Ticker for December 27, 2021

                
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December 27, 2021  December 27, 2021  December 27, 2021  December 27, 2021


This one time in February




The extremely extreme extremes measured by the Oklahoma Mesonet are normally
extremely extreme, although this year they would be extremely normal if not for
an extremely extreme extended bout with extremely extreme cold air during
February. So pardon us, heat index of 113.4 degrees (Webbers Falls on July 31).
Move over air temperature of 107 degrees at Eva on June 23. Step aside, 101 days
above 90 degrees at Hollis.

Of course, those extremes probably felt extreme at the time, but
they hardly match up to some of the Mesonet's previous extreme extremes. But how
about the 334 consecutive hours below 32 degrees at Lahoma between Feb. 6 and Feb.
20? Needless to say we haven't seen anything like that on the Mesonet before,
and really nothing comes close since the December 1983 extended cold snap.







Yeah, that's 15 days with freezing temperatures including the beginning and
ending dates, but 13 days completely below freezing. But wait, there's more!
We also saw the coldest day in Oklahoma history on Feb. 15 with a statewide
average of -0.4 degrees. Not just Oklahoma Mesonet history, but OKLAHOMA
history. That tops Dec. 22, 1989's 1.9 degrees. Now there were days back in the
1890s where the statewide average was a bit below that, but there were only a
handful of sites, so not really a fair comparison.



That -22.1 degrees reading at Kenton on Feb. 15 was no slouch either. It can't
match our coldest (OK or OK Mesonet) reading ever at Nowata on Feb. 10, 2011,
of -31 degrees, but it's danged cold. The -35.8 degrees wind chill at Boise City
that same day...again, not a record (-47 degrees, Medford Mesonet, 2011), but
again, no slouch.



We invite ya to read more about our February Deep Freeze Event of 2021 in
these previous Tickers. Remember, it snowed, too!

https://ticker.mesonet.org/select.php?mo=02&da=15&yr=2021

https://ticker.mesonet.org/select.php?mo=02&da=16&yr=2021

https://ticker.mesonet.org/select.php?mo=02&da=22&yr=2021

https://ticker.mesonet.org/select.php?mo=03&da=01&yr=2021

Also check out this awesome summary produced by our friends over at the
Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP):

http://www.southernclimate.org/documents/Feb2021ExtremeCold.pdf

There were other extremes that didn't make the list. How about the 89 degrees
on Christmas Eve was the highest December temperature ever recorded by the
Mesonet, topping Hollis' 86 degrees on Dec. 1, 2012. Hollis cheated by doing
it on the FIRST day of December. That's not a December period-of-record for
Oklahoma accomplishment, however. That goes to the 92 degrees recorded at
Ardmore on Dec. 30, 1951. See, that's how you do it, later into the deep of
winter.



Don't forget the 31 tornadoes that were confirmed during October, the highest
total ever for the month (topping October 1998's 27 twisters).

And we're about to set the statewide December temperature record by several
degrees. So prepare to heave ho, Dec. 1965 and you're measly 45.1 degrees.
There's about to be a new boss in December-town.

Until December 2022, here's hoping our extreme extremes next year and extremely
normal.

Gary McManus
State Climatologist
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
gmcmanus@mesonet.org