Ticker for September 1, 2000

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
September 1, 2000  September 1, 2000  September 1, 2000  September 1, 2000



August 2000 to be Oklahoma's Driest August on Record

August 2000 will go into the state's books as having the least
rainfall of any of the 109 Augusts now on record (since 1892),
according to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet,
Oklahoma's unique statewide network of real-time environmental
monitoring stations.

The statewide average rainfall value of 0.12 inches is 4% of the
normal value for August.  In other words, the normal August
precipitation across Oklahoma is roughly 25 times this year's
value.

Seven of Oklahoma's nine climate divisions matched or set records
for least rainfall in the month of August.

Three Oklahoma climate divisions (East Central, Southwest and South
Central) observed 0.00 inches (when rounded to the nearest 1/100th
inch) rainfall for the month.  When these results are verified, it
will mark the second, third and fourth such occurrences within an
Oklahoma climate division in August.  The only previous such event
occurred in the Southwest division in 1913.

Ironically, despite the record-setting lack of rainfall in August,
five Oklahoma climate divisions will have observed above-normal
rainfall for the climatological summer (June through August), due to
the exceptionally rainy month of June 2000.

The two most recent significant Oklahoma drought episodes have been
cloaked in similar ways.  The cool season drought of 1995-96, which
gave rise to a flurry of February and March wildfires and severely
impacted the winter wheat crop, was sandwiched between rainy warm
seasons, and precipitation totals for each year were near or above
normal in most climate divisions.  Likewise, the extended summer
drought of 1998, which wiped out the state's dryland cotton crop
and coincided with a heat wave which killed dozens of Oklahoma
residents, was bookended by two very wet cool seasons.

Temperatures for the month of August were also quite extreme, as
preliminary data indicates that the statewide mean temperature of
85.4 F is the fifth warmest on record.  The value for the Panhandle
climate division (which includes Ellis and Harper counties) appears
to have matched its record of 83.1 F, set in 1983.  All areas of the
state were well above normal for the month, especially the North
Central and West Central divisions, which saw extreme temperatures
in the last half of the month.

At the close of the month, three Mesonet stations (Grandfield,
Walters and Waurika) had observed 100+ degree temperatures for
30 consecutive days and counting, and just more than half of the
network's 114 stations had such streaks of twelve days or more.

Tabular data detailing the month of August follows.

A color map of Oklahoma's climate divisions is available at:


A black-and-white map suitable for printing is available at:



AUGUST 2000 PRECIPITATION DATA

Climate       August Monthly Rainfall     Rank*  Least  Least
Division     2000   Norm   Depart  Pct   of 106  Since  on Record

Panhandle    0.59"  2.61"  -2.02"  23%     3rd   1936   1913 (0.47")
N. Central   0.36"  3.03"  -2.67"  12%     3rd   1936   1913 (0.09")
Northeast    0.02"  3.40"  -3.38"   1%     1st   ----   1936 (0.13")

W. Central   0.02"  2.63"  -2.61"   1%     1st   ----   1913 (0.05")
Central      0.02"  2.68"  -2.66"   1%     1st   ----   1936 (0.08")
E. Central   0.00"  3.02"  -3.02"   0%     1st   ----   1936 (0.38")

Southwest    0.00"  2.44"  -2.44"   0%   t-1st   ----   1913 (0.00")
S. Central   0.00"  2.53"  -2.53"   0%     1st   ----   1913 (0.02")
Southeast    0.05"  3.03"  -2.98"   2%     1st   ----   1943 (0.19")

Statewide    0.12"  2.82"  -2.70"   4%     1st   ----   1936 (0.22")

* - 1st = Least Rainfall, 106th = Most Rainfall


AUGUST 2000 TEMPERATURE DATA

Climate      Mean Annual Temperature  Rank**   Warmest  Warmest
Division     2000    Norm  Departure  of 106   Since    on record

Panhandle    83.1    77.8    +5.3      t-1st    1983    1983 (83.1)
N. Central   86.8    80.6    +6.2        3rd    1936    1936 (88.9)
Northeast    84.1    79.5    +4.6       11th    1983    1936 (88.4)

W. Central   86.3    80.1    +6.2        3rd    1943    1936 (87.4)
Central      85.9    80.8    +5.1        6th    1980    1936 (88.3)
E. Central   85.0    80.3    +4.7        8th    1980    1936 (88.0)

Southwest    86.6    81.9    +4.7      t-5th    1954    1952 (88.1)
S. Central   86.5    81.8    +4.7      t-6th    1980    1934 (87.6)
Southeast    84.8    80.0    +4.8        7th    1956    1943 (87.3)

Statewide    85.4    80.3    +5.1        5th    1954    1936 (87.2)

** - 1st = Warmest Month, 106th = Coolest Month