Ticker for August 3, 2010

                
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August 3, 2010     August 3, 2010     August 3, 2010     August 3, 2010


Set Summer to Simmer

Mother Nature has obviously gotten serious about the heat. It's so hot outside I
saw two trees fighting over a dog. Yesterday's Oklahoma Mesonet high/low
temperature map tells the story:



Freedom now has the state's highest temperature for the year with 109 degrees,
although Buffalo, May Ranch and Alva were close on Freedom's heels with readings
of 108 degrees. The low temperatures were nothing to sneeze at either. Fairview
came in at a pleasant (if it was noon!) 83 degrees and Oklahoma City North and
Buffalo had 81 degrees. If you're dying for some upper 90s today, try and hit
Kenton or Miami. I wouldn't advise both because you would need to drive across
the surface of the sun, otherwise known as northwestern Oklahoma, to get there.

What's responsible for all this heat? Well, it's the upper-level ridge of high
pressure that centered itself over our state. Oklahoma is such a nice place to
visit, it decided to stay for awhile. The Norman NWS forecast office have a
pretty good example of exactly what is occurring ... notice the pinwheel of
disturbances with the molten lava (US!) at the center:



It does look like some relief is on the way, however. Again, a view from the
Norman NWS office:



Get out the sweaters!

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Correction Time!

By the way, Jacob reminded me it was Hobart that had 14.28 inches of rain
during July. Thanks for the correction! That's easily the wettest July on record
for Hobart, by the way, topping the previous record of 10.58 inches in 1975. In
fact, it's the wettest month ever in Hobart, beating the 12.94 inches that fell
in October of 1923.

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We get word from Dr. J.D. Carlson of OSU fire-weather fame that the planets are
aligning in the west, possibly signaling an attack! Okay, I threw that last part
in for some added excitement, but here is what Dr. Carlson had to say about this
pretty cool astronomical event:

Over the next two weeks, Mars, Saturn, and Venus will be very close to
one another in the WSW after sunset (about 45 minutes after sunset),
forming a changing triangle.  On Saturday August 8 they will be the
closest together, all within a 4.8 degree field of view.  If one has an
unobstructed view of the western horizon, one can even catch Mercury,
barely above the horizon just a tad further north, or due west.  That's
FOUR PLANETS visible at one time in a very narrow section of the sky.

For more information, see:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/99634764.html

Thanks JD!

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253
gmcmanus@mesonet.org