02.10.11
Record Lows in the Plains…All-Time Low for Oklahoma
Daily record lows are broken all the time. But it isn’t every day that the all-time record low for an entire state is broken.
Early this morning the temperature dropped to –28 °F in Bartlesville, in northeast Oklahoma. That’s 28 BELOW ZERO. This broke the previous all-time record low for Oklahoma, -27 °F, set in 1905 and tied in 1930. Note: this value is “unofficial”, meaning it will have to go through review for it to become an official low.
The recent heavy snowfall in northern Oklahoma helped in this case, as temperatures will drop more when there is a heavier snowpack.
Based on the Oklahoma Mesonet, the temperature got even lower than this, though, as Nowata, Oklahoma (near Bartlesville) reached -31 °F this morning. However, as this was not a standard recording station set up by the NWS or FAA, the temperature will likely remain unofficial.
Oklahoma Mesonet, showing the lowest recorded temperatures since midnight.
Oklahoma City dropped to -5 °F, a new record low for February 10th for the city (plus Oklahoma City hadn’t dropped below zero since February 1996), and Tulsa dropped to -12 °F last night, tied for 5th lowest and the coldest since 1930.
Other record lows for the 10th include Springfield, Missouri (-10 °F), Wichita, Kansas (-17 °F), Amarillo, Texas (-6 °F), Dallas, Texas (15 °F), and Austin, Texas (19 °F).
Relief is on the way, though…temperatures could hit 70 °F here in central Oklahoma on Sunday! 🙂
John F. Hultquist said,
February 11, 2011 at 12:40 am
The lowest I’ve ever encounter was -33. Did Norman even get below zero?
So, -30 in the winter; 100+ in Summer; tornadoes; hurricanes; dust; bugs; and who knows what else? I’d move!
Cheers, John & Nancy
Rebekah said,
February 11, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Norman got down to 0, but not below. The coldest I’ve experienced was somewhere in the minus single digits or maybe minus teens…that would have been in Ellensburg several years back.
Yep, pretty crazy weather here…but that’s why I like it! Well, the storms anyway! 🙂