Every summer, when temperatures rise and heat index values top 100 degrees, we cool off by hitting the swimming pool or just staying inside in the air conditioning. When we talk about summer heat in Tulsa, there is one year that stands above all others and that was the summer of 1980...the hottest summer in Tulsa's history!
Here are some statistics from that year:
***JUNE***
- 7th warmest June on record (4.9° above average)
- 4 Days at or above 100 degrees (13th most)
***JULY***
- Warmest July on record (8.8° above average)
- 26 Days at or above 100 degrees (2nd most)
- 21 straight days at or above 100 degrees
***AUGUST***
- 2nd warmest August on record (7.5° above average)
- 25 Days at or above 100 degrees (2nd most)
- 20 straight days at or above 100 degrees
***SUMMER 1980 STATS***
- Average mean temperature was 88.0 degrees (warmest on record)
- 26 daily warm minimum temperature records still stand
- 58 days at or above 100 degrees (3rd most)
- 4th driest July on record (0.09")
As you can see, the summer heat of 1980 was intense. The 58 days at or above 100 degrees is the 3rd most in a summer since temperature records began in 1905. Tulsa's average annual number of summer days at or above 100 degrees is only 10.8. The 58 days, back in 1980, is more than Tulsa has seen in the last 5 and a half years!
