Ticker for August 17, 2016

                
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August 17, 2016    August 17, 2016    August 17, 2016    August 17, 2016


Is summer over?




I know, right? Me, a lover of summer, looking forward to the end of said summer?
Well, not so fast. I definitely love summer, but when we end up with a hot sticky
mess of a summer for an extended period of time like this year, I can't deal. I'm
from the lovely dry air regime of the Oklahoma Panhandle where it might get up
to 105 at times, but by 6 or 7 o'clock, the dry air makes it feel like paradise.
That extended period of temps in the 100s (again I can deal with that) and the
associated high humidity (CANNOT DEAL!) giving us heat indexes in the 105-115
range is too much for this High Plains soul.

Last week's cool front didn't bring us the rain we were expecting, but it did
bring us the cooldown we expected and were ready for. Now it can still get hot,
as yesterday showed us, but notice how most of the heat index values are below the
actual air temps in those places where it was really hot. Much more bearable and
pleasant.




But with a face full of clouds over the next couple of days, then a reinforcing
shot of cool air into the weekend through next week, this past week's
unseasonably cool weather is likely to continue. 70s for highs on Sunday? Are
you kidding me, Private Pyle?




Here are the outlooks for the rest of August and then into early September, this
time without the clever and hilarious lyrics (I HEARD THAT!). Notice that the
Climate Prediction Center has greatly increased odds of below normal temperatures
and above normal precipitation, basically from early next week all the way
through the end of climatological summer (August 31).










The trick is losing the heat of mid-August through that last gasp of summer we
often see in early September. As you can see from this graph of Mesonet
statewide average high temps, you get past mid-August and you're on a rapid
decline in heat until next spring.



And if these outlooks are correct, and they're sometimes not, admittedly, the
summer as we know it might have already ended.

And I feel fine.

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