The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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July 11, 2009

Enid hits 110, Lahoma 112 as new record highs are recorded

Staff and wire reports



A heat wave blistered Oklahoma on Friday, sending the temperature soaring to a new record of 110 in the Enid area.

The Mesonet weather-recording site at Breckinridge recorded the blistering temperature, which broke the previous record of 106 set on July 10, 1919.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in Enid was 118 on Aug. 12, 1936.

The temperature climbed to 114 degrees in Freedom and Buffalo in the northwest part of the state Friday afternoon, and while temperatures were mostly in the mid- to upper-90s in eastern Oklahoma, higher humidity led to heat index readings well into the triple digits.

“Either you’re drowning out there in the moisture in the eastern part of the state or you’re in a blast furnace in the west. Pick your poison,” said Gary McManus, a climatologist with Oklahoma Climatological Survey. “It feels the same on your body.”

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the entire state through Sunday, warning hot temperatures and high humidity could lead to heat-related illnesses.

Other Mesonet readings Friday in northwest Okla-homa were Woodward, 111; Alva, 113; Cherokee, 111; Medford, 113; Lahoma, 112; Kingfisher, 112; and Wa-tonga, 109.

A combination of an upper-level, high-pressure system and warm southwesterly winds are driving temperatures up across western Oklahoma, said Ty Judd, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman.

“They’re considerably drier out in the Panhandle. There’s not a lot of green out there, and a lot of people have plowed fields,” Judd said. “The dirt really heats up quickly.”

Max Morris spent Thurs-day and Friday supervising a maintenance crew mowing grass and cutting weeds in Buffalo, where the temperature climbed Thursday to 115 degrees, the highest recorded temperature in the state since July 1996.

“It was terrible hot,” Morris said. “When I walked out of the house this morning, I sure wanted to turn around and go back inside.”

The hottest temperature recorded in Oklahoma is 120 degrees, which has been reached six times, most recently in Tipton in 1994.

Temperatures across the state were about two degrees above normal in June, and already are higher than average for July, McManus said.

“As a whole, the year so far is running as one of the 30 hottest on record in terms of statewide average,” McManus said.

Although no deaths have been attributed to the heat so far this year, paramedics in Oklahoma City have responded to 83 heat-related calls since June 1, said Lara O’Leary, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority. During the same time last year, the city’s ambulance service responded to just 48 calls.

“We’re more concerned ... when those weekend warriors get out there and try to play an entire round of golf or mow their entire yard or try other outdoor projects,” O’Leary said. “Tomorrow we’re expecting those calls to increase.”

Cool Zones have been set up by OG&E; Electric Services and partners across the state. Cool Zones are for seniors and others vulnerable to heat-related problems and offer a place to escape the summer heat and related health risks.

Cool Zones in Enid are Public Library of Enid and Garfield County, 120 W. Maine, and Senior Life Network at Oakwood Mall. The library is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Senior Life Network is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The forecast calls for continued hot temperatures, with highs above 100 through Wednesday.

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