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Which was worse: July 2011 or July 2012?
Published: 7/31/2012 2:18 PM
Last Modified: 7/31/2012 2:19 PM

It's so hot, I can barely move outside. Somehow, these guys play baseball... Driller Warren Schaeffer towels off sweat in the dugout after coming off the 100 plus degree field in the 3rd inning of their game against the Arkansas Travelers Monday in Tulsa. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

It’s a bad sign when your thermostat is set at 83 degrees and the air conditioner runs nearly all night long.

That’s what mine did last night. Granted, I live in a nearly 100-year-old building that doesn’t have the best weatherization and not the most powerful AC unit, but still. It was set at 83.

It didn’t help that outside early this morning, the temperature only dropped to 88 degrees, which tied an all-time record high minimum temperature set the day before. It broke the old record of 87 set, you guessed it, Aug. 2, 2011. And on July 16, 1980.

It got to the point where I had to sleep in the living room, next to the AC and with two fans blowing on me. Even that was miserable.

It was also miserable last year, but our collective memory is spotty at best. Everything that is currently bad feels like it's the worst ever.

In reality, it’s summer. And in the northern hemisphere, the summer months in temperate climates are generally hot. Just like the winter months tend to be a little chilly.

So, let’s just look at last summer, which I thought at the time was the worst summer ever that could never be topped.

On July 31, 2011, the high was 107. The low was 82. This year’s forecast high for July 31 is 111, and the low was 88. Advantage: 2011.

The average monthly temperature for July 2011: 90.9. In 2012: 88.5. Advantage: 2012.

Monthly rainfall this year was at 1.38 inches, 1.88 inches below normal. In 2011, Tulsa had 0.36 inches of rain, 2.6 inches below normal. Advantage: 2012.

Highest in July 2012: 109. Highest in July 2011: 107. Advantage: 2011.

Number of days with temperatures 100 or above in 2011: 26. In 2012: 18. Advantage: 2012.

My thesis: Both this summer and last summer were just awful.

What’s even more depressing is that the brunt of last year’s torture came in August, when temperatures reached 113, close to an all-time record. On the other hand, we had 5.76 inches of rain last August, and after the rain started, temperatures dropped drastically with some days in the mid 80s for a high.

In the near future, it won't get any better for you here in Tulsa. It's 100s for the foreseeable future. (Well, for you... I'll be in Los Angeles in my foreseeable future, where it is currently 80 and sunny. I should pack a jacket, just in case.)

So, the end is on the far horizon, because it has to be with the movement of our planet. It's 53 days to autumn. We can make it. Together.

Then, together, we can all find something new to complain about, like how sad the foliage is because of the drought, or how cold/warm/wet/dry the winter is. Then, again, how hot the summer is one year from now.

That makes sense, right? I can’t think straight. It’s soooooo hot outside.

--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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