Winter of 1980?

[bucktalk]

With the constant reminder from our local weather TV personalities about the summer of 1980 - I wonder if anyone remembers what the winter of 1980 was like? I'm not suggesting we could use that particular winter as a preview of this winter - but who knows?

[HewenttoJared]

This winter is a little hard to predict right now.

[Thunder]

This winter is a little hard to predict right now.

Its going to be much worse than last time.

[Midtowner]

Snowmageddon is upon us.

[BG918]

I wasn't alive but wasn't that a cold one? Or was that 1983? I remember hearing about pools in Oklahoma and even Dallas freezing so solid that you could walk across them during a cold period in the early 80's.

[Roadhawg]

Snowmageddon is upon us.

Good... I bought a Jeep this year

[Thunder]

Good... I bought a Jeep this year

If it was one of those Buy One, Get One Free....where is mine?

[skyrick]

I couldn't find the data for OKC 1980-81, but in Tulsa that was only the 77th coldest winter.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/?n=climo_tulwinstemp
The coldest winter was 1978-79. I remember that one!

[bluedogok]

I wasn't alive but wasn't that a cold one? Or was that 1983? I remember hearing about pools in Oklahoma and even Dallas freezing so solid that you could walk across them during a cold period in the early 80's.

The winter of 80-81 was pretty cold. It was my junior year of high school and in photography class we used to go over to Lake Overholser quite a bit (since it was a block away) and take pictures. I have a bunch of frozen pics from that year somewhere.

[ou48A]

I was alive and well. The 1980/ 1981 winter was a fairly mild winter in central Oklahoma.

The winter of 1983 / 1984 was particularly harsh.
Much of my work in the energy business was outside that winter on the high plains near Pampa TX.
It was very cold in the OKC area but it was much worse on the high plains.

[ou48A]

I couldn't find the data for OKC 1980-81, but in Tulsa that was only the 77th coldest winter.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/?n=climo_tulwinstemp
The coldest winter was 1978-79. I remember that one!

It was cold. We had about 4’’ of sleet + a few inches of snow that took over 2 months to melt off of most drive ways in northern Ok.
We spent many days below freezing. We had several days of below zero weather. There were people even ice fishing at area lakes. There was ice and snow cover from northern OK north to the polar areas. Because of the ice / snow cover anytime the wind blew out of the north it got much colder than what you would normally experience.
I don’t know if this is the correct terminology but I called this the snow plains effect.

[bluedogok]

I remember Overholser being frozen over to the point that we could walk across the channel and out onto the lake for 100 yards or so and the ice was still very thick for Oklahoma.

[okcisok]

Would we consider this past Jan and Feb as part of the Winter of 2011? If so, we've already had a horrible Winter. Ice storm in Jan, blizzard in Feb. Remember just six or seven months ago? Eleven inches of snow with 50 mph winds!? Temps 10 degrees and below.

[USG'60]

All but one week of the past winter was in 2011 so I feel we can call it the winter of 2011. :-)

[skyrick]

All but one week of the past winter was in 2011 so I feel we can call it the winter of 2011. :-)

I've always considered winter a wrap-around season, i.e. Jan-Feb was part of winter 2010-11. We have yet to begin winter 2011-12.

[USG'60]

I've always considered winter a wrap-around season, i.e. Jan-Feb was part of winter 2010-11. We have yet to begin winter 2011-12.

I "think" of it that way, too, Rick, as though winter is Dec, Jan & Feb being winter and March being Spring, but technically only the last week of Dec is Winter and Spring starts with only a week left of March. But we have certainly had "winter" weather in Oct and "spring" in Jan and Feb. We CERTAINLY had "summer" this past Spring. :-)

[flintysooner]

1/1/1980 thru 3/31/1980:
Low Low: 7.9 on 3/2
High Low: 57.9 on 3/16
Low High: 28 on 1/28
High High: 80.1 on 2/28
Average: 40.7
Snow depth: 5.9" on 2/9
Snow days: 13

[adaniel]

Count me as one who thinks this winter will be pretty harsh. I wasn't alive in 1980, but the last time we had a summer that was particularly hot was 2006, and I recall that winter (2006-07) being severe. I was still at OU and we ended up missing 2 days of school duing that freak November snowstorm. I actually remember cancelling my trip to KC for the Big XII championship. We also had several bouts of ice, including a devastating one in SE OK and there was still pockets of unmelted sleet 6 weeks later. Of course this is all speculation, and we are going into another La Nina so anything can happen.

I'm not so sure we got our due this past winter. Yes there was an absolutley horrible 2 week time frame with snow, freezing cold, wind, etc. but leading up to that it was pretty normal, and after all of the snow melted it was actually warm (60's and 70's).

If we do indeed have a cold winter I wonder how many people will be wishing for the weather we're having now. Remember you don't have to shovel heat!

