Another Warm Month Ends for Oklahoma

Oklahoma’s penchant for warmer-than-normal months continued during September and depending on where you live, you probably had either too much or too little rain to go with that warmth. The September statewide average temperature, as measured by Oklahoma’s weather network, the Oklahoma Mesonet, was 74.5 degrees. That marks September as the 29th warmest since 1895, 2.1 degrees above normal. While the statewide average rainfall of 3.99 inches ranks as the 36th wettest on record at 0.18 inches above normal, much of the state was actually quite dry during the month.

Very heavy rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine provided some rather gaudy totals in southern and east central Oklahoma. Sallisaw received over 10 inches from the storm to help it finish as the wettest spot in the state with 14.97 inches. That propelled east central Oklahoma to finish with its eighth wettest September with an average of 8.37 inches, 3.41 inches above normal. Moisture was much less plentiful in the northwestern half of the state where totals fell to less than 20 percent of normal in some locations. The Oklahoma Mesonet station at Goodwell barely wet its rain gauge with a meager 0.2 inches. Twenty-five Mesonet stations recorded less than 2 inches of rainfall for the month. Oklahoma City was 0.39 inches below normal with a total of 3.59 inches. 

The warmth during the month was much more widespread with only a small portion of northeastern Oklahoma ending up below normal. Much of the western half of the state finished 3-4 degrees above normal. The average high temperature across the state was 86.4 degrees, more than a degree above normal. The average low was more than 2 degrees above normal at 62.7 degrees. Grandfield had the highest average monthly temperature at 78 degrees while Kenton was on the cool side at 70.7 degrees. The highest temperature recorded by the Mesonet was 105 degrees at Beaver twice and once at Erick. The prize for the coldest spot in the state was won by Oilton with a chilly 36 degrees on the 27th. Oklahoma City was 2.8 degrees above normal for the month with an average of 76 degrees. 

Four of the last six months have been warmer than normal across the state, and the January-September statewide average now stands at 63.3 degrees. That is the 42nd warmest such period on record at 0.3 degrees above normal. On the precipitation side, the year stands at nearly an inch below normal with a statewide average of 27.51 inches, the 53rd wettest January-September on record.