Ticker for December 5, 2011

                
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December 5, 2011   December 5, 2011   December 5, 2011   December 5, 2011


Zooming back to February, December style

As I type this, I'm reminded that there are two types of people in the world ...
those that like this type of weather and the sane, rational majority. But for
you cold weather fans, Old Man Winter (aka the JERK) has brought his brand of
extremes for a visit. The 11 degrees recorded yesterday at Boise City and the
12-degree readings at Boise City and Kenton today are the lowest temperatures
we've seen on the Mesonet since February 12 when Nowata and several other
locations reached 10 degrees. Notable since two days previous (Feb. 10), Nowata
was a balmy -31 degrees.




So we had a nice 10-month run there. Quite shocking, not only that it has been
that long since we've seen temperatures that low but that it didn't get below 12
degrees again after February 12.

Now apparently bottom has also dropped out of the the apparent temperature (wind
chill) map as well. Wind chills have been as low as -9 degrees out in the
Panhandle with teens and 20s as you go farther south and east.



Once again, these are the lowest wind chills seen on the Mesonet's 120 stations
since February 11 of this year when Cherokee reached -18 degrees. There
were 47 Mesonet stations with below-zero wind chills that day. Also again,
notable because the day previous on February 10 the wind chill dipped to -47
degrees at Medford.

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By now, we all know that Oklahoma's July and Summer (June-August) were the
hottest for any state, on a statewide average basis, since records began in 1895.
The statewide average (highs and lows divided by two) temperature this July was
89.3 degrees. Again, hottest for any month for any state since 1895. Ever wonder
what Oklahoma's coldest month ever was? Me neither. But I'm going to tell you
anyway.

Here are Oklahoma's coldest months since 1895:

Month/Year            Ave. Temperature
January 1930            23.5 degrees
January 1940            23.8 degrees
January 1979            24.2 degrees
January 1918            25.1 degrees
December 1983           25.8 degrees

So just as Oklahoma's NORMAL hottest month (July) dominates the record hottest,
Oklahoma's NORMAL coldest month dominates the record coldest. And another reason
that July is an infinitely more awesome month than January.

How about coldest months ever in the United States? From our friends at the
National Climatic (and always Climactic) Data Center:

Month/Year         State           Ave. Temp
February 1936    North Dakota    -14.1 degrees
January 1950     North Dakota    -10.7 degrees
January 1937     North Dakota     -9.4 degrees
January 1912     Minnesota        -8.3 degrees
February 1936    Minnesota        -6.5 degrees
February 1936    South Dakota     -5.0 degrees
December 1983    North Dakota     -2.5 degrees
December 1983    Minnesota        -0.4 degrees
December 1917    North Dakota     -0.1 degrees

I'll say nothing to besmirch those fine states, despite their unlivable climate.

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