Ticker for January 10, 2023

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 10, 2023   January 10, 2023   January 10, 2023   January 10, 2023


Uncommon warmth




Sorry, no jokes today because we have important bidness to discuss. Apparently
word has gotten out that my band--The Bread and Milks--will perform side gigs
for Pop-Tarts. Now listen here...oh never mind. The OTHER big news is the
approaching storm system (sorry, mostly dry...no, the storm system!) is going to
kick up those southerly winds again today and draw that warmth from down south
up our way, threatening our record highs across southern and western Oklahoma.



Now check this out...the highest temperature ever recorded on a Jan. 10 in
Oklahoma, dating back to the 1880s, was the 84 degrees at Woodward in 1911. In
fact, the majority of today's record highs came from that year.



So as we watch those southerly winds blast us today, we'll keep an eye on those
temperatures across those areas of the state. Maybe we can top that 84 degrees
and set a new all-time Jan. 10 record. Speaking of those winds, they're just
getting started, and they should bump up just a bit from the 20-30 mph gusts
from yesterday?





I don't know why I ended that sentence with a question mark, but I'm too lazy
to go change it. It also got me thinking, perhaps putting a question mark on all
my forecast-type sentences would be a good idea. Like..."a good chance of rain
today?" or "There will be a blizzard today, because I'm going to DQ and get an
Oreo Blizzard?" One of those sentences has a much better chance of happening.
BUT, those winds and the heat, along with our dry air, will start to ramp up
the fire danger across our area. Hence the Fire Weather Watch across our
western counties (I should also start using "hence" more!).







This will be but one of many high fire dangers this January, February, March...
and depending on how drought goes, maybe beyond even that if we lack a quick
green-up.

Sorry, I'm going by experience so no question mark needed.

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