June heat in Oklahoma broke some state records

TULSA - Not only did June's blistering heat cause us to break a sweat, it also caused us to break some records.

Twenty-nine out of 30 days in the month, our temperature was at or above 90° .  

On the 27th we hit a scalding 106°.  We suffered through two mornings when the low was a sultry 81°.  Our average high temperature in June is 88°, but this June our average high was 95.6°.

It will go down as the second warmest June on record. 

In 1911, the average temperature was 85.8°. This June, our average temperature was 84.4°.

Those weather records for us date back to 1911, and you know they didn't have air conditioning then. It was also well before the dreaded "heat index" had been invented. Some would tell you that hearing the weatherman mention the heat index is worse than not having a/c.  

I was scouring around the archive data from the Oklahoma Mesonet and found many areas were much hotter. It reached 111° in Mangum on June 26th. 114° in Grandfield. Hollis warmed to a stifling 115°.

Most of us remember last summer. 

July was hot, but the heat really didn't kick in until August. Last July we reached 100 only twice, but the furnace was on high in August when we reached 100° 12 times.  

We think of September rolling around and temperatures moderating some, but even as late as Sept. 23rd last year we reached 90°.

Do be careful out there. It is so very easy for the heat to sneak up on us. Hydrate well and pace yourself. Try to exercise indoors if you can, and break up that yard work into two or three sessions, or if you can, hire someone to do it for you.  

They say, "Be careful what you ask for." Remember this past winter when we were all hoping and praying for some warmer weather? 

Guess we prayed too hard!