With nothing but warm and dry conditions to end September might as well get October started with much of the same weather.

Unseasonably warm and dry for at least the next two weeks as drought continues to worsen across Oklahoma.

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead14/off14_prcp.gif

It's going to get really dry. I know parts of the metro had the big rain but some like myself near Yukon only had .60. That was pretty much it for the last 50 days and the next 15 don't look much better.

The bermuda grass and trees will survive. We've had dry spells before and I've never lost a lawn or any trees because of lack of rain in the 45 years I've been a homeowner. I don't water my yard or trees at all and I have a well for outside use and could water as much as I want. What I don't like is it seems the true fall like temperatures seem to come later and later every year. I would settle for just normal temps by now instead of above normal. I will probably still be mowing in late October or even November.

The bermuda grass and trees will survive. We've had dry spells before and I've never lost a lawn or any trees because of lack of rain in the 45 years I've been a homeowner. I don't water my yard or trees at all and I have a well for outside use and could water as much as I want. What I don't like is it seems the true fall like temperatures seem to come later and later every year. I would settle for just normal temps by now instead of above normal. I will probably still be mowing in late October or even November.

I have trees can't grow bemuda turns too dirt have fescue I need rain UGH

Fescue is hard to keep alive in Oklahoma. It's why I have minimal trees. I have one dwarf tree growing in a rock garden so I don't have to worry about grass growing under it. I had 20 pine trees at one time until I got tired of cleaning up after them and had them all removed. I am surrounded by trees in my neighbors yards and the lack of rain never seems to bother them.

I’m so f’ing sick of this heat. Every time I check the 7 day, I see highs in the low 80’s. What actually happens? Low to mid 90’s. Our dang AC crapped out on us last night and it’s so hot in here. So sick of this dang month and this horrible drought. Easily the worst September I can remember.

I unironically think that the stretch of weather we're currently in the middle of is just about as good as it gets in OKC. Warm enough to still wear a t-shirt and shorts, very low humidity, and rapid nighttime cooling given the consistently clear skies and light winds.

Fescue is hard to keep alive in Oklahoma. It's why I have minimal trees. I have one dwarf tree growing in a rock garden so I don't have to worry about grass growing under it. I had 20 pine trees at one time until I got tired of cleaning up after them and had them all removed. I am surrounded by trees in my neighbors yards and the lack of rain never seems to bother them.

Oh man did I hate the pine tree in my backyard I was glad when it died. I also have a willow tree back there and yeah that don't grow grass under it no matter what kind of grass I use but it's in the backyard so I don't care. Fescue is not that hard to keep alive it just needs a lot of water. I have a sprinkler system but I'm careful with it cuz I don't want to kill my water bill.

Oh man did I hate the pine tree in my backyard I was glad when it died. I also have a willow tree back there and yeah that don't grow grass under it no matter what kind of grass I use but it's in the backyard so I don't care. Fescue is not that hard to keep alive it just needs a lot of water. I have a sprinkler system but I'm careful with it cuz I don't want to kill my water bill.

Fescue is pretty easy to keep alive if you have a ton of shade and deep water it as needed with some light watering in between to keep it cool. Any fescue in full afternoon sun is pretty tough to keep going by late summer no matter what you do (in my experience).

Fescue is pretty easy to keep alive if you have a ton of shade and deep water it as needed with some light watering in between to keep it cool. Any fescue in full afternoon sun is pretty tough to keep going by late summer no matter what you do (in my experience).

I have about 15,000 square feet of fescue and I ended up drilling a water well a few years ago because city water was too expensive to keep it alive.

I have about 15,000 square feet of fescue and I ended up drilling a water well a few years ago because city water was too expensive to keep it alive.

Just curious - how expensive was the well? I've been thinking about one...

I have about 15,000 square feet of fescue and I ended up drilling a water well a few years ago because city water was too expensive to keep it alive.

Yep. Need a lot of water during the summer.

Just curious - how expensive was the well? I've been thinking about one...

It depends on how deep they have to go to get water. I think the base charge was something like $5K and a additional charge per foot after that. I ended up spending about $10K. My water bill was about $1000 a month in the summer before, so it paid off quick.

My well was already drilled when I bought my house. It is only for outdoor use. My water table is at 14 ft and it was drilled to 125 ft. I verified that when I had to change the pump a few years ago and pulled that much pipe out of it to get to the pump at the end of it. It is just a pump and PVC pipe plumbed to 3 faucets at a few places in my back yard. I do not have a pressure tank or any well house. I always have to have at least one faucet open before i turn it on.

