Sunny with crickets: A Tulsa cold front means that you get a day with highs in the 80s instead of a day with lows in the 80s. To check out Tulsa World Editorial Cartoonist Bruce Plante's other toons, click here.
Wake me up when September ends.
After a summer filled mostly with unseasonably cool temperatures and higher than normal rainfall, we are getting our summer during a fall month.
Remember that in meteorlogical terms, each season has 3 months:
Winter: December, January, February
Spring: March, April, May
Summer: June, July, August
Fall:
September, October, November
That means that I fully expect (or rather, hope and pray that) this next milestone to be our final mention of triple digit temperatures:
First 100-degree high since July 23
Seriously, Tulsa nearly made it through all of August without 100s, then Tulsa had to go and have two of them to end the month (100 on Aug. 30, 102 on Aug. 31). That brings us to milestone No. 2:
Highest temperautre of 2013 (tie): 102 degrees
We also achieved 102 degrees on July 10 and 11, which up until this past week, was Tulsa's annual high temperature for 2013. It technically still is, but now it has to share it with a third day, Aug. 31.
By contrast, we were getting 100s through Sept. 7 last year. We were also getting highs up to 112 degrees in both July and August last year.
No recorded rainfall since Aug. 16
Yes, I was in downtown Tulsa when it rained on us two weeks ago today, but our official rainfall statistics for Tulsa are recorded at Tulsa International Airport, where they didn't even record a trace amount of rain.
As such, August ended slightly below normal rainfall (2.88 inches; normal is 2.9) and we have started September off with no rainfall whatsoever. Sigh.
Ozone Alert and ozone exceedance day
Sept. 4 (Wednesday) was the Tulsa area's fourth Ozone Alert of 2013, but was also the season's fourth ozone exceedance day as well.
Thank you, high temperatures and low winds.
You can find out more about our area's Ozone Alert program and how you can help improve Tulsa's air quality at
tulsaworld.com/ozonealert.
No burn bans statewide!
I just felt like ending on a positive note. You can check Oklahoma Forestry Service's burn ban map at
tulsaworld.com/burnban.
Have a good weekend!
--Althea Peterson
PS: Want even more weather info? Check out our area weather forecast page (powered by the Tulsa National Weather Service) at
tulsaworld.com/weather. You can also check out this blog's archive at
tulsaworld.com/weatherworld.
Follow Althea Peterson and Jerry Wofford on Twitter.
YOUR IN-DEPTH LOCAL NEWS SOURCE: Visit tulsaworld.com throughout the day for local breaking news and investigative reports about Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma.
