General Weather Discussion - May 2015

[Bunty]

I am originally from SW Okla and grew up going to Altus-Lugert / Quartz Mountain area. Skiing was the summer activity and the lake was a fun place and never really had water level issues until late in the summer toward the end of irrigation season when the lake got pulled down quite a bit. But as a general rule it was a fun enjoyable place.

My daughter has attended the Quartz Mountain Arts Institute the past two summers and it was just incredible how low that lake was and how bad it looked. To see the recent video footage of it at much higher levels (88% last i saw) is really awesome! Glad they can maybe have a good summer with normal lake levels for a while. It's a really cool area for that part of the state and the Arts Institute down there is quite an event.

I've been there once before in 2010 and the lake was low then. The very long pedestrian bridge over the lake was impressive. It's unfortunate that people have slowly been moving out of that part of the state.

[Bunty]

Dude, the lakes are overfilled at this point. Only Canton needs more filling. As it stands now, the lakes are so high people won't be able to boat until around Independence Day, if then.

Oh, well, maybe the poster comes from a part of the state where the rain storms often bypass it or fizzle out upon approach. Or blames the situation on that mysterious "giant, invisible umbrella" in the sky. Only in Oklahoma.

[bandnerd]

A little more sun would certainly help my veggies in the garden get more established. We're waterlogged and unable to mow our overgrown backyard because it literally squishes under your feet, and we've hardly gotten any rain the last few days on our property. If you mow it just tears up the yard, and we spent a lot of time, effort, and money trying to rehab a terrible backyard.

I'm not a fan of the crazy summer heat dome, but this weather has me on edge. A break would be nice. Sure, summer showers are helpful, but this flooding rain is not. The lakes around here are full, the city floods with .25" of rain, Lawton nearly floated away yesterday...we need a moment to allow the ground to dry and the people to be a little less frazzled.

[venture]

Slight removed from much of the state, but a new TOR watch now up for the east.

[BB37]

Another issue now is wheat harvest. Many fields are awfully wet, and the combines may have problems.

[okatty]

Another issue now is wheat harvest. Many fields are awfully wet, and the combines may have problems.

Add inability to plant cotton to that list. Normally look for rain to get some moisture to plant to avoid "dusting in" a planting. Not this year!

[ou48A]

Another issue now is wheat harvest. Many fields are awfully wet, and the combines may have problems.

Also add the possibility of it sprouting in the head and fungi …. This is big money lost in parts of our state.

[bchris02]

I am looking forward to seeing the final total for number of tornadoes this month. Will be interesting to see how close it comes to the record of 91 in May 2010. If the number of warnings issued is any indication, that could not only be broken but broken by a pretty big margin.

[crimsoncrazy]

Anyone see Aaron Tuttle's latest prediction? He said he doubts any where in the state hits 100 this summer.

[SoonerDave]

Anyone see Aaron Tuttle's latest prediction?

You mean on purpose?

[iambecoming]

Anyone see Aaron Tuttle's latest prediction? He said he doubts any where in the state hits 100 this summer.

It would be awesome if he's right but considering that moron said that, I'm sadly expecting like 60 straight days of 100+

[bchris02]

Anyone see Aaron Tuttle's latest prediction? He said he doubts any where in the state hits 100 this summer.

I doubt that. Even if this is a wet summer and OKC avoids hitting 100, I don't see how western Oklahoma and the panhandle can avoid it.

[bandnerd]

Yeah, the panhandle will hit 100 sometime in June probably, like it always does. Or somewhere in far SW OK. It's just far too desert-like there for it not to.

[jn1780]

We have to keep in mind that its going to be a lot more humid also. There is a downside to it being "cooler" because of more sun energy needed to heat up moisture in the air.

[John1744]

I love how dead these threads get when the weather is amazing outside.

[Jon27]

Does anyone know if the high humidity causes the air conditioner to blow warmer air? Our a/c is only 3 years old. It's been having a hard time keeping up the last few days. Seems almost like the air coming out of the vents is a little warmer. It's still blowing as hard, and the unit outside is running fine. Other weird thing is it seems like as the sun goes down, it gets a little warmer in here. Now I'll say I do have a broken pane on one double pane window that's covered with just an Amazon box and duct tape. The roof is also totaled. Don't know if these have anything to do with it. The garage is absolutely miserable as well.