The bermuda grass and trees will survive. We've had dry spells before and I've never lost a lawn or any trees because of lack of rain in the 45 years I've been a homeowner. I don't water my yard or trees at all and I have a well for outside use and could water as much as I want. What I don't like is it seems the true fall like temperatures seem to come later and later every year. I would settle for just normal temps by now instead of above normal. I will probably still be mowing in late October or even November.

It will only get worse, it will get hotter and it will stay hotter later. Unfortunately, the blue atlas cedar that the previous homeowners planted 15-20 years ago is dying (we've been in the house 8 years), lost a huge limb last year and a bunch more this year, due to the heat and lack of rain. We have taken out most trees (except 3 junipers that have been here forever (house is 74 years old, not sure how long the trees have been there)), and we're probably going to take out the blue atlas cedar since it's on its way out anyway. We don't water our trees or yard (bermuda) because if the trees can't handle it the climate without water then they don't need to be planted here.

Mike Morgan basically said October might not get any rain. The East and Southeast part of OKC, Moore and Norman are in good shape cause of all the rain. Edmond had a lot also. Yukon, Elreno area though didn't get much at all maybe .60 in 60 days now

Mike Morgan basically said October might not get any rain. The East and Southeast part of OKC, Moore and Norman are in good shape cause of all the rain. Edmond had a lot also. Yukon, Elreno area though didn't get much at all maybe .60 in 60 days now

Highly doubtful - OKC recorded 0.82" in October 2017 which was the driest October since 1994. The pattern looks like it will shift mid-month. Also worth watching are the tropics in the Eastern Pacific - sometimes this time of year we can get moisture as those systems move up and over Mexico.

Crazy to see the difference between nearby Mesonet sites..
https://data.mesonet.org/data/public/mesonet/maps/daily/mesonet.rainfall.quarterinch.png?cache_bust=172780 1016042

Feel like this situation is becoming desperate for some of us. If we go the entire month of October without rain, things are going to get ugly around here.

Feel like this situation is becoming desperate for some of us. If we go the entire month of October without rain, things are going to get ugly around here.

Welcome to the new reality. At least we're not directly in the path of hurricanes, which are most likely going to be stronger, larger, and last longer.

With all of the GOM tropical party continuing to heat up, this is going to put the southern plains into some great weather temperature-wise. And yes, like many posters have mentioned, the drought will continue to build until we can get that moisture back up from the gulf.

Feel like this situation is becoming desperate for some of us. If we go the entire month of October without rain, things are going to get ugly around here.

A weatherman for KTUL-8 Tulsa said he doesn't think there will be a drop of rain during the Tulsa State Fair.

I mean, forget rain chances, we legitimately might go 7+ days without a cloud in sight lol. Not sure I can even remember that happening during the strongest summer heat waves.

Highly doubtful - OKC recorded 0.82" in October 2017 which was the driest October since 1994. The pattern looks like it will shift mid-month. Also worth watching are the tropics in the Eastern Pacific - sometimes this time of year we can get moisture as those systems move up and over Mexico.

Crazy to see the difference between nearby Mesonet sites..
https://data.mesonet.org/data/public/mesonet/maps/daily/mesonet.rainfall.quarterinch.png?cache_bust=172780 1016042

You’ve jinxed us again. Yay!

I initially was excited to hear about the cold front that arrived overnight, thinking that the morning air would be cool and crisp. Unfortunately, living in NW OKC, the urban heat island ruined my reality.

I initially was excited to hear about the cold front that arrived overnight, thinking that the morning air would be cool and crisp. Unfortunately, living in NW OKC, the urban heat island ruined my reality.

at 0700 today it was 48 degrees

at 0700 today it was 48 degrees

Good to know but i don't live at Will Rogers airport where the official temperature is calculated.

Air is so dry it cools off quickly and heats up quickly during the day.

Good to know but i don't live at Will Rogers airport where the official temperature is calculated.

So I live immediately SW of airport. i drive a jeep and I can feel the temperature drop 10 degrees as I drive the two miles west from I44 across the southern part of airport

Our gently rolling terrain combined with rapid transition between the outer suburbs and very sparsley populated areas can result in wide temperature variances on calm, clear nights. There was a night back in October 2021 when my car thermometer showed 72 degrees at NW 10th & Garth Brooks, and dropped to 51 degrees at NW 10th & Cimarron, just three miles to the west. The OKC East Mesonet site will sometimes be 10 degrees cooler than areas just a mile or two to the west if conditions are right, due to its location in the river valley and lack of urban heat island influence relative to Downtown/Midtown OKC.

