Ticker for March 16, 2009

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
March 16, 2009     March 16, 2009     March 16, 2009     March 16, 2009

Kingfisher Mesonet sites moves

The KING is dead.  Long live KIN2.

No, Deke did not take the Kingfisher Mesonet site with him.

Recently, Mesonet technicians moved Kingfisher from its spot 2 miles northeast
of town to a new spot 1 mile west of town.  The new site was chosen to improve
maintenance and access.

The particulars on the new station are:
KIN2 (replaces KING)
1 mile W of Kingfisher, OK
Mesonet Station Number: 133
Latitude: 35.85431 degrees N
Longitude:  -97.9544 degrees W
Elevation: 323 meters
Born on: March 6, 2009

We gratefully acknowledge the 15 years of service provided by the Kingfisher
station, one of the original 111 stations sited as part of the Oklahoma Mesonet
which was commissioned on January 1, 1994.  Site Extremes since commissioning
on January 01, 1994 were:

Maximum air temperature:    114?F       6/27/1994
Minimum air temperature:    -17?F       2/04/1996
Maximum daily rainfall:    5.35 inches  8/19/2007
Maximum monthly rainfall: 17.07 inches  6/2007
Maximum annual rainfall:  57.56 inches  2007
Maximum wind speed:        86.1 mph     10/17/2007

To give this a little perspective, the -17 degrees recorded by Kingfisher
is among the coldest temperatures ever recorded by a Mesonet station
(surpassed only by -19 degrees at Kenton, Nowata, and Stillwater and -18
at Vinita in the same February 1996 cold air outbreak).  The 86 mph wind gust
is among the top-25 all-time gusts recorded by the Mesonet.

Kingfisher gave the Mesonet one of its most compelling images as well,
as seen after the devastating ice storm of January 2002:




So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

Replacing a site is easy, compared to replacing a valued long-time staff
member.  As Deke so eloquently said last week, he has embarked upon a new
chapter of his life and his career.  Deke will be taking up residence in
Asheville, North Carolina, to become Chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch
at the National Climatic Data Center.  He will have a wonderful opportunity
to take his efforts at informing and educating people about weather and
climate to a national stage.  We all wish him well and he will be dearly missed.

Even though Deke will be miles away, we will do our best to continue the
Ticker in the tradition which he established.  We will continue to find
interesting stories from the Mesonet and share them with you in the same
style, although perhaps not quite the same prose.  In his stead, a team
of Mesonet staff will contribute to the Ticker.  You may know some of these
people already:

Gary McManus, Assistant State Climatologist who is chief editor for
our monthly and seasonal summaries and appears frequently in the media
and on the talk-show circuit (no, not Leno or Letterman, but rotary clubs
and libraries statewide!).

Cindy Morgan, Quality Assurance Manager who has contributed so many
interesting ideas to the Ticker via Deke; now you get to hear from her
directly.

Philip Browder, Mesonet Technician, who will have some great tales from
the field to relate.  For some of our Panhandle residents, you may have
had the opportunity to catch him on Amarillo television weathercasts before
he joined our Mesonet staff!

Jeff Basara, Director of Research, who, like Cindy, has uncovered all manner
of fantastic events that only a network like the Mesonet (and now Oklahoma
City Micronet) can detect.

And, occasionally, a guest author or two; perhaps one residing in, say,
Asheville, North Carolina.

We will do our best to continue producing the Ticker in the same fine fashion
to which you have become accustomed.  This will remain a place where you can
come to learn about the atmosphere.  All we ask of you is to continue sharing
your own ideas and stories with us.

Sincerely Yours,
Mark Shafer, Director of Climate Services