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The Tulsa Beacon

 

Gary McManus

August’s weather brings early exit of summer temps

Tulsa Beacon

Oklahoma Climatological Survey August 2025 pulled a fast one on Oklahoma. Instead of the typical late-summer swelter, the month ended with a taste of fall as two powerful cold fronts shoved aside the heat. The final week brought gray skies, steady rain and highs stuck in the 60s and 70s — more like October than…

Summer reclaims headlines in July

Tulsa Beacon

After months dominated by rain and severe weather, summer finally reclaimed the spotlight in Oklahoma during July. The state’s wet streak ended, replaced by rising heat and drying conditions. A lone tornado touchdown near Vance AFB extended the tornado streak to five consecutive months, bringing the 2025 total through July to 88. Sweltering July heat…

June rains end drought

Tulsa Beacon

Oklahoma’s big weather stories this spring overwhelmingly involved tornadoes and heavy rains — and June was no exception. The month finished as the sixth-wettest June on record, at 7.22 inches, nearly 3 inches above normal. The preliminary tornado count swelled to 25, the second-highest for the month on record. But there was at least one…

Hail and Twisters dominate May weather

Tulsa Beacon

After April’s stormy chaos, the first half of May brought a rare lull in Oklahoma’s spring severe weather season. Aside from an active kickoff on May 1 — featuring large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes, and flash flooding — the state experienced a quiet 16-day stretch, interrupted only by a single report of half-dollar-size hail in…

April deluge shatters records

Tulsa Beacon

Just four months after Oklahoma shattered its all-time November rainfall record, the state did it again—this time in April. The statewide average rainfall totaled 8.74 inches, surpassing the previous April record of 8.32 inches set in 1942, with data dating back to 1895. Numerous locations posted similar records, including Oklahoma City, where 12.55 inches of…

Devastating wildfires steal March headlines

Tulsa Beacon

Most months, nearly breaking an all-time tornado record would dominate Oklahoma’s weather headlines. However, March 2025 will be remembered for a different kind of disaster—one of the worst wildfire outbreaks in state history, overshadowing all else. Dangerous fire weather conditions permeated the month—typical for Oklahoma’s primary wildfire season in the late winter and early spring—fueled…

February’s Rollercoaster: Record Heat to Deep Freeze

Tulsa Beacon

Oklahoma Climatological Survey February started off with a warm and pleasant stretch, reaching a summery 89 degrees in several locations on Feb. 3, breaking the all-time high temperature record for that date—87 degrees, set in Erick back in 1934. However, it was all downhill from there, as winter quickly reclaimed its grip on the calendar…

Weather strikes back in January

Tulsa Beacon

Like the villain in a ‘90s action movie, winter struck back with a vengeance in January following the unusual warmth that closed out 2024. Several strong cold fronts delivered blustery winds, snow, ice, and some of the coldest air the state had seen since the generational freeze of January 2021. The first major bout of…

Oklahoma weather records fall

Tulsa Beacon

It seems every year is a momentous one for weather in Oklahoma, and 2024 was no exception, with two all-time records either tied or broken during the year. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed at least 152 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, surpassing the previous record of 149 set in 2019. This year’s total was…

A November for OK weather record books

Tulsa Beacon

November 2024 will enter Oklahoma’s vast and storied weather lore as one of the most extreme months in state history, shattering records for both the highest statewide average rainfall and the most tornadoes ever recorded in November. This unprecedented combination of rain and storms has left an indelible mark on the state’s already dynamic weather…