News - Blogs - MLK Day weather is unseasonably warm. How did other Tulsa holidays fare

MLK Day weather is unseasonably warm. How did other Tulsa holidays fare?
Published: 1/16/2012 4:49 PM
Last Modified: 1/16/2012 4:49 PM

2011 MLK Day called and wants 2012's MLK Day weather. In this Jan. 17, 2011 file photo, Walt Whitman Elementary School;s Baby Hornets perform during the Martin Luther King Jr. parade. The high that holiday in Tulsa? 48 degrees. This year Tulsa hit the 70s. Tulsa World File

I hope that our unseasonably warm Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in Tulsa was enjoyable for all of you.

As of 4 p.m. today, it was 71 degrees in Tulsa. That's the highest temperature we've had so far in Tulsa this month. The normal high for today? 48 degrees. If we edge our way up to 78 degrees (probably not), we'll tie a calendar date record high set back in 1952.

So, that got me thinking... how did all our holiday dates fare during the past year in Tulsa? Here's a look back:

New Year's Day 2012 (Jan. 1): An above average but fairly normal 55-degree high and 34-degree low with no precipitation.

Christmas 2011 (Dec. 25): A 57-degree high, but freezing night with a low of 24 degrees. No snow or rain once again.

Thanksgiving 2011 (Nov. 24): Much like New Year's and Christmas, a high in the mid 50s (57 degrees) and no precipitation. The low temp was only 42 degrees.

Veteran's Day 2011 (Nov. 11): Mother Nature showed her appreciation for vets with a 71-degree high and only a 45-degree low. And, once again, no precipitation.

Halloween 2011 (Oct. 31): Another unseasonably warm and dry holiday, with a high of 74, but low of 39 degrees. No precipitation!

Labor Day 2011 (Sept. 5): No rain! 80 degrees might sound warm, but it was actually only a few days removed from a 102-degree high on Sept. 1, so it probably seemed cool. That was the high. 56 was the low.

Independence Day 2011 (July 4): Finally, a holiday with some precipitation! This was also one of the few days in July that didn't reach the 100s. 99-degree high, 74-degree low, 0.12 of an inch of rain.

Father's Day 2011 (June 19): No rain, but a 98-degree high and 71-degree low. Windy holiday, however reached 30 mph.

Memorial Day 2011 (May 30): Another windy holiday, with 33 mph winds, but no rain and highs/lows of 88 and 75 degrees.

Mother's Day 2011 (May 8): Once again, no rain, but highs in the mid 80s (85) and despite many lows in the 40s around this time of May, only had a low of 68.

Easter 2011 (April 24): Our first eventful Tulsa holiday to report weather-wise! 2.88 inches of rain, "only" a 57-degree high and 51-degree low. The month's average temperature and normal are both in the 60s, so the rain definitely made for a cooler Easter.

St. Patrick's Day 2011 (March 17): No rain once again, 83-degree high, 65-degree low.

Valentine's Day 2011 (Feb. 14): No rain! 52-degree high was the sign much warmer weather to come after reaching minus-12 just a few days before (on Feb. 10). Was the first day in February to not be freezing (low of 34 degrees).

MLK Day 2011 (Jan. 17): What a difference a year makes. Not only was it much colder on this holiday (48-degree high, 27-degree low), there was also 0.02 of an inch of rain.

--Althea Peterson

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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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