Ticker for December 10, 2008

                
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December 10, 2008  December 10, 2008  December 10, 2008  December 10, 2008



When Normal Isn't

Today's morning temps in OKC and Tulsa were well below the so-called
"normals" for the day. But how normal is normal? Let's see:




These graphs show the historical distribution of high (red) and low
(blue) temperatures on December 10th at each of the state's two major
cities. The so-called normal values are given as bold numbers on the
scale.

At Tulsa:
Five of the sixty-five or so low temperatures in the dataset match the
so-called "normal" value of 31F, along with only two of the highs!

At Oklahoma City, it's even more dramatic:
OKC has observed its "normal" Dec 10th low exactly thrice, and as
pegged its "normal" high of 51 exactly once!

If you look closely, you'll also see hints that there are groupings
of temperatures a few degrees above and a few degrees below the
normals (this is especially true for the OKC highs and the Tulsa lows.
This is the reality of life in the middle of the continent: we spend
more days in "warm regimes" or "cold regimes" than we do nearest the
normals ... and it gets even more dramatic in spring and fall: