Oklahoma Annual Temperatures and Extremes

City

Avg High Temp

Avg Low Temp 

Avg Annual Temp

 Avg # days > 90F Avg # days < 32F  Record High Temp Record Low Temp
Oklahoma City  71.2 49.1 60.1 70 76 110 / 1980 -8 / 1989
Tulsa 71.3 49.8 60.5 73 76 112 / 1954 -11 / 1996
  • Oklahoma annual average temperature - 59.54 degrees, 11th warmest state in the U.S.
  • Record Hottest year in Oklahoma - 2012 / Avg temperature 62.99 degrees
  • Record Coldest year in Oklahoma - 1912 / Avg temperature 57.25 degrees
  • Oklahoma average Summer temperature (June, July, August) 79.6 F degrees, 4th warmest U.S. summer state
  • Oklahoma average Winter temperature (December, January, February) 39.1 F degrees, 37th coldest U.S. winter state

Oklahoma's Temperature Records 

  • Hottest temperature ever recorded: 120 F, Tipton, southwestern Oklahoma, 6/27/1994
  • Coldest temperature ever recorded: -27 F, Watts, northeastern Oklahoma, 1/18/1930
  • Hottest location ranked by highest average annual temperature: Ardmore, southern Oklahoma, 63.9 F
  • Coldest location ranked by lowest average annual temperature: Kenton, northwestern Oklahoma, 55.5 F
  • On the morning of February 10, 2011, Oklahoma broke its all-time record low temperature. Calm winds and clear skies caused the city of Nowata in northeastern Oklahoma to drop to an amazingly low temperature of 31 degrees below zero. The average low temperature for Nowata was 27 degrees, making this record low temperature 58 degrees below the normal low for the date. In contrast, the low temperature at the South Pole on this same date was only 23 degrees below zero. . 

The mean annual temperature over Oklahoma ranges from 62 degrees Fahrenheit (° F) along the Red River to about 58 along the northern border. It then decreases westward to 56 in Cimarron County. Temperatures of 90° F or greater occur, on average, about 60 to 65 days per year in the western panhandle and the northeast corner of the State. In the southwest, the average is about 115 days, and in the southeast about 85 days. Temperatures of 100° F or higher occur, frequently during some years, from May through September, and very rarely in April and October. The western half of the State, excluding most of the panhandle, averages 15 or more days with triple-digit temperatures ranging from about 35 in the southwest corner and 25 in the northwest. The eastern half of the State and most of the panhandle average less than 15 such days. Years without 100° F temperatures are rare, ranging from about one of every seven years in the eastern half of the State to somewhat rarer in the west.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the State was 120° F. This reading was first observed during the brutally hot summer of 1936: at Alva on July 18, at Altus on July 19 and August 12, and at Poteau on August 10. Tishomingo observed 120° F on July 26, 1943. The Oklahoma Mesonet station near Tipton tied the mark on June 27, 1994.

Temperatures of 32° F or less occur, on average, about 60 days per year in the southeast. This value increases to about 110 days per year where the panhandle joins the rest of the State and further to 140 in the western panhandle. The lowest temperature on record is -27° F, set originally at Vinita on February 13, 1905, and tied at Watts on January 18, 1930.

The average date of the autumn’s first freeze varies from about October 15 in the western panhandle, to about October 25 along the northern border and in northwestern Oklahoma, to about November 10 along the Red River and in the Arkansas River valley downstream of Tulsa. Autumn freezes have occurred as early as about September 15 in the western third of the State to about October 15 in the southeast corner.

 

Oklahoma precipitation averages and extremes, precipitation and temperature data for all U.S. states and Top 10 U.S. climate extremes
Data source: National Climatic Data Center