Oklahoma City recorded its earliest official autumn freeze on Monday.
The temperature was 31 degrees at 5:52 a.m. at Will Rogers World Airport, according to the National Weather Service, Norman Forecast Office. The previous first autumn freeze record was Oct. 9, 2000, when it was 28 degrees.
Temperature records for Oklahoma City date to 1891.
There is a twist to the record, according to the National Weather Service in Norman. The temperature dropped to 32 degrees at Will Rogers World Airport on Oct. 7, 1952. However, the official station for Oklahoma City weather records at that time was the U.S. Weather Bureau Office on Classen Boulevard. The official temperature there that day was 33 degrees, one degree short of freezing.
So Monday's low of 31 degrees is the new earliest official autumn freeze for the city.
The average first freeze for Oklahoma City is Nov. 4.
The 31 degrees on Monday is also the Oklahoma City daily record for Oct. 8. The previous record for Oct. 8 was a low temperature of 34 degrees in 2000.
Low temperatures at or below freezing have been common at Oklahoma Mesonet weather network recording stations throughout the state in recent days.
“It's been quite some time since we've seen weather this cold,” said Gary McManus of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. “The lowest reading from the Mesonet this weekend was 26 degrees at Seiling and Freedom on Sunday. That is the lowest temperature recorded on the network since several stations dropped below 26 degrees way back on March 20.”
Monday, the Mesonet stations at Camargo, Lake Carl Blackwell, Mangum and Burbank had morning lows of 26 degrees.
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