Extreme heat and cold

BUFFALO — In the past four months, weather in the northwestern Oklahoma community of Buffalo has included a blizzard, brutally hot temperatures, temperatures below normal and a "severe drought.”

On Monday, the high hit 105 degrees making it the 13th time this year the Oklahoma Mesonet Station at Buffalo has had the highest temperature in the state, said Gary McManus, of the the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.

It marks yet another swing in an active weather year.

Harper County Emergency Management Director Conyetta Lehenbauer remembers shivering in late March as Buffalo received a 23-inch snowfall with one drift reaching the hood of her husband’s pickup.

But on June 17 the temperature reached triple digits, and the heat was on.

"The difference this year is that it got so hot, so early,” she said. "And it was that kind of heat that takes your breath away.”

The Mesonet on July 9 recorded an actual temperature of 115 degrees, which was matched the following day at Freedom.

That July 9 reading began a six-day span in which Buffalo reached 110 degrees or higher five times. The good news was cooler weather was on the way. This included lows of 58 degrees July 18 and 57 degrees July 19. Temperatures were cooler than normal in Buffalo 13 days in July.

This week they returned to 100s. But that’s only part of the problem.

They are in an area of the state with a drought intensity listed as "severe” by the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal effort that categorizes drought status.

"We just can’t get any rain,” said Buster Record Jr., a rancher who has lived in the Buffalo area for 30 years. "The grass is burned up.”

Buffalo is one of the driest areas in Oklahoma with only 8.8 inches of precipitation this year. They’ve only received a half inch of rain in the past 30 days. The last time they received at least a quarter inch of rain was 1.09 inches on June 20.

McManus, who is a native of Buffalo, said "Drought tends to fuel that heat. That’s High Plains weather in a nutshell. You’re baking one week and digging in the closet for your jacket the next week.”


from the oklahoman