July 2022 - General Weather Discussion

[Anonymous.]

The drought and heat dome continues to just sit over the southern plains. Chances of rain are basically zero for the next week. Maybe a glimmer of hope showing up next Thursday with some ridge breakdown.

[BG918]

Anon or anyone with better meteorology knowledge - why are the rain chances so low with the tropical low moving north into Oklahoma this weekend? Dry air aloft due to the high pressure? It was crazy last weekend watching a decent line of storms in Kansas basically fall apart as it headed south, are the same dynamics in place for the next several days?

[Anonymous.]

Absolutely the dry air. If you notice lately we have barely even had clouds.

The dry air aloft coming out of NM/TX is wreaking havoc across the Plains. The drought has this area in a chokehold with it just compounding on itself. Much of C TX is in the highest categories of drought possible. We got super lucky here in OK in early June when we got that rain from the NW flow storm systems.

At this point, C and W TX need a tropical storm to save them. Austin and San Antonio are drying up with massive population increases.

[ChrisHayes]

Absolutely the dry air. If you notice lately we have barely even had clouds.

The dry air aloft coming out of NM/TX is wreaking havoc across the Plains. The drought has this area in a chokehold with it just compounding on itself. Much of C TX is in the highest categories of drought possible. We got super lucky here in OK in early June when we got that rain from the NW flow storm systems.

At this point, C and W TX need a tropical storm to save them. Austin and San Antonio are drying up with massive population increases.

For now. Eventually, rain will return and break the drought. Remember how people were saying the 2010-2014 drought would last forever? Within a few weeks in 2015, the drought across the southern plains was wiped out. We have yet go back into a long term drought. One of the drivers of the drought in the plains has been a couple year long La Nina. When we go back into an El Nino, we'll in all likelihood see a lot more rain.

[BG918]

Frustrating to see heavy rain and cool temps just to our north in Kansas this morning. Slight chance of storms in the northern counties today and better chance in the far southeast. Hot and dry everywhere else

[Teo9969]

So these hundreds next week could be slightly more bearable based on the fact that the heat is drier than usual for this part of the year?

[MagzOK]

So these hundreds next week could be slightly more bearable based on the fact that the heat is drier than usual for this part of the year?

Well once you get into the 100s it's pretty much all miserable.

[BG918]

Enid and parts of north-central OK picked up over half an inch from morning storms that have since evaporated. Slight chance of storms in northern OK again today. Extremely hot and dry next week, better rain chances coming next weekend into the following week

[kukblue1]

Anyone get rain just west of Downtown with this shower at 4pm on Sunday? From the airport doesn't even look like it's raining from the cloud.

[baralheia]

Shows up pretty nice on radar though. Little popup thunderstorm that came out of nowhere at about 3:35, quickly intensified but has been weakening as it slowly drifts off to the NW.

[OKCbyTRANSFER]

Yep, got rain downtown. Cooled it off some.

[BG918]

High pressure done over the southern Plains this week. This long stretch of 100+ temperatures has not been seen since 2018. Models hinting at a pattern change and better rain chances starting late next weekend into next week, keep your fingers crossed.

[Pete]

Is there another city that sees near-zero temps in the winter (with the associated snow and ice) and then a long string of 100+ summer days?

I sure don't think so. For better or worse, this seems to be unique to OKC.

[Bill Robertson]

Is there another city that sees near-zero temps in the winter (with the associated snow and ice) and then a long string of 100+ summer days?

I sure don't think so. For better or worse, this seems to be unique to OKC.

I don't know of any. And in my humble opinion it's for the worse. But I've stayed here my whole 63 years so I must not mind it all that much.

[Pete]

I don't know of any. And in my humble opinion it's for the worse. But I've stayed here my whole 63 years so I must not mind it all that much.

Culturally, Oklahomans spend a lot more time inside than many places.

There are too many days out of the year when it is completely miserable to be outdoors. This has been by far the biggest adjustment I've had to make from California. And the Oklahoma summers are the one thing I dreaded most upon returning.

[HangryHippo]

Dallas? Tulsa?

[Pete]

Dallas? Tulsa?

Tulsa maybe, but Dallas usually doesn't get nearly as cold or for sustained periods like we sometimes see.

[BG918]

To be fair this is unusually hot for this time of year. We could be looking at a record-breaking stretch of heat this week. Time will tell if this will be an overall hot summer or something more like the summer of 2020 when there wasn’t a single 100 degree temp.

[Pete]

To be fair this is unusually hot for this time of year. We could be looking at a record-breaking stretch of heat this week. Time will tell if this will be an overall hot summer or something more like the summer of 2020 when there wasn’t a single 100 degree temp.

Right, but my point is that in typical years, we still hit 100 many times and also get to near zero multiple times.

I looked it up, and it looks like on average we hit the century mark 13 times a summer.

[chssooner]

Culturally, Oklahomans spend a lot more time inside than many places.

There are too many days out of the year when it is completely miserable to be outdoors. This has been by far the biggest adjustment I've had to make from California. And the Oklahoma summers are the one thing I dreaded most upon returning.

Meh, in 10 years, 2/3rds of California will be on wholesale water bans. Like, it is insane how little water they have, and how few places they have to pull from. California has awesome weather (well, most of it). But LA is a desert, and it is only getting worse.

I do wish Oklahoma could lose some of the humidity, though. That's what I hate the most.

[Pete]

^

There were severe water issues before I left, and I had a house with a yard and most people there do not.

You merely move away from grass (which is silly anyway if you think about it) and towards native plantings or artificial grass, which I had in my backyard and was fantastic. They even gave you financial incentives to do so.

[BG918]

Meh, in 10 years, 2/3rds of California will be on wholesale water bans. Like, it is insane how little water they have, and how few places they have to pull from. California has awesome weather (well, most of it). But LA is a desert, and it is only getting worse.

I do wish Oklahoma could lose some of the humidity, though. That's what I hate the most.

I don’t mind the humidity but wish the rainfall was more consistent (I don’t like watering my lawn/plants).

[Bill Robertson]

I don’t mind the humidity but wish the rainfall was more consistent (I don’t like watering my lawn/plants).

For the last few years that would describe probably 50% or more of the US.

[kukblue1]

Is there another city that sees near-zero temps in the winter (with the associated snow and ice) and then a long string of 100+ summer days?

I sure don't think so. For better or worse, this seems to be unique to OKC.

No many. Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta get hot but not sure about the cold and snow. Denver has wild temperatures. Wichita Ks averages 1 less day of 100 degrees than OKC but they get colder and tend to have more snow so probably Wichita.

[BG918]

No many. Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta get hot but not sure about the cold and snow. Denver has wild temperatures. Wichita Ks averages 1 less day of 100 degrees than OKC but they get colder and tend to have more snow so probably Wichita.

The Mid-South, which Oklahoma is on the west end, generally has a pretty similar climate. Throw North Carolina in there as well though the Atlantic coast usually moderates the Carolinas in the winter.