2012

A slide back to true wintry weather, the likes of which had not been seen across Oklahoma since early February 2011, was not enough to prevent the inevitable. Although the official numbers will not be released by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for a few more days, it appears likely that 2012 will go down in the record books as Oklahoma’s warmest year on record. Those records date back to 1895. Preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet indicate a statewide average temperature of 41.9 degrees for December.

Drought surged during November with a return to the dry, warm and windy weather pattern that Oklahoma has become accustomed to over the last couple of years. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, the amount of extreme to exceptional drought rose from 72 percent last week to 91 percent this week. The state had not seen that amount of extreme to exceptional drought since late September. Other than a small but persistent area of moderate drought in far northeastern Oklahoma, the entire state remained in at least severe drought according to the report.

It’s been awhile since Oklahoma has seen a month like October. Eleven months, to be exact. Not since September 2011 had Oklahoma seen a month where the statewide average temperature finished on the cold side of normal. In fact, 25 of the 30 months prior to October were warmer than normal, starting with April 2010. According to data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, October became the 26th coolest on record with a statewide average of 59.7 degrees, 1.6 degrees below normal.  Statewide records date back to 1895.

Hopes for drought relief were starting to fade as September wound down, only to be saved by a slow-moving soaker of a storm system during the month’s last week. The storm system’s prodigious moisture output was aided by a stationary front and in part by the remnants of Hurricane Miriam, spawned in the Pacific Ocean during the previous week. Totals of 2-4 inches were widespread across central and southern Oklahoma according to the Oklahoma Mesonet, mainly south of Interstate 40. The Mesonet site at Byars in Garvin County recorded 6.02 inches during the event.

According to data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, August finished one degree above normal to rank as the 53rd warmest on record and a half an inch below normal to come in as the 42nd driest. Those records date back to 1895. Despite those seemingly benign statistics, August actually had weather to suit just about all summer appetites. The month started with one of the hottest stretches the state has ever experienced, moved to mild and wet for a spell, then ended once again on the hot side.

Heat exploded across Oklahoma during July thanks to a rapidly intensifying drought and a persistent upper-level ridge of high pressure. The combination of dry soils, wilting vegetation and a brutal summer sun led to the sixth warmest July on record for the state. Those records date back to 1895. According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average temperature finished at 85.9 degrees, 4.3 degrees above normal. July becomes the 23rd month out of the last 28 to finish warmer than normal, a persistent signal that began in April 2010.

A blistering final week and a return to drought transformed June from a mildly hot month into a scorcher, rekindling memories of the brutal 2011 summer. Temperatures routinely reached triple-digits across Oklahoma during the month’s final week. According to data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average temperature finished at 79.2 degrees to rank as the 19th warmest June on record, 2.7 degrees above normal. Statewide average records date back to 1895. June’s warmth follows a pattern that began over two years ago with 22 out of the last 27 months being warmer than normal.

A pleasantly cool final day and scattered heavy rains during the month’s final week were too little and too late, and May entered the record books as one of the warmest and driest in state history. According to data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average temperature finished at 72.2 degrees, 4.3 degrees above normal. That ranks May as the fifth warmest on record. Statewide average records date back to 1895. That heat, combined with the state’s warmest March and tenth warmest April, propelled the spring season to the warmest on record at 65.1 degrees, 6 degrees above normal.

Golf clubs replaced parkas as the outdoor accessory of choice this winter, and Oklahoma’s kids can only dream of missed school days filled with sledding and snowball fights. The mildness of this winter – the 11th warmest on record at nearly 3 degrees above normal – stands in stark contrast to the cold, snowy experiences of the previous two years. The winter of 2009-10 was the state’s seventh coldest on record at more than 4 degrees below normal. Statewide average records date back to 1895. Oklahoma City and Tulsa both recorded approximately 23 inches of snow that cool season.