News - Blogs - Excessive heat is an understatement

'Excessive heat' is an understatement
Published: 6/26/2011 8:08 PM
Last Modified: 6/26/2011 8:11 PM

I just had to share this map. It's from the Oklahoma Mesonet Sunday evening. It shows the maximum heat index values reached today.

Only four of the 120 stations were below 100 degrees.

Those lucky folks were in Westville in Adair County, Mt. Herman in McCurtain County, Kenton and Boise City in Cimarron County (Though in Cimarron County, the actual high was 105).

The high temperature winners today were in Hollis and Erick in western Oklahoma. They topped out at 115. That's only 21 degrees cooler than the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

Bixby recorded 104. According to the National Weather Service's station at Tulsa International, the heat index reached about 106. The high heat index at Jones Airport was 108.

An excessive heat warning from the weather service in effect until Monday night for Creek, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Tulsa, Pawnee, Washington and Osage counties, with heat index values forecast near 110 Monday afternoon.

With these almost comically high heat index values, I thought I would clarify what exactly heat index means.

Also known as apparent temperature, it is what the temperature feels like to us humans.

The body cools itself by sweating, which evaporates and creates a cooling sensation. Our body can also regulate the rate and depth of blood circulation. Panting also helps.

Enter humidity. When humidity is high, it inhibits the evaporation of sweat and makes it more difficult for the body to cool itself, thereby making it feel hotter than it actually is.

While the actual high in Kenton and Boise City may have been 105, the air was much drier than the soup we breathe down here, which lead to a heat index of 98 there.

When the body's ability to cool itself is diminished, it increases the danger for people who are working or playing outside. Please, drink plenty of clear, non-alcoholic fluids, wear light clothing and stay in air conditioning as much as possible. Check on your neighbors and be safe.

--Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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