Drought intensifies through at least the back half of October.

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/threats/hazards_d8_14_contours.png

No moisture available as long as there is a closed-off tropical low in the Gulf. For us or the rest of the country outside of Florida and the Pacific NW. This could actually be an historically dry October for many areas. I don’t think I’ve ever seen models trending this dry 2-3 weeks out and I’ve been following weather models daily for the past 15 years.

Hopefully we have just one more week of 90's, looks like a scorcher for OU/TX especially being a 2:30 this year. Have we had 90's in November before? Seems plausible that we could experience those before too long given climate change.

I will say though that it's still much cooler in the mornings & evenings but even during the afternoon it still feels 20 degrees cooler than it did not long ago with the humidity being way down. I run quite a bit and even during peak heat last couple weeks it's still been a major relief from July/August.

Glass half full I guess, we basically have 6 months now where it can be really hot at any given time- May-October.

I can’t remember a time of so many consecutive days with a single cloud in the sky. I hate it. Bring on the rain!!!!

…Have we had 90's in November before? Seems plausible that we could experience those before too long given climate change...
The answer is no, we have historically never experienced the 90s during November, although record highs during most of the month are pretty close, with many in the upper eighties. However, all but six days in OCTOBER have a record in the 90s, with many of those in the UPPER 90s.

The records are also pretty well distributed among the years and the decades since the 1890s, with seven of those records coming after 2000 and only a single one in the 2020s. In 2021 the record high was 94 on October 8.

The records for the first seven days of October were set in 1938, 1938, 1951, 1931, 1947, 1939 and 1979. Today’s record (Oct 5) was 95 degrees, set in 1947.

https://www.weather.gov/oun/climate-records

Oddball records can and do happen; I remember well a day in February 1996 (Feb 22) when the temp was 92 degrees. If it can happen in February it can happen just about any time of the year.

The answer is no, we have historically never experienced the 90s during November, although record highs during most of the month are pretty close, with many in the upper eighties. However, all but six days in OCTOBER have a record in the 90s, with many of those in the UPPER 90s.

The records are also pretty well distributed among the years and the decades since the 1890s, with seven of those records coming after 2000 and only a single one in the 2020s. In 2021 the record high was 94 on October 8.

The records for the first seven days of October were set in 1938, 1938, 1951, 1931, 1947, 1939 and 1979. Today’s record (Oct 5) was 95 degrees, set in 1947.

https://www.weather.gov/oun/climate-records

Oddball records can and do happen; I remember well a day in February 1996 (Feb 22) when the temp was 92 degrees. If it can happen in February it can happen just about any time of the year.

The highest the temp got during November of last year at my place was 88.4 on the 7th. So, I don't think it is too far-fetched it could get to 90 this November, if unusually warm weather trends just keep going on. If so, maybe the first freeze will happen well into November this year.

Looking ahead to this week - a front moves through today knocking temps and humidity down for the next few days with highs in the 80’s. We might actually get some clouds around Thursday as some moisture returns as the high pushes Hurricane Milton into Florida.

Models are in agreement that a strong system will be moving through the week of the 14th. Unless tropical lows continue to rob us of any moisture there should be at least a chance of rain across the state. Hopefully the start of a more typical fall weather pattern..

The answer is no, we have historically never experienced the 90s during November, although record highs during most of the month are pretty close, with many in the upper eighties. However, all but six days in OCTOBER have a record in the 90s, with many of those in the UPPER 90s.

The records are also pretty well distributed among the years and the decades since the 1890s, with seven of those records coming after 2000 and only a single one in the 2020s. In 2021 the record high was 94 on October 8.

The records for the first seven days of October were set in 1938, 1938, 1951, 1931, 1947, 1939 and 1979. Today’s record (Oct 5) was 95 degrees, set in 1947.

https://www.weather.gov/oun/climate-records

Oddball records can and do happen; I remember well a day in February 1996 (Feb 22) when the temp was 92 degrees. If it can happen in February it can happen just about any time of the year.

Great info, thanks!

The 12Z GFS has been hinting at some showers possible mainly across eastern OK this Thursday and Friday. Amounts look light but encouraging to see green instead of white ;)

https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/gfs/2024100712/gfs_apcpn_scus_23.png

I can’t remember a time of so many consecutive days with a single cloud in the sky. I hate it. Bring on the rain!!!!

