Ticker for May 14, 2008

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
May 14, 2008       May 14, 2008       May 14, 2008       May 14, 2008


It's That Wonderful Time of the Year

We are but 19 days from June 2nd, when the Ticker will turn ten years
old. Ticker Day is a beautiful slice of Americana, when folks far and
wide gather 'round to share obliquely useful climate and weather
facts.

Unfortunately, the Ticker Staff can't attend every town's Ticker Day
parade, but they should be enjoyable nonetheless.


Moisture, the great Moderator

Ah, great moderators come and go: Howard Smith, Tim Russert, whatever.
But one moderator has staying power: water vapor!

A look at yesterday's highs and lows versus normal shows the impact
of abundant or abandoned moisture:




(observed highs and lows as numerals, comparison to normal as the
background color)

Overnight/morning lows were somewhat warm, testifying to the moderating
mode of moisture. Afternoon highs were held in check by cloud cover,
except for an obvious stripe in central Oklahoma, which saw a brief
period of clear skies and lower dew points yesterday.