Ticker for August 1, 2000

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
August 1, 2000     August 1, 2000     August 1, 2000     August 1, 2000


(July normal precipitation corrected in bottom table)

Welcome to August

August is the third of the climatologist's three summer months.
Climatologically speaking, August is the second warmest month of
the year (July is the warmest) for each of Oklahoma's nine climate
divisions.

While August is one of the drier warm season months across the
state, the increased possibility of tropical systems surviving into
Oklahoma helps contribute to the fact that the mean rainfall totals
are slightly greater than those of July.

It is notable that Oklahoma's hottest August (by far) was also its
driest August (by far).  August of 1936, during the Dust Bowl, is
a terrific example of how the absence of near-surface soil moisture
dictates that solar energy is used almost exclusively to heat the
surface of the earth (as opposed to moist soils dictating that a
substantial portion of the energy be used in evaporative processes).

Here are some statewide normals and superlatives for the month:

Normal August precipitation:  3.82"
Oklahoma's wettest August:    6.04" 1906
Oklahoma's driest August:     0.22" 1936

Normal August temperature:    80.3F
Oklahoma's warmest August:    87.2F 1936
Oklahoma's coolest August:    73.3F 1915



Some Preliminary July Numbers

Not much to add, except notice the general trend that the wetter
stations tend to be even moreso cooler than average than the drier
stations.  Oh, and please forgive my horrible English.


PRELIMINARY JULY 2000 DATA

Climate      July Monthly Precipitation   July Monthly Temperature
Division     2000   Norm   Depart   Pct     2000  Normal    Depart

Panhandle    1.85"  2.25"  -0.40"   82%     80.2    79.9    +0.3 F
N. Central   2.92"  2.74"  +0.18"  106%     81.0    82.4    -1.4 F
Northeast    4.19"  2.67"  +1.52"  157%     79.2    81.0    -1.8 F

W. Central   1.71"  2.07"  -0.36"   82%     81.3    81.8    -0.5 F
Central      3.61"  2.44"  +1.17"  148%     80.5    82.0    -1.5 F
E. Central   2.72"  2.63"  +0.09"  103%     80.0    81.4    -1.4 F

Southwest    1.13"  2.02"  -0.89"   56%     82.8    83.4    -0.6 F
S. Central   2.13"  2.29"  -0.16"   93%     82.0    82.6    -0.6 F
Southeast    1.71"  3.39"  -1.68"   50%     80.6    80.7    -0.1 F

Statewide    2.54"  2.62"  -0.08"   97%     80.8    81.7    -0.9 F