Ticker for August 1, 2001

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
August 1, 2001     August 1, 2001     August 1, 2001     August 1, 2001


Hello, 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 Oklahoma,
its average rainfall is slightly high than July's.  This is partly due
to an increased possibility of tropical systems surviving into
Oklahoma.

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 (with moist soils, a substantial portion of that
energy is used in evaporative processes).

Here are statewide superlatives and normals for August:

Normal August precipitation:  2.82"
Oklahoma's wettest August:    6.54" 1906
Oklahoma's driest August:     0.22" 1936

Normal August temperature:    80.3F
Oklahoma's warmest August:    87.9F 1936
Oklahoma's coolest August:    73.9F 1915


Good Riddance, July

July was here.  July was hot.  July was dry.  July is gone.  Goodbye,
July.  Don't call us, we'll call you.

In fact, preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet indicates that
July 2001 was the sixth-warmest and sixth-driest July on record.
Remember that remark about surface heating being modulated by the
presence/absence of near-surface soil moisture during the summer?
We felt the impact of two month's worth of well-below normal rainfall
on many July afternoons this year.

Here are the preliminary statistics for each Oklahoma climate division.


JULY 2001 PRECIPITATION DATA

Climate      July Monthly Precipitation   Rank*  Least  Least
Division     2001   Norm   Depart  Pct   of 107  Since  on Record

Panhandle    1.40"  2.25"  -0.85"  62%  t-17th   1987   1935 (0.37")
N. Central   0.51"  2.74"  -2.23"  19%     5th   1984   1983 (0.13")
Northeast    1.22"  2.67"  -1.45"  46%    26th   1999   3yrs (0.00")

W. Central   0.60"  2.07"  -1.47"  29%    13th   1984   1936 (0.05")
Central      0.90"  2.44"  -1.54"  37%    12th   1998   1980 (0.16")
E. Central   0.76"  2.63"  -1.87"  29%    12th   1993   1930 (0.17")

Southwest    0.24"  2.02"  -1.78"  12%     5th   1983   1980 (0.03")
S. Central   0.63"  2.29"  -1.66"  28%     8th   1998   1934 (0.09")
Southeast    0.87"  3.39"  -2.52"  26%     8th   1999   1930 (0.00")

Statewide    0.81"  2.62"  -1.81"  31%     6th   1983   1980 (0.41")

* - 1st = Least Rainfall, 107th = Most Rainfall


JULY 2001 TEMPERATURE DATA

Climate      Avg July Temperature     Rank**   Warmest  Warmest
Division     2001    Norm  Departure  of 107   Since    on record

Panhandle    84.5    79.9    +4.6        3rd    1980    1980 (85.4)
N. Central   87.7    82.4    +5.3        5th    1980    1954 (89.6)
Northeast    84.2    81.0    +3.2     t-12th    1998    1954 (89.2)

W. Central   87.1    81.8    +5.3        4th    1980    1954 (88.1)
Central      86.0    82.0    +4.0        6th    1998    1954 (88.6)
E. Central   84.5    81.4    +3.1     t-11th    1998    1954 (88.7)

Southwest    88.0    83.4    +4.6        4th    1980    1980 (89.1)
S. Central   85.5    82.6    +2.9       12th    1998    1998 (88.9)
Southeast    83.3    80.7    +2.6     t-26th    1998    1954 (87.5)

Statewide    85.6    81.7    +3.9      t-6th    1998    1954 (88.1)

** - 1st = Warmest Month, 107th = Coolest Month