Summer heat in Oklahoma
Just in case you haven’t noticed, summer time has arrived in Oklahoma and with it comes the heat and humidity we all associate with June, July, August, and even September. Since last week, the temperatures have been in the mid-90° range, with heat indexes reaching near 100°. Over the weekend, temperatures were nearing 100° with heat indexes near 105°. As the week of June 22 gets under way, we are now expecting temperatures of 100°, with heat indexes reaching 108° or higher. The forecast through Monday, June 29 is calling for the same kind of heat.
Although it wouldn’t be summer in Oklahoma without the heat and humidity, it seems to me that it has arrived a bit earlier this year. Maybe that is just a perception, because the National Weather Service is saying it isn’t any hotter than it was last year at this time, but when I am mowing my yard or even hooking up a pump for our swimming pool, which requires virtually no physical exertion at all, it surely feels hot.
Oklahoma Heat
If you are not from Oklahoma, it’s hard to imagine how hot it gets and how hot it feels. I often reminded of how the children of some friends of ours reacted when they moved from California to Oklahoma. The father grew up in Oklahoma, so he knew full well about the heat, but the boys didn’t have a clue. When they first arrived back in Oklahoma, it was nice and cool, but when the summer heat arrived, it was hard for them to function. They literally felt as if they were losing their breath because of the heat and humidity. It took their bodies quite a while to adjust.
There is one thing that everyone needs to remember about the heat. You have to drink water or some other liquid that will replenish your bodies fluids. That does not include soft drinks. That bears repeating, no soft drinks. I have worked out in this heat when I was landscaping for a living and when I worked in a tire shop and water, Gatorade, or the equivalent is essential. When I was landscaping, I worked with and for a man who refused to drink water. He said Dr. Pepper would do just fine for him, that he didn’t like water. I told him it didn’t matter if he liked it or not, he had to drink something besides the soft drink. I finally convinced him the day I drove him home from work after he had a heat stroke. He suddenly discovered a new found taste for water.
If you are new to the heat, just make sure you do any outside work before 10:00 am, before the heat starts to build or after the sun has gone down. You will still get hot and sweaty, but the dangers associated with the heat are not as prevalent. One other thing to remember; if you stop sweating, you are in trouble. Sweating is how our body cools itself down and if it stops, you will overheat. So drink plenty of water (I think I mentioned that already), continue to sweat, and let’s all ride this heat wave out. We just have three more months until fall. Something to look forward to.
It has been unseasonably warm here lately. We extracted 16 gallons of honey from our beehives yesterday, and working outside in a 100-105 degree heat index while wearing bee-suits is pretty miserable…
As you know we lived in South Carolina for several years. I refer to SC as having two weather seasons: hot and not so hot. We have heat and humidity up here, but nothing like I felt in the south (and for much longer stretches).
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I so miss the warm weather of Oklahoma!
For some odd reason, we are in a cold and rainy spell here in the White Mountains. This June has been the coldest in 27 years! Odd.
If this is global warming someone forgot to tell NH!
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It’s actually cooled down a few degrees today. It’s only about 92 and that is a big change from 100.
I was stationed at Tinker many years ago and remember the heat very well. It was miserable. I was doing some computer work last night about 11:00 and the heat index here was 95; that quite warm enough for me. It’s 82 right now at 10:45 am with a heat index of 90. It’s all Al Gore’s fault!
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It is supposed to be 100° with a heat index of 110° today. Of course tomorrow, it is supposed to be 85° with rain. One thing about Oklahoma weather, it can change in a heartbeat.