When Pete called this out about California weather a few years back it really made me think about how great year round weather comes at a cost: variety

Holy cow, Milton has intensified from 90 mph sustained winds to 175 mph sustained winds over the past 12 hours.

Holy cow, Milton has intensified from 90 mph sustained winds to 175 mph sustained winds over the past 12 hours.

Hoping the forecasted weakening before landfall verifies.

Hoping the forecasted weakening before landfall verifies.

It'll weaken to probably cat 3, but even then the surge is going to be insane. Depending on where this hits Tampa, this could be cataclysmic. Katrina was a cat 3 at landfall, after all.

But I hear with weakening the wind field is going to spread out significantly. And as much as I dislike our fall weather it is nothing compared to what the SE area of the country goes through with the hurricanes.

Nice storms and rain to the southwest. How are we missing out on this again?

One more chance of a few showers tomorrow into Friday morning and then dry and hot this weekend. Another front moves through and drops temps significantly for next week - highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's. No rain due to the strong high pressure and Milton robbing all of the Gulf moisture. The next storm system to affect the central U.S. will move through closer to the 19th-20th.

Florida really dodged a bullet for the most part. That shear really ripped Milton apart in the final hours before landfall.

We’re not going to see a drop of rain this month, are we?

We’re not going to see a drop of rain this month, are we?


Unless we can get some moisture return the weekend of the 19th and get a chance of severe weather than NO.

If not for that huge one-day rainfall in August, we'd really be in a huge hole the last 3 months.

If not for that huge one-day rainfall in August, we'd really be in a huge hole the last 3 months.

Yukon, El Reno, my house between outlet mall and yukon missed out on all that rain for the most part. I only had .60 Yukon has .64 I think so 3 really since first of Aug that is all the rain I have gotten. 2 months.

Looking at a potential freeze along I-40 and points N in low-lying areas for Wednesday morning.

Coldfront has arrived here in OKC. Tonight, we will see our coldest night since winter. Lows into the mid and upper 30s. As mentioned earlier, lower valleys could see an actual freeze.

Straight from the a/c to the heater.

OKC has to be the high utility bill capital of the U.S.

Straight from the a/c to the heater.

OKC has to be the high utility bill capital of the U.S.

https://www.doxo.com/w/insights/u-s-utilities-market-size-and-household-spending-report-2023/

This is for 2023, but OKC isn't nearly as high as you'd think. Electricity is cheap here, as is natural gas.

But I get it. We have extreme weather here, for sure.

^

The per-unit price may be low, but usage is ultra-high.

I had almost non-existent utility bills in California.

^

The per-unit price may be low, but usage is ultra-high.

I had almost non-existent utility bills in California.

Didn’t you live in Malibu? That is not the case throughout California.

Didn’t you live in Malibu? That is not the case throughout California.

I also owned a home in Thousand Oaks which is inland by about 10 miles. Had an a/c but used it only once or twice a year.

Unless you live far inland or in a valley, the temperature is so temperate it's difficult to comprehend unless you live there. There are very good reasons for the massive housing expense.

According to Forbes, an Oklahoman's overall average utility bill is 18th lowest in the U.S.... just barely above the bottom 1/3rd.

https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/living/monthly-utility-costs-by-state/

According to Forbes, an Oklahoman's overall average utility bill is 18th lowest in the U.S.... just barely above the bottom 1/3rd.

https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/living/monthly-utility-costs-by-state/

And this old house has it right about mid-way https://www.thisoldhouse.com/home-finances/reviews/utility-bills-101

But Pete is right about Usage for sure: https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=OK

"Total electricity sales in Oklahoma are less than in almost half the states, but its electricity sales per capita are among the top 10 states.77"

I also owned a home in Thousand Oaks which is inland by about 10 miles. Had an a/c but used it only once or twice a year.

Unless you live far inland or in a valley, the temperature is so temperate it's difficult to comprehend unless you live there. There are very good reasons for the massive housing expense.

That’s valid for within 30 miles of the coasts and the Shasta Cascades region where it feels like an extension of the Pacific Northwest, but anyone that lives in the Inland Empire, Central Valley or points eastward, that changes quickly. It’s still not like Oklahoma with all the extremes we get, but there’s a reason people harp on about San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Francisco but forget Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Modesto, Stockton are part of the same state.