Ticker for August 4, 1998

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
August 4, 1998     August 4, 1998     August 4, 1998     August 4, 1998

Severe Weather / Thunderstorm Roundup

The past 36-48 hours have brought some much needed rain to the state,
particularly to parts of south central and southeastern Oklahoma,
where drought and fires have been a severe problem.

Some wind gusts from yesterday's storms:

Hugo    73 mph   3:50 pm  Aug 3rd
Vinita  62 mph  12:10 am  Aug 3rd
Ada     61 mph  11:00 pm  Aug 3rd
Hugo    53 mph   3:45 pm  Aug 3rd

Rainfall totals from 12:01 am Aug 3rd through 2:00 pm Aug 4th:

Antlers       2.60"
Burneyville   2.28"
Ada           1.76"
Madill        1.63"
Kenton        1.46"
Erick         1.21"
Beaver        1.09"
Byars         0.93"
Boise City    0.88"
Broken Bow    0.85"
Bessie        0.70"
Guthrie       0.70"


Afternoon Soil Temps Reflect Rainfall "Footprint"

A quick look at the current soil temperature map and 24-hour rainfall plot:




can reveal how recent significant precipitation can change the way solar
energy is used at the surface.  In areas where significant rain has
fallen, the soil temps are lower, because some of the sun's energy is
being used to evaporate soil moisture.  In areas with no recent rainfall,
the soil temps are higher, because the sun's energy goes almost entirely
into heating the surface.


Streaks in Jeopardy

Yesterday was the 49th consecutive day that at least one Mesonet station
observed a temperature of 100F or more.  Today, as of 2:30 pm, the highest
temperature observed was 93F at Pryor.

Ardmore, Grandfield, Lane, Tishomingo, Walters and Waurika made it
29 straight days of 100+ temps yesterday.  Today, as of 2:30 pm, each of
these stations was observing temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s.