Ticker for August 28, 2000

                
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August 28, 2000    August 28, 2000    August 28, 2000    August 28, 2000


August 2000: Driest August on Record?

According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, seven of
Oklahoma's nine climate divisions have recorded rainfall amounts that
would set or tie records for least rainfall in the month of August.

Keeping in mind two caveats (this is preliminary, not official, data,
and there are still three-plus days left in August), it looks like this
month may go down as the driest August on record for those seven climate
divisions (marked with an asterisk below), and for the statewide average.

- Mean August Rainfall -
Climate Div.    2000   Existing Record

Panhandle       0.59"     0.47" (1913)
N Central       0.35"     0.09" (1913)
* Northeast       0.01"     0.13" (1936)

* W Central       0.02"     0.05" (1913)
* Central         0.02"     0.08" (1936)
* E Central       0.00"     0.38" (1936)

* Southwest       0.00"     0.00" (1913)
* S Central       0.00"     0.02" (1913)
* Southeast       0.05"     0.19" (1943)

* Statewide       0.12"     0.38" (1936)


Streaks Continue

Yesterday, all but three of the 114 operational Oklahoma Mesonet stations
reported high temperatures greater than 100 F.  Including today's data,
fifty Mesonet stations have streaks of ten days or more with 100+ high
temperatures.  Here's a list of the longest running streaks (including
today):

Grandfield:  current streak 27 days (streak began on August  2nd)
Walters:     current streak 27 days (streak began on August  2nd)
Waurika:     current streak 27 days (streak began on August  2nd)
Clayton:     current streak 26 days (streak began on August  3rd)
Ringling:    current streak 19 days (streak began on August 10th)
Antlers:     current streak 14 days (streak began on August 15th)
Burneyville: current streak 14 days (streak began on August 15th)
Cloudy:      current streak 14 days (streak began on August 15th)
Broken Bow:  current streak 13 days (streak began on August 16th)

The streaks of 27 days, as a group, are the second longest such streaks
in Mesonet history (commissioned in March 1994).  Five stations in
south central Oklahoma recorded 29 straight 100+ days from July 6th
through August 3rd, 1998.