows.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/thursday-highs.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/friday-lows.png
The good news is this will be a short-lived arctic air outbreak, and it will start to slide off to the east by the early weekend. Look at the recovery in western Oklahoma on Saturday.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/saturday-highs.png
So hunker down, stay out of the wind, fire up those space heaters if you have to. Here's your official unofficial statewide NWC Space Heater Meter for the next couple of days.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20161207/OK-NWC-Space-Heater-Meter.png
38,000 BTUs sound pretty good right about now.
Gary McManus State Climatologist Oklahoma Mesonet Oklahoma Climatological Survey (405) 325-2253 gmcmanus@mesonet.org
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