Ticker for August 3, 2022

                
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August 3, 2022     August 3, 2022     August 3, 2022     August 3, 2022


Unforgiving




I have SHOCKING news to tell you...SHOCKING I SAY!

My hair is growing back! Ha, you wish! No wait, *I* wish. I'm guessing you don't
mind as much. But you DO mind the continued heat, probably, especially for you dry
heat lovers that are getting pounded by the heat index lately. Well, batten down
the hatches (and we all know just how painful battening your hatches can be), find
a cave, crank the AC (if you can afford it) and get through it the best you can,
because today is gonna be another doozy. If you're thinking you can't catch a break
this summer, well, you're probably right. Since May 1 (technically and literally
no summer) the statewide average high temperature has been above average 69 out
of 94 days, and you can add today and then the next 6 days to that total.



That culminated on July 19 when we were 15.2 degrees above average at 109.2 degrees
averaged across the state. For the climatological summer thus far, it has been
48 out of 63 days. So those looking for those mild summer conditions that we've
seen quite a bit of over the last decade have been left mostly wanting. And no,
there is no sign of the heat truly relenting just yet, nor is there a sign--at
least firm signs--of our next big rain chances.





There was some hope that the heat dome would pull a bit to the north, leaving
us an opening for some moisture from the east on that clockwise rotation around
the high pressure system, but it's just not materializing yet. And of course,
easterly flow would mean STICKY, but whatever it takes to get rain, right?

Alright, back to my hair...or hair to my back.

Just like the rain chances. I wish.

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