Ticker for January 6, 2010

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 6, 2010    January 6, 2010    January 6, 2010    January 6, 2010


The Heat Is Definitely NOT On

As we look forward to the arctic blast headed our way (SARCASM IMPLIED AND
INTENDED) over the next several days, perhaps it would be a good time to head
underground and do some good old fashioned data mining. We may be mining cold
weather data, but the temperature is a balmy 55 degrees down here in our data
archives.

Let's start out by taking a look at the lowest 21 temperatures recorded
in Oklahoma. Our archives go back to about 1891 or so for individual stations.
Now of course some stations don't go back that far, so the period of record for
different stations varies. These are COOP observations only. The Mesonet didn't
come online until 1994, so we'll look at those separately. As it works out,
however, the Mesonet has never recorded a temperature to register on this list.

VINITA  	2/13/1905	-27
WATTS	        1/18/1930	-27
PAWHUSKA	1/22/1930	-26
VINITA     	1/22/1930	-26
WATTS	        1/22/1930	-26
BARTLESVILLE 	1/22/1930	-25
BEAVER	        2/12/1899	-25
CLEO*	        2/13/1905	-25
GATE	        1/19/1984	-25
MIAMI	        1/22/1930	-25
SPAVINAW	1/22/1930	-25
WHITEAGLE*	2/13/1905	-25
BOISE CITY 	 1/4/1959	-24
CLEVELAND  	1/22/1930	-24
GUTHRIE	        1/22/1930	-24
WOODWARD	 1/4/1947	-24
BEAVER	         1/4/1959	-23
FAIRLAND*	2/13/1905	-23
JEFFERSON	2/13/1905	-23
KENTON	         1/4/1959	-23
TAHLEQUAH	1/18/1930	-23

I cut those off at -23 degrees for convenience, but there were 120 more
observations down to -20 degrees. Now we can take a look at the Mesonet
observations. Top 10 lowest temperatures as recorded by the Mesonet stand are
listed below.

KENTON	       2/3/1996	     -19
NOWAATA	       2/4/1996	     -19
STILLWATER     2/4/1996	     -19
VINITA	       2/4/1996	     -18
KINGFISHER     2/4/1996	     -17
OILTON	       2/4/1996	     -16
CAMARGO	       2/4/1996	     -16
JAY            2/4/1996	     -15
PRYOR	       2/4/1996	     -15
KENTON	      12/8/2005	     -15

Want to know what the coldest day on record averaged statewide was according to
the Oklahoma Mesonet? Well, the data above ought to give a pretty good clue.
Here are the top (or bottom) 10:

2/3/1996	 7.5
2/4/1996	12.6
1/12/1997	13.0
2/24/2003	14.3
12/22/1998	14.4
2/2/1996	14.5
12/8/2005	14.7
1/11/1997	15.1
1/31/1996	15.2

How about coldest 7-day periods from the Mesonet, ending on the date listed?
Keep in mind the average statewide temperature for the last 7 days was 28.1
degrees, so we still have a way to go before reaching these levels. Here's
hoping we don't!

2/5/1996	17.4
2/4/1996        17.5
2/6/1996        20.0
1/16/1997	20.7
1/17/1997	20.9
2/3/1996	22.0
1/14/1997	22.1
1/15/1997	22.4
1/13/1997	23.4
1/18/1997	23.4

Coldest statewide average days according to COOP data?

12/22/1989	1.8
12/23/1989	2.8
12/22/198	3.4
12/24/1983	4.6
12/25/1983	4.9
1/4/1947	5.0
1/17/1930	5.1
1/12/1918	5.7
12/23/1983	5.8
1/4/1959	5.8

7-day COOP periods, ending on the date listed?

12/25/1983	 6.9
12/26/1983	 7.7
12/24/1983  	 9.1
12/27/1983	 9.1
12/28/1983	10.6
12/29/1983	11.6
1/22/1930	11.8
12/23/1983	12.5
12/30/1983	12.7

Okay, that's enough mining for now. Hopefully the ore we dug up will keep you
a bit warmer as you are freezing! And special thanks for fellow miner Dr. Mark
Shafer, Director of Climate Services here at OCS, for his work on the pick-axe.

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253