Excessive Heat in Pittsburg, Oklahoma

A strong ridge of high pressure that dominated the weather across the south central United States for much of July, continued through the first couple weeks of August. Unseasonably hot weather resulted across the region with official records at the Tulsa International Airport indicating that August 2011 was the 5th hottest August on record since 1905. During this period, the daily temperature exceeded 100 degrees and the hottest all-time temperature in Tulsa came to within two degrees of being broken on August 3rd when the temperature soared to 113 degrees. The humidity combined with this heat resulted in afternoon heat indices in the 105 to 115 degree range. Little relief from the heat was realized at night as temperatures only fell to near 80 degrees.