[USG'60]

1/1/1980 thru 3/31/1980:
Low Low: 7.9 on 3/2
High Low: 57.9 on 3/16
Low High: 28 on 1/28
High High: 80.1 on 2/28
Average: 40.7
Snow depth: 5.9" on 2/9
Snow days: 13

This gives me a chance to ask something I have wondered for years. I have always thought that high/lows and low/highs were just as important as just lows and highs. Since you posted this evidently there is a place to find this infor, so please fess up, where do you find it for OKC?

[HewenttoJared]

Hi lows are extremely important for crops.

[flintysooner]

Since you posted this evidently there is a place to find this infor, so please fess up, where do you find it for OKC?

I found it on the Old Farmers Almanac.

[valsvic]

The real issue or question is "How much moisture will we get this winter?"
Remember, before this punishing hot, dry summer, we had a punishing dry and cold winter. The amount of moisture in the atmosphere plays a big role in the overall weather. Temps and otherwise. We need ALOT of REGULAR OCCURING precip to get things back to normal. (I realize "normal" is a relative term for OK).
Bottom line is there are many factors that make for good or bad weather. It seems like the jet stream has been like a crazy game of craps for the last few years.

[venture]

We need a very wet/snowy winter to help us out for next year. If we go through winter very dry again, or with low moisture content snow, we are going to be set up for a repeat next summer. Not to mention a worse fire season.

[PennyQuilts]

I wasn't alive but wasn't that a cold one? Or was that 1983? I remember hearing about pools in Oklahoma and even Dallas freezing so solid that you could walk across them during a cold period in the early 80's.

I thought that was the winter of 1977/78. I may be wrong.

[PennyQuilts]

http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/clim...line/1980_1989

1983 set cold records in December.

Time Line 1980-1989

1980: Oklahoma Climatological Survey established at the University of Oklahoma.

1980: Summer heat wave: daily maximum temperature at Oklahoma City exceeded 100 degrees 50 times during the season.

1980: Driest July of century with a statewide-averaged precipitation of 0.41 inch.

1981 October 10-17: Remnants of Hurricane Norma produce as much as 18 inches of rain in 36 hours in south central Oklahoma (Kingston-Madill-Tishomingo).

1982: 101 tornadoes, 3rd most in one year since 1950.

1983 October 17-23: Remnants of Hurricane Tico produce up to 10-15 inches of rain, extensive flooding, from Rush Springs to Shawnee. Damages estimated at $84M, including $77M to agriculture.

1983: 92 tornadoes, 5th most in one year since 1950.

1982-1983: 193 tornadoes, 2nd greatest number of tornadoes in consecutive years.

1983: Coldest April of century with a statewide-averaged temperature of 54.0 degrees.

1983: Coldest December of century with a statewide averaged temperature of 26.5 degrees. Oklahoma City temperature did not exceed freezing from 17th through the 31st.

1984 May 26-27: Tulsa Memorial Day flood – more than 12 inches of rain overnight, subsequent flooding left 14 dead, destroyed or damaged 5,500 homes and over 7,000 vehicles. In reaction to this disaster, Tulsa launched a massive flood prevention and warning system that remains among the most effective public safety programs in the nation.

1984: Wettest December of century with a statewide-averaged precipitation of 4.98 inches.

1986: Driest January of century with a statewide averaged precipitation of 0.04 inches.

1986 September 30-October 4: Remnants of Hurricane Paine produce rains of around 10 inches in western and central Oklahoma and as much as 20 inches in north central Oklahoma. Major flooding on Arkansas River and its tributaries. Flooding was reported in 52 counties, damages estimated at $350M, half of that to agriculture.

1987 May 29-30: Intense thunderstorm producing 5 to 11 inches of rain produced flash flooding in Chickasha, Lindsey, and Pauls Valley.

1987 mid-December through early January 1988: Series of winter storms. December 13-15: 8 to 14 inches of snow over northwest half of state, drifting up to 4 feet. December 25-27: Intense ice storm along 40-mile-wide stretch from Duncan to Norman to Tulsa and on to Miami left 75,000 homes without power, one-third of those for as long as a week. Ice accumulations of one to two inches on power lines and trees led to $10M in damages. Flooding occurred on rivers just southeast of the ice storm. January 5-7, 1988: Heavy snow – 10 inches over much of the state with some areas receiving 16 to 18 inches. Rooftop drifts of two to three feet caused extensive damage.

1988: 17 tornadoes, fewest in one year during 1950-1999 period.

1988: Driest May of century with a statewide-averaged precipitation of 1.30 inches.

1989: Driest April of century with a statewide-averaged precipitation of 0.58 inch.

1988-89: 37 tornadoes, fewest in consecutive years since 1950.

1989: Cold outbreak March 3, temperatures fall over 50 degrees in a few hours, severe thunderstorms form over the cold air.