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STATE RECORD LOW for OKLAHOMA Set Today!


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wow, that is impressive that's close to the lowest I've had in MBY. For people who are not used to that type of temperature, I'm sure it is brutal. Hope they stay warm!

How is this extreme cold impacting your community (besides being cold)? Are schools closing and have there been any infrastructure issues? I live in ND and we are used to these temps, but how other areas handled non-normal weather has always intrigued me.

Stay safe and stay warm! If the trend continues, try ice fishing. It is a fun sport! ;)

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Probably the Tulsa WSO (or whichever is nearest to the site) will need to check the accuracy of the instrument(s). When Big Black River reported Maine's coldest ever temp, -50 on 1/16/09, it was about 6 weeks before the WSO in CAR verified the new record and made the "official" announcement.

I was going to mention that also. I think either the Maine state climatologist or NCDC had to get involved as far as taking the instrument and testing its accuracy before declaring the -50 as being legitimate.

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Definitely some heat island effects going on in Tulsa and Lawton.

OKC looks to have had it the worst, though. Thankfully, we still pulled out a -5 F at the airport, which is the coldest since 1989 (and first subzero in 15 years). It's always interesting to me how much lower TUL typically gets on these cold night, despite being at a lower elevation and not a whole lot farther N than OKC.

BTW, I think the Medicine Park site NW of LAW probably stayed warm more due to topography (Wichita Mtns). KLAW itself hit 0.

Probably the Tulsa WSO (or whichever is nearest to the site) will need to check the accuracy of the instrument(s). When Big Black River reported Maine's coldest ever temp, -50 on 1/16/09, it was about 6 weeks before the WSO in CAR verified the new record and made the "official" announcement.

The -31 F at the Nowata site on the Mesonet should be solid. The Mesonet is probably better-maintained than most ASOS sites, or at least equal.

No doubt it will still be double-checked given the magnitude of the record in question, though.

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OKC looks to have had it the worst, though. Thankfully, we still pulled out a -5 F at the airport, which is the coldest since 1989 (and first subzero in 15 years). It's always interesting to me how much lower TUL typically gets on these cold night, despite being at a lower elevation and not a whole lot farther N than OKC.

BTW, I think the Medicine Park site NW of LAW probably stayed warm more due to topography (Wichita Mtns). KLAW itself hit 0.

The -31 F at the Nowata site on the Mesonet should be solid. The Mesonet is probably better-maintained than most ASOS sites, or at least equal.

No doubt it will still be double-checked given the magnitude of the record in question, though.

Perhaps that lower elevation is actually part of the reason.

The nighttime inversion could be stronger/deeper in the "bowl" there, keeping winds dead. I noticed this morning it was a bit breezier in central OK than in NE OK.

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Very deep snow in northeast Oklahoma yesterday. In fact, check out this dispatch from Tulsa:

000

NOUS44 KTSA 101956

PNSTSA

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK

156 PM CST THU FEB 10 2011

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-120000-

BENTON-CARROLL-WASHINGTON AR-MADISON-CRAWFORD-FRANKLIN-SEBASTIAN-

PUSHMATAHA-CHOCTAW-OSAGE-WASHINGTON OK-NOWATA-CRAIG-OTTAWA-PAWNEE-

TULSA-ROGERS-MAYES-DELAWARE-CREEK-OKFUSKEE-OKMULGEE-WAGONER-

CHEROKEE-ADAIR-MUSKOGEE-MCINTOSH-SEQUOYAH-PITTSBURG-HASKELL-

LATIMER-LE FLORE-

156 PM CST THU FEB 10 2011

...ALL TIME OKLAHOMA RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE SET THIS MORNING...

...ALL TIME OKLAHOMA 24 HOUR SNOWFALL RECORD OCCURRED TUESDAY...

THE STRONG WINTER STORM THAT MOVED THROUGH THE REGION TUESDAY

BROUGHT RECORD SNOWFALL FOLLOWED BY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES THIS

MORNING ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

THE OKLAHOMA MESONET STATION A NOWATA REACHED A LOW TEMPERATURE OF

-31 DEGREES THIS MORNING. PENDING VERIFICATION BY NOAA`S NATIONAL

CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THAT MARK WILL ECLIPSE THE PREVIOUS STATEWIDE

RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF -27 DEGREES. THE PREVIOUS RECORD LOW WAS

SET AT VINITA IN FEBRUARY 1905 AND AT WATTS IN JANUARY 1930. THE

MESONET STATIONS ARE MAINTAINED BY THE OKLAHOMA CLIMATOLOGICAL

SURVEY.

NUMEROUS OTHER LOW TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN THIS

MORNING ACROSS OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WITH SEVERAL

LOCATIONS DROPPING BELOW THE PREVIOUS OKLAHOMA STATE RECORD.

RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES READINGS THIS MORNING FROM THE MESONET AND

OTHER SURFACE OBSERVATION SITES IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST

ARKANSAS INCLUDE:

NOWATA OK -31

PRYOR OK -28

BARTLESVILLE OK -28

BLACKWELL OK -27

FAYETTEVILLE AR -18

TULSA OK -12

MCALESTER OK -4

IN ADDITION TO THE BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES...RECORD SNOW FELL

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9TH 2011 AS A STRONG WINTER STORM MOVED OVER THE

REGION.

THE SPAVINAW DAM NWS CO-OP SITE MEASURED 27 INCHES OF SNOWFALL

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9TH 2011 FOR A 24 HOUR PERIOD. PENDING VERIFICATION

BY NOAA`S NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THAT SNOWFALL TOTAL BREAKS

THE PREVIOUS 24 HOUR OKLAHOMA STATE RECORD SNOWFALL OF 26 INCHES SET

DURING THE MARCH 2009 BLIZZARD AT BOTH FREEDOM AND WOODWARD.

IN ADDITION...SEVERAL LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS REPORTED

SNOWFALL THAT LIKELY APPROACHED THE ARKANSAS STATE RECORD FOR 24

HOUR SNOWFALL.

BOTH THE RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES AND SNOWFALL FROM THE FEBRUARY 9TH

2011 WINTER STORM ARE PRELIMINARY AND WILL CONTINUED TO BE

INVESTIGATED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA...THE OKLAHOMA

CLIMATOLOGICAL SURVEY AND THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER.

$$

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Probably the Tulsa WSO (or whichever is nearest to the site) will need to check the accuracy of the instrument(s). When Big Black River reported Maine's coldest ever temp, -50 on 1/16/09, it was about 6 weeks before the WSO in CAR verified the new record and made the "official" announcement.

Considering three separate locations apparently broke the state record (one by 3 degrees?), I think it's safe to say it's broke.

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Very deep snow in northeast Oklahoma yesterday. In fact, check out this dispatch from Tulsa:

I've always wondered: how much of an effect does snowcover actually have, or more, does greater snowcover necessarily mean colder temp potential? I mean, is a 18" snowpack going to result in more cooling than a 6" one? Either way, everything is covered in snow pretty well...

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I've always wondered: how much of an effect does snowcover actually have, or more, does greater snowcover necessarily mean colder temp potential? I mean, is a 18" snowpack going to result in more cooling than a 6" one? Either way, everything is covered in snow pretty well...

I think you can see some evidence of greater snowpack having an effect this morning. However, the caveat is that this past storm here was fairly windy, so it may simply be that only areas with 6-8"+ were able to avoid having a lot of bare/exposed surface area from drifting.

today.TAIR.min.grad.png

post-972-0-00449500-1297375827.png

post-972-0-39262400-1297375823.jpg

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Also amazing are the forecast highs for next Thursday. If the temperatures reach the 70s as expected, it will be a 100 degree change in just over a week!

There was a 50-60 degree change in a lot of stations from overnight lows to highs today. -20's to 20's in a lot of locations.

Nowata had a low of -31 and a high of 22. Marshall had a low of -25 and a high of 31 for a 56 degree spread. That usually happens in the panhandle area.

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That wide diurnal range is an indicator that another ingredient for very cold temperatures was present. You not only need cold air, calm winds, snow cover but also very dry air with very low dewpoints. That will allow for maximum radiational cooling but will also warm up more in the daylight.

Steve

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This is really unprecedented, but Oklahoma can get pretty cold in the winter. I guess it has something to do with the rising elevation to its west and the Ozarks/Ouachitas to the east. Those features create a nice bowl effect throughout much of the state.

True but isn't that a constant feature?
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I'm estimating that the normal low on 2/10 for Nowata, OK is about 27F (a bit north of Tulsa where the normal low is 30F...and of course Nowata is more rural). If correct, the actual -31F low temp is a departure of -58. Could that be the largest daily low temp. departure from normal ever recorded in the US? If not, it must be really close...

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I'm estimating that the normal low on 2/10 for Nowata, OK is about 27F (a bit north of Tulsa where the normal low is 30F...and of course Nowata is more rural). If correct, the actual -31F low temp is a departure of -58. Could that be the largest daily low temp. departure from normal ever recorded in the US? If not, it must be really close...

Back in January 94 when a major cold spell went thorough Ohio there were unofficial reports of -40° and colder temperatures in areas where there are no official readings within several counties. The normal low would be in the 20s so that would be a departure of over 60°F. I am sure there are other places also. Just go around and look at the state min temperature records and compare that to averages. You should find out that 58° is respectable, but not a record.

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