[soonerguru]

Does anyone know if the high humidity causes the air conditioner to blow warmer air? Our a/c is only 3 years old. It's been having a hard time keeping up the last few days. Seems almost like the air coming out of the vents is a little warmer. It's still blowing as hard, and the unit outside is running fine. Other weird thing is it seems like as the sun goes down, it gets a little warmer in here. Now I'll say I do have a broken pane on one double pane window that's covered with just an Amazon box and duct tape. The roof is also totaled. Don't know if these have anything to do with it. The garage is absolutely miserable as well.

Do you get it serviced each year? What you describe sounds like 1) unit outside needs to be cleaned / serviced for the season, and / or 2) the filter has lint and needs to be cleaned.

[Jon27]

Do you get it serviced each year? What you describe sounds like 1) unit outside needs to be cleaned / serviced for the season, and / or 2) the filter has lint and needs to be cleaned.

Does it need to be serviced being only 3 years old? It's not near any trees, could other things be clogged inside of it? It's still under warranty, if it's lost freon, would that be covered? Filters are new.

[Antler dad]

Does it need to be serviced being only 3 years old? It's not near any trees, could other things be clogged inside of it? It's still under warranty, if it's lost freon, would that be covered? Filters are new.

Presuming your compressor is running and not just the outside fan, if your filters are clean, you are likely low on freon, your coil is clogged or your thermostat is not working properly. I have had a bad compressor after 1 year. It was under warranty. I doubt freon would be after 3. Is your condensing unit next to dryer vent? That could glog it.

This should probably be in another thread despite the lack of anything going on with weather.

They should be serviced yearly.

[soonerguru]

Does it need to be serviced being only 3 years old? It's not near any trees, could other things be clogged inside of it? It's still under warranty, if it's lost freon, would that be covered? Filters are new.

Yes, it needs a basic service once a year. Cleaning out the box, swishing out the filters, etc. This is normal. Pet hair, dust, etc. collect in the filter. Do you have access to it? If so, just do what I do: pull it out, take it outside and swish with a hose, towel off, and put it back in. This is something I do about once a year. That alone will probably make your house suddenly start cooling off.

The unit outside collects grass, leaves, weeds growing into it, etc. That's what I pay about $100 bucks a year to have serviced.

It's like changing the oil, only you have to do it just once a year.

[bandnerd]

Does anyone know if the high humidity causes the air conditioner to blow warmer air? Our a/c is only 3 years old. It's been having a hard time keeping up the last few days. Seems almost like the air coming out of the vents is a little warmer. It's still blowing as hard, and the unit outside is running fine. Other weird thing is it seems like as the sun goes down, it gets a little warmer in here. Now I'll say I do have a broken pane on one double pane window that's covered with just an Amazon box and duct tape. The roof is also totaled. Don't know if these have anything to do with it. The garage is absolutely miserable as well.

We went through this last year and needed a new condenser (outside unit). Yours could just be a dud. If it's under warranty, then you can get something done now before it gets really hot. Everything seemed to be running fine for us, it was just running nearly constantly and the house was getting very humid. Some capacitor had gone kaput on the outside unit and the fan was running backwards, pulling warm air in! It was an ancient unit and an easy decision to replace it.

Another thing that will help is adding insulation to your attic, if it's an older house. We had some blown insulation added to our 1969 home back in November last year and the winter was much warmer. With our new condenser I'm pretty curious to see how it all does during hotter weather. We're sitting very comfortable right now.

[okatty]

It's pretty clear based on this discussion - it's getting HOT!

[Anonymous.]

Indications that a system coming up over the Baja next week will be sheered off in pieces over the southern plains, increasing rain and storm chances each day.

Other than that, wear sunscreen and stay hydrated! Solid pool/lake weekend ahead.

[Jon27]

Thanks everyone for the advice on my a/c! I'm going to call the installer tomorrow. They were great when the house was built to fix air flow issues in some of the rooms (balance out.) I'm sure they'll help out with this. Plus, I believe if there is a part that needs to be replaced, they will also cover the labor. Now, I'm HOPING it just needs to be cleaned. I did it myself at the old house, but like bandnerd said, it was ancient! I don't want to even attempt it on a new a/c. My luck, I would burn up the whole thing!! I do appreciate the help!