Sweltering Heat in Oklahoma Might Break Temperature Records This Week as Highs Reach 97 Degrees

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The extreme and sweltering heat this week may break Oklahoma's historic temperature records, with highs reaching as much as 97 degrees.

The Oklahoman experts advise stocking up on iced tea, going to get and use more sunscreen, and scheduling as many lake trips as possible. This week, Oklahoma City will experience temperatures that are on par with or even higher than they have been in decades, in some cases nearly a century.

Oklahoma City Historic Records for the Week

The National Weather Service in Norman predicts that at least one historic record will likely be broken this week in Oklahoma.

According to information that the organization posted late on Monday, it was 97 degrees on Monday. The record for that day was set in 1954 with the temperature of 98.

Today, Tuesday, highs will once again reach 97 degrees. The record high temperature for this day 1954 was 100 degrees.

Wednesday forecast data shows that temmperature highs will reach 97 degrees which is the same as the record set in 1998. Still, there is a possibility that temperatures might overshoot the previous record.

The record might be safe on Thursday as the temperature forecast shows that the temperature will drop to 88 degrees, while the record in 2000 was set at 96 degrees.

This cool day won't last long as temperatures shoot back up to 94 on Friday which is a still a few degrees short from the record in 1931 at 97 degrees.

The temperature continues to rise as highs will reach 96 degrees. In 1939, September 24 Oklahoma set the record at 98 degrees.

September Heat in Oklahoma

The current hot spell is being attributed to an unusually powerful dome of atmospheric high pressure. This is keeping the flow of the jet stream abnormally far north at this time of year, according to Todd Lindley, the officer for Science and Operations from Norman's National Weather Service.

According to Lindley, similar temperatures in this part of September have occurred before, so this is unquestionably hotter than what is typically anticipated.

The State's highest temperature ever registered was 120° F. In the scorching summer of 1936, this reading was first noticed in Alva on July 18, in Altus on July 19 and again on August 12, and in Poteau on August 10. On July 26, 1943, Tishomingo noted a temperature of 120° F. On June 27, 1994, the Oklahoma Mesonet station close to Tipton reached the milestone.

Cool Weather in Oklahoma

Lindley said that it is dificult to predict when Oklahoma will be graced with cool weather.

The most recent day the thermometer in Oklahoma City reached 100 degrees, according to historical data, was September 30, 1977.

However, historically speaking, Oklahoma City experiences lows of about 56 and highs of about 79 degrees on that day, The Oklahoman reports.

The first freeze of autumn typically occurs between October 15 and October 25 in the northwest Oklahoma and along the northern border, and between November 10 and November 15 along the Arkansas River valley downstream of Tulsa and the Red River. In the western third of the state, autumn freezes started around September 15, and in the southeast, they started around October 15.