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. . . Ticker for September 11, 2012 . . .
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... September 11, 2012 September 11, 2012 September 11, 2012 September 11, 2012 Potpourri Cooler (and wetter!) weather on the way Well, we have another cold front on the way that is supposed to cool us down significantly Wednesday night into Thursday, and it looks like this one will stick for awhile. No sign of greatly above normal temps for awhile after that. Rain chances will also arrive with the front, and the latest 5-day forecast says to expect an inch or so across parts of the state. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/5-day-rain.gif The temperatures are nice and autumnal later this week. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/thursday-highs.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/friday-highs.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/saturday-lows.png If those highs in the 60s actually occur on Thursday, that will be the first time we've seen that on the Mesonet since June 1. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extreme fire danger Unfortunately, with the drought still in place, we will have to get through some fairly bad fire weather first in order to enjoy this front. Relative humidity is dropping and the winds are picking up. A Red Flag Fire warning is in effect for northern Oklahoma. "...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR NORTHERN OKLAHOMA... * WIND...SOUTHERLY 20 TO 30 MPH...WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH. * HUMIDITY...MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY 12 TO 15 PERCENT. * TEMPERATURE...HIGHS 93 TO 97 DEGREES. * IMPACTS...ANY FIRES THAT DEVELOP WILL SPREAD RAPIDLY. A STATEWIDE BURNING BAN CONTINUES FOR OKLAHOMA. REFRAIN FROM ALL OUTDOOR ACTIVITY THAT COULD START WILDFIRES." With all that less-than-green vegetation around, all that's needed is a spark. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/departure-greenness.png Our friends from the NWS are all on full alert today for wildfire danger. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/amarillo-firedanger.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/norman-firedanger.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/tulsa-firedanger.png Fire danger will peak about 4pm according to the burning index forecasts on the Mesonet's OK-FIRE website: http://okfire.mesonet.org http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/4pm-firedanger.png ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warmest year still in our sights I don't have to remind you just how warm it has been this year (and the last couple of years). Oklahoma is still on pace to have its warmest year on record. The official mark for January-August from NCDC now stands at 66.0 degrees, easily the warmest first nine months of the year on record for the state. Those records date back to 1895. The five warmest January-August periods are a who's who of "it's frigging hot" periods in Oklahoma history, but also "I'm sick and tired of this frigging drought" periods. -****- Year Jan-Aug Avg. 2012 66.0 2006 65.1 1954 64.7 2011 64.7 1934 64.5 -***- Three months and change to go and 1954 is quaking in its boots. Here are the three warmest years (Jan-Dec) on record. -****- Year Annual Avg. 1954 62.8 1998 62.0 1934 61.9 -***- Not sure what 1998 is doing in there. We'll wait while it leaves. (awkward pause) 2012 currently has about a 1.3F lead on 1954. September-December 1954 was the fourth warmest such period on record, so it enjoyed a fairly warm last four months of the year. 2012 will need above average temperatures the rest of the way to eclipse 1954. If 2012 just has "normal" temperatures the rest of the way, it will fall to second place at 62.5 degrees. September has done its job thus far with a statewide average through Sep. 10 of 80.7 degrees. That's about 4.8 degrees above normal. Highs have been the culprit at 8.7 degrees above normal while lows have only been about a degree above normal. It's probably fortunate that September had such a big headstart since the next couple of weeks might be on the cooler-than-normal side. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/610temp.new.gif http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120911/814temp.new.gif Who knows what October-December might bring. We might just have us a horse race after all! Gary McManus Associate State Climatologist Oklahoma Climatological Survey (405) 325-2253 gmcmanus@mesonet.org ================================================== The OCS/Mesonet Ticker https://ticker.mesonet.org/ To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Ticker or for questions about the Ticker or its content Phone or Email the Ticker Manager at OCS Phone: 405-325-2253 Email: ticker@mesonet.org --------------------------------------------------- -C- Copyright 2024 Oklahoma Climatological Survey ===================================================