Ticker for October 8, 2012

                
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October 8, 2012    October 8, 2012    October 8, 2012    October 8, 2012


How cold was it?

It was so cold ... the dogs were wearing cats! Thank you, thank you. Be sure and
tip your climatologists. I'll be here for the rest of my life.

How cold was it in Oklahoma City (no joke on this one)? Well, it dipped down to
31 degrees at Will Rogers Airport this morning, the earliest freeze ever for the
official OKC observing station. Now here's a small caveat: Will Rogers hit 32
degrees back on Oct. 7, 1952, but that wasn't the official OKC station at the
time. That honor belonged to the Weather Bureau Office on Classen. Sort of a
technicality there to set the record, but however you shake it out on that one,
still cooooooolllllldddd! The old record for earliest freeze was Oct. 9, 2000,
when Will Rogers dropped to 28 degrees. Tulsa also dropped down to 32 degrees
this morning, setting their record low temperature for the day.

Several other records were set through the weekend, including record low maximum
temperatures at McAlester, OKC and Tulsa on Oct. 6.

It's been quite some time since we've seen weather this cold. In fact, the lowest
reading from the Mesonet this weekend was 26 degrees at Seiling and Freedom on
the seventh. That is the lowest temperature recorded on the network since several
stations dropped below 26 degrees way back on March 20.

Here are the minimum temperature maps from the Oklahoma Mesonet for the last
three days, as well as the number of hours at or below 32 degrees and 28 degrees
(also from the Mesonet).








Nothing major, unless you had some sensitive plants in the elements. Mangum
shocked with 10 hours below the freezing mark. But compare it to the same map
(32 degrees or lower) for the entire 2012 spring (March 1-May 31)!



Mangum had 10 hours below freezing this weekend but just 11 hours for those three
months of spring. Acme in Grady County spent four hours below freezing since
Friday, but only one hour during spring. So definitely a combination of unusual
cold this weekend and unusual warmth last spring. And this is only the Mesonet.
The NWS COOP stations hit the skids as well. Here are some of the lowest
temperatures recorded this weekend (including this morning).

-****-
Date    Location (Network)     Low Temperature
7-Oct	  MIAMI (COOP)	              25
8-Oct	  MIAMI (COOP)	              25
7-Oct	  SEILING (MESO)	      26
7-Oct	  MUTUAL (COOP)	              26
7-Oct	  GAGE (COOP)	              26
7-Oct	  FREEDOM (COOP)	      26
7-Oct	  BUFFALO (MESO)	      27
7-Oct	  MEDFORD (MESO)	      27
7-Oct	  ARNETT (MESO)	              27
7-Oct	  WOODWARD (MESO)	      27
7-Oct	  CAMAARGO (MESO)	      27
8-Oct	  MUTUAL (COOP)	              27
7-Oct	  ALVA (MESO)	              27
-***-

However you look at it, one of the coldest snaps this early in October on the
record books. Wayyyyyy too cold for this cold-blooded Associate State
Climatologist.

And that's no joke.

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