Ticker for February 5, 2021

                
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February 5, 2021   February 5, 2021   February 5, 2021   February 5, 2021


Cold by the numbers


Just a quick Tick, to Tock about what everybody's Talking about. The entire Ticker
staff (i.e., me, myself and I) have been data mining for the last 24 hours trying
to get some numbers together for our burst of cold next week. What, over a week
with highs below freezing? PERISH THE THOUGHT! But it does look like it could
be possible, basically from Tuesday the 9th through Tuesday the 16th, and possibly
beyond. I'm not sure about that, there is some hint the cold air might pull back
to the northeast for just a bit during that time, but does it really matter if
one day you get up to 35 degrees in the midst of 7-10 days of 32 degrees? Not to
me, but when it comes to cold weather, I'm all for moral victories. And parkas.
And heaters.

At any rate, here are some numbers to keep in mind. We (I) will keep mining to
see if I can find some more extremes. Maybe this will help to keep things in
perspective...it might be cold, but it could always be worse!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Longest streak at or below freezing (32 degrees) in Oklahoma:

The prize goes to Fort Reno and Winnview, way back in 1895. Luckily I found two
stations from that period or otherwise I would have questioned those results.
The two stations basically quality assured each other. The same goes for Guymon
and Hooker back in 1911/12.

Here are the tops on the list. And this would also count for consecutive hours
below freezing, since any temperature above 32 degrees would have registered on
their max-min thermometers. I've thrown in the highest counts I could find in
the corners of the state, as well as Tulsa and OKC for interest.

-***-
Location       Consecutive Days              Streak
Fort Reno             20              01/27/1895-02/15/1895
Winnview              20              01/27/1895-02/15/1895
Guymon                20              12/20/1911-01/08/1912
Blackwell             19              01/07/1930-01/25/1930
Guthrie               19              01/28/1895-02/15/1895
Hooker                19              12/21/1911-01/08/1912
Hennessey             18              01/07/1930-01/24/1930
Okeene                18              01/07/1930-01/24/1930
Jefferson             17              01/29/1905-02/14/1905
Altus                 15              02/01/1895-02/15/1895
Tulsa                 13              12/18/1983-12/30/1983
OKC                   13              12/18/1983-12/30/1983
Idabel                12              12/20/1983-12/31/1983
-****-

Now obviously the list is limited by any sort of data breaks at stations. One
missing report can interrupt the chance for the consecutive record. But at those
three stations, that's at least 480 consecutive hours below zero (and that would
be about 472 too many!).

Do you want to see what cold in 1895 looks like? Feb. 7, 1895, looks like a
suitably cold day.



Yeah, not sure if you just went out early to turn on the heater in the covered
wagon or just hopped in cold. And the outhouse? Well, never mind.

But next week, and maybe the week after that, when the wind chills drop down
into negative territory, just remember...it could always be worse!



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