News - Blogs - Thunderstorms daffidols and Valentines Day. Somethings off

Thunderstorms, daffidols and Valentine's Day. Something's off
Published: 2/20/2012 4:33 PM
Last Modified: 2/20/2012 4:33 PM

Where the wind comes scream across the plains, snatchin' up yo people.

Today was one of those days Oklahomans are used to, where you can lean into the wind and the 30 mph gust will hold you up.

I have long hair for a fella. It’s not quite to my shoulder, but it’s all there. And in this wind, it drives me absolutely insane.

So far at the Oklahoma Mesonet station in Bixby, the max gust in the last 24 hours was 37 mph. It is even worse out west, as usual. The max gust in west Oklahoma City was 69 (they just had storms roll through, though. I’ll get to that). Elsewhere had gusts over 60. That’s a lot.

Why the wind, do you ask? Well, there is a powerful low pressure system to our north, accompanied by a cold front that is racing across Oklahoma right now.

Those storms I mentioned earlier are racing toward us along with that front. By the time you read this, it will be old news (But, see it here if you want or read this in time). So, I’ll just say that as of 4:17 p.m. Monday, February 20, the storms are moving northeast at 45 mph. There are severe thunderstorm warnings associated with the storms with the main threats being wind and small hail.

And the wind won’t be done after the storms come through. Overnight forecasts call for 45 mph gusts.

So, mind your grills and put out your smokes.

Then, break out the flip flops and shorts, because the rest of the week is gorgeous.

I went to Arkansas last weekend, and some of the daffodils there were already in full bloom. Some of the trees were budding. There was green grass.

Now, I’m very excited for spring, but part of what makes spring so exciting is the end of winter. Well, when you kinda just go from fall to spring, it takes a little bit of the fun out of it.

Seeing those signs of spring were great. I just don’t want to see them around Valentine’s Day.

I know, I know. I shouldn’t complain about nice weather. I’m done now. Excuse me while I enjoy being outside as much as possible with longer days and highs near 70 this week.

--Jerry Wofford

Reader Comments

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

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.

Subscribe to this blog

Temperature
High Temp:	(Example: 45)
Low Temp:	(Example: 45)
Temperature Date:	(Example: 1/1/2011)

Precipitation
Total:	(Example: '.01)
Month to date:	(Example: '.01)
Normal month to date:	(Example: '.01)

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :