Climate of Oklahoma City
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Oklahoma City lies in a temperate Humid subtropical climate, with frequent variations in weather daily and seasonally, except during the consistently hot and humid summer months. Consistent winds, usually from the south or south-southeast during the summer, help temper the hotter weather. Consistent northerly winds during the winter can intensify cold periods. The climate grades to semi-arid further to the west and humid continental to the north.
The average temperature is 60.2 °F (15.7 °C), though colder through the winter months, with a 36.7 °F (2.6 °C) average in January,[1] and warmer during the summer months, with an 82.0 °F (27.8 °C) average in July.[1] The city receives about 35.9 inches (912 mm) of precipitation annually and 8.6 inches (21.8 cm) of snow.[1]
Oklahoma City has a severe weather season from March through August, especially during April and May. Tornadoes have occurred in every month of the year. Oklahoma City has become one of the most tornado prone cities in the United States.[2] Since the time weather records have been kept, Oklahoma City has been struck by nine violent tornadoes, eight F4's and one F5.[2] On May 3, 1999 parts of southern Oklahoma City and nearby communities suffered one of the most powerful tornadoes on record, an F-5 on the Fujita Scale, with wind speeds topping 318 mph (510 km/h). This tornado was part of the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak.
Sunshine amounts are high, ranging from 5.8 hours daily in December to 11.5 hours in July, for a total of nearly 3090 hours per year, or 70% possible. [3]
Extremes range from −17 °F (−27 °C) to 113 °F (45 °C) on February 12, 1899 and August 11, 1936 [4]
[edit] Statistics
| Climate data for Oklahoma City (Will Rogers World Airport), 1981-2010 normals | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 83 (28) |
92 (33) |
97 (36) |
100 (38) |
104 (40) |
107 (42) |
110 (43) |
113 (45) |
108 (42) |
97 (36) |
87 (31) |
86 (30) |
113 (45) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 49.0 (9.4) |
53.9 (12.2) |
62.6 (17.0) |
71.6 (22.0) |
79.4 (26.3) |
87.4 (30.8) |
93.1 (33.9) |
92.8 (33.8) |
84.0 (28.9) |
72.8 (22.7) |
60.8 (16.0) |
49.9 (9.9) |
71.44 (21.91) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 27.7 (−2.4) |
31.9 (−0.1) |
40.0 (4.4) |
48.6 (9.2) |
58.6 (14.8) |
66.8 (19.3) |
71.0 (21.7) |
70.3 (21.3) |
62.2 (16.8) |
50.6 (10.3) |
39.0 (3.9) |
29.6 (−1.3) |
49.69 (9.83) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −11 (−24) |
−17 (−27) |
1 (−17) |
20 (−7) |
32 (0) |
46 (8) |
53 (12) |
49 (9) |
35 (2) |
16 (−9) |
9 (−13) |
−8 (−22) |
−17 (−27) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 1.38 (35.1) |
1.61 (40.9) |
3.06 (77.7) |
3.06 (77.7) |
4.64 (117.9) |
4.95 (125.7) |
2.97 (75.4) |
3.31 (84.1) |
4.07 (103.4) |
3.73 (94.7) |
2.01 (51.1) |
1.88 (47.8) |
36.66 (931.2) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 2.7 (6.9) |
2.1 (5.3) |
.9 (2.3) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
.4 (1) |
2.4 (6.1) |
8.6 (21.8) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 5.1 | 5.9 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 9.8 | 9.2 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 84.8 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 1.7 | 1.4 | .6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .3 | 1.8 | 5.8 |
| Sunshine hours | 201.5 | 192.1 | 244.9 | 270.0 | 294.5 | 327.0 | 356.5 | 328.6 | 264.0 | 244.9 | 186.0 | 179.8 | 3,089.8 |
| Source no. 1: NWS Norman, OK (extremes and monthly mean) [5], NOAA [6] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: HKO (sun, 1961-1990) [3] | |||||||||||||
[edit] References
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNCDC; see Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text - ^ a b NWS Norman, Oklahoma - Tornadoes in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Area Since 1890[dead link]
- ^ a b "Climatological Normals of Oklahoma City". Hong Kong Observatory. http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/climat/world/eng/n_america/us/oklahoma_city_e.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Climatological averages and records" NWS Norman, Oklahoma. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
- ^ "Climatological Averages and Records". NOAA/NWS Norman, OK. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=climate-records. Retrieved 2011-07-17.
- ^ "NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=oun. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
- http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Oklahoma-City-Geography-and-Climate.html
- http://www.rssweather.com/climate/Oklahoma/Oklahoma%20City/
- http://okc.about.com/od/forthehome/ht/oktornadotips.htm
[edit] See also
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