Ticker for August 11, 2021

                
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August 11, 2021    August 11, 2021    August 11, 2021    August 11, 2021


Spoiled milk




Oh, don't think that would happen? Leaving the fridgerator (Okie to English
translation: "refrigerator") door open to cool things down? The coldest year of my
life happened one day while I was shopping in the Wal Mart produce section. And
here's the deal...finally, FINALLY, we get to actually look with fond anticipation
at the arrival of one of these cold fronts since we've finally, FINALLY, had an
extended period of hot weather. Even in this hot weather, we're just now hitting
the REALLY hot stuff.





And all in all, not a terribly shocking pattern in our 90s and 100s for the warm
season thus far. It's hotter up from the SW through NW where drought has been a
problem. Also seeing some warmer weather down in the SE where Clayton has hit
100 degrees five times, with neighboring Talihina accomplishing it twice. Alva
leads the state with 17 times in triple-digits, but several are right there at
15.





Why the blob of 100s there in Woods and Alfalfa counties? I don't think it's a
coincidence that those areas also have long-term rainfall deficits throughout
the warm season. Remember, in times of healthy rains, soil moisture values are
high. The sun's rays then go towards evaporating that soil moisture, which is
a cooling process (same reason when wind hits your sweat, you cool down if it
can evaporate that moisture from your skin). But if the soil moisture is scarce,
more of the sun's energy goes to simply baking the earth's surface, and the
earth's surface (i.e., dirt) then emits that energy back to the air in the form
of longwave radiation, or heat. So up there in the NW, where we see those 100s,
we have more heating and less evaporating (cooling).



Those higher temps in the SE are also probably due to lower moisture values,
but through a more recent period. Notice that Clayton with it's five 100s is
down 5.3 inches for the last 60 days, right through this hot period of weather.



Those 100s in the Panhandle, welllll, it's the Panhandle. Different rules out
that way. But here are a few caveats...we might not see lots of 100s on the
100-degree days map, but that doesn't account for that moisture, once again.
When the sun does evaporate it, or plants send it into the air (combined, called
"evapotranspiration"), the humidity goes up, and the impact on your body in
the form of the heat index goes up with it. Obviously we've had many days at
or above 100 degrees on the heat index scale across much of the eastern half of
the state. I've told you many times that I'd prefer the blast furnace 100s of
the Panhandle any day over the 110 degrees on the heat index scale across
eastern Oklahoma. Case in point: yesterday, although even yesterday the heat
index was in play across far western Oklahoma.





But here's the deal once again: the heat index doesn't take into account any
wind, which can aid in the evaporation of that sweat from your skin, thusly
cooling you off. That's where the wet bulb globe temperature risk (I know,
terrible name) comes in. It was quite windy yesterday, which helped keep that
wet bulb globe risk down a bit in moderate risk category across western OK.





You can read more about the wet bulb globe risk from the NWS Tulsa office here:

https://www.weather.gov/tsa/wbgt

And see our maps of the wet bulb glove risk here (along with our other
temperature maps):

http://www.mesonet.org/index.php/weather/category/air_temperature

At any rate, it's gonna cool down this weekend, and we probably won't have to
worry about the wet heat globe bulb blast index furnace, at least until it gets
hot again.

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