Everyone knows Oklahoma is no stranger to extreme weather. From hot and humid summers to sub-zero winters, we see it all in the Sooner State. We have had some extremely low temps in the state during our winter months…some you would think you’d only find in Antarctica. According to the Oklahoma Mesonet, in 2011 Nowata recorded the lowest temps in the state at -31 degrees F, and that same year Medford experienced the lowest wind chill of -47°F. In 2000, it was so cold temperatures stayed below freezing for nearly 12 days and if you were around then, you know that was one of the longest stretches below freezing we have experienced in the state.
The Oklahoma Mesonet was designed and implemented by scientists from OU and OSU as a world-class network of environmental monitoring stations.
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There are 120 monitoring stations across the state that record things such as temperatures, wind speeds, and other observations.
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According to the Mesonet, the longest stretch of consecutive hours below freezing occurred in Vinita from December 23, 2000, to January 4, 2001.
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During this time period, 282 consecutive hours (11 Days, 18 hours) passed before the temperature rose above 32°F.
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As you can imagine, people bundled up anytime they went outside during this stretch of cold weather.
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This might be the longest stretch on record below freezing but it’s not our coldest. The coldest temperature on record was on February 10, 2011, in Nowata where they experienced a low temperature of -31°F.
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Oklahoma is the kind of state where you can see and experience pretty much every type of weather event except a hurricane or typhoon. Just last year it was colder in Oklahoma than it was in Antarctica! As we like to tell newcomers, expect wind all year long, hot summer afternoons, and sub-zero winter days. Our weather is bipolar so one hour it could be 74 degrees, and the next hour it could be 34 degrees. This does sound extreme but it actually happened in May Ranch on March 8, 2002.
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