News - Blogs - Sorry California. I brought you Oklahomas fires and heat

Sorry, California. I brought you Oklahoma's fires and heat
Published: 8/15/2012 6:04 PM
Last Modified: 8/15/2012 6:05 PM

Armando Eheurrta with his dog Goffy cool off at Belvedere Park East Los Angeles Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012. The record setting heat is expected to continue throughout the week with temperatures topping the triple digits. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

My little brothers, soaking up that California sun in Santa Monica. It was by the ocean, which was quite pleasant and not as warm as it was further inland.

As I drove out of Oklahoma about two weeks ago, it was on fire, it was hot, it was summer.

I came back yesterday and I am welcomed with nighttime temps that are tolerable and what looked like widespread moisture on the ground I can only assume came from rain. What a fantastic homecoming!

Though, I was along the ocean in Los Angeles for more than a week. So, it never got much above 80 the entire time I was there. That’s right: 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

And that, my weather friends, is glorious. The windows were open literally all the time, the cool ocean breeze refreshing and delightful especially at night. Even when we were involved in an intense beach volleyball battle, when the cool breeze wasn’t enough to cool us down, the water was cold relatively and perfect.

Not all of the greater Los Angeles metro area was so lucky. Much of inland Southern California was in the throws of a heat wave. We ventured inland a couple days, and while it was indeed hot, it was quite different than the heat I left you with.

While watching their local news, it was hard to take them seriously when they said “heat wave,” considering I left Oklahoma when Oklahoma City was tying all-time records of 113. But for many people, it was a dangerous time.

I saw firefighters respond to a group of hikers who had to be rescued from the top of Mount Lee, where the Hollywood sign is located. Having made that hike the day before, I can say that it very well could have been me needing a rescue. The AP reported that about 13 of about 50 teen hikers needed attention.

People were asked to conserve as much electricity as possible to meet increased demands and prevent black or brownouts, which can plague that area in the summer.

Lightning strikes ignited wildfires in parts of California.

So, what I’m saying is: Sorry for bring Oklahoma’s woes to your sunny disposition, Southern California.

While it is hot today in Tulsa, there are real and actual chances of productive rains and cool temperatures over the coming days. As we go, day by day, toward fall, that trend will continue. The chance of below-average temperatures is high over the next few weeks.

While it is always just beautiful by the ocean in California, which makes it nice to visit, I would deeply miss what’s about to happen here in a month or so: season change.

-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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