Oklahoma monthly climate summary, 03/2012

              Copyright © 2012 Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Monthly Climate Summary 1
March might have entered like a lamb, but it exited like July, smashing temperature records in the process. The March statewide average temperature, as measured by the 120-station Oklahoma Mesonet, was more than 9 degrees above normal at 59.4 degrees. That eclipses the previous top mark of 58.3 degrees set in March 2007. Oklahoma statewide average climate statistics date back to 1895. Not satisfied with being the warmest March on record, the month’s temperature also topped well over half of the previous 117 Aprils in the record books. Beginning with March 2010, 19 of the past 24 months have finished warmer than normal. In addition to July and August of 2011, the March monthly heat record is the third in the last nine months. Oklahoma’s July statewide average of 89.3 degrees is the highest for any calendar month for any state since 1895, helping propel Oklahoma’s 2011 summer to a similar record. June 2011 finished just a degree away from its top spot to land in second place. The state’s January-March statewide average of 48.6 degrees is also tops in the record books at 5.9 degrees above normal.
MARCH 2012
Oklahoma Monthly Climate Summary
March 2012 Statewide Extremes
Description
Extreme
Station
Day
High Temperature
90ºF
Beaver
31
Low Temperature
17ºF
Boise City
3
High Precipitation
8.61 in.
Pryor
--
Low Precipitation
0.43 in.
Kenton
--
March 2012 Statewide Statistics
Temperature
Average
Depart.
Rank (1895-2012)
Month (March)
59.4ºF
9.2ºF
Warmest on Record
Season-to-Date (Jan-Mar)
48.6ºF
5.9ºF
Warmest on Record
Precipitation
Average
Depart.
Rank (1895-2012)
Month (March)
4.52 in.
1.41 in.
6th Wettest
Season-to-Date (Jan-Mar)
8.33 in.
2.01 in.
10th Wettest
Depart. = departure from 30-year normal
TEMPERATURE
Many individual locations broke records for the month. Oklahoma City and Tulsa both finished with their hottest Marches on record at 60.8 degrees and 61.5 degrees, respectively. The month’s hottest day was also its last. The 90 degrees at Beaver on the 31st is the highest temperature recorded in the state since October 25, 2011, when Altus and Hollis reached 92 degrees. Cold weather still managed to make an appearance, albeit a brief one. The lowest temperature recorded by the Mesonet was 17 degrees at Boise City on the third. Nine Mesonet stations failed to see a low temperature touch the freezing mark, with many others only spending a few hours at 32 degrees or below.
MARCH DAILY HIGHLIGHTS
MARCH 1-6: Very quiet and uneventful weather dominated the month’s first six days. A cold front on the second cooled the weather down into the 50s and 60s from the 70s and 80s. The cooler weather held for a couple of days before becoming unseasonably warm again on the fifth and sixth. Strong southerly winds were responsible for the warmth, gusting to over 40 mph on the fifth and sixth. It did get cold a time or two. Lows on the third were in the 20s and 30s and again on the fourth. Boise City reported 17 degrees on the third for the lowest temperature of the month.
PRECIPITATION
Heavy rains during March built off steady moisture that began last October to deal a final blow to drought impacts that had plagued the state over the last 18 months. The statewide average precipitation total finished at 4.5 inches to rank as the sixth wettest March on record, 1.4 inches above normal. Eastern Oklahoma received 6-9 inches while radar estimates indicate as much as 10-12 inches may have fallen in localized areas. The National Weather Service cooperative observer at Spavinaw reported 9.97 inches of rain for the month. The western half of the state saw 2-6 inches in general. The Panhandle, still the area hit hardest by drought, received less than a half of an inch of rainfall in western Cimarron County to over 2 inches in Beaver County.