Ticker for July 1, 1999

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
July 1, 1999       July 1, 1999       July 1, 1999       July 1, 1999


First Six Months of 1999: Warm and Very Wet

Mild winter temperatures helped make the first six months of 1999
somewhat warmer than normal, but the real story of the period was
the excessive precipitation in northern Oklahoma.

According to preliminary data, all three northern tier climate divisions
(  
  )
recorded precipitation amounts which placed January-June 1999 in the
top five wettest such periods since record-keeping began in 1895.

Two tables with the gory details are attached to today's Ticker.


Today's Action

Mother Nature isn't letting up on northern Oklahoma just because she's
teeing off on the proverbial "back nine".  Today wind gusts exceeding
50 mph have been observed at Copan (55 and 52 mph), Foraker (51, 50),
Medford (*71*, 59, 58), Newkirk (51, 66), Red Rock (53) and Vinita (55).

Heavy rainfall has also kicked off the second half of the year in
northern Oklahoma.  At the risk of exposing Ticker readers to too
many tables in one sitting, here are some rainfall totals since
midnight:

Newkirk     2.06 in
Blackwell   1.67 in
Medford     1.39 in
Skiatook    1.36 in
Wynona      1.34 in
Claremore   1.33 in
Copan       1.33 in
Foraker     1.31 in
Nowata      1.08 in
Jay         1.07 in



Attachments:

JANUARY THROUGH JUNE PRECIPITATION DATA

Climate        January-June Precipitation    Rank*    Wettest   Wettest
Division         1999   Normal  Departure    of 104   Since     on Record

Panhandle      14.86"    9.97"    + 4.89"       5th     1987    1957 (17.99")
N. Central     24.58"   13.88"    +10.70"       3rd     1957    1957 (33.16")
Northeast      33.83"   20.35"    +13.48"       3rd     1957    1957 (39.21")

W. Central     19.61"   13.71"    + 5.90"      11th     1997    1957 (25.83")
Central        24.83"   17.91"    + 6.92"      11th     1995    1957 (34.38")
E. Central     32.22"   22.47"    + 9.75"       8th     1990    1945 (44.38")

Southwest      18.34"   14.66"    + 3.68"      24th     1995    1957 (26.73")
S. Central     23.43"   20.32"    + 3.11"      28th     1995    1957 (36.94")
Southeast      29.67"   25.80"    + 3.87"      23rd     1990    1990 (46.67")

Statewide      24.68"   17.34"    + 6.98"      10th     1990    1957 (33.91")

* - 1st=Wettest, 105th=Driest



JANUARY THROUGH JUNE TEMPERATURE DATA

Climate      Mean Jan-June Temp (F)    Rank of 105  Coolest    Warmest
Division     1999    Norm  Departure   1st=warmest  on record  on record

Panhandle    52.3    51.8    +0.5      32nd         47.5 1912  54.0 1934
N. Central   54.5    53.7    +0.8      32nd         48.6 1979  57.5 1986
Northeast    55.3    54.1    +1.2      28th         49.6 1912  57.7 1986

W. Central   55.7    54.1    +1.6      25th         49.6 1979  58.3 1986
Central      56.5    55.3    +1.2      26th         51.0 1912  59.2 1986
E. Central   57.3    55.9    +1.4      23rd         51.7 1912  59.2 1986

Southwest    57.6    56.5    +1.1      28th         52.2 1899  60.1 1953
S. Central   59.0    57.3    +1.7      21st         53.8 1978  60.9 1911
Southeast    59.0    56.8    +2.2      15th         53.2 1978  61.0 1938

Statewide    56.1    55.0    +1.1      29th         51.0 1912  62.5 1986