Why Oklahoma’s Heat Index Confuses Just About Everyone

There's something almost poetic about the timing.

I'm working from the home studio today because the air conditioner at our downtown studios decided it'd had enough. With temperatures pushing well into the triple digits, sitting in a stuffy radio studio wasn't exactly an option.

So I get settled in at home, fire everything up, and get to work... and then it happened. That unmistakable boom echoed outside my window.

You know the sound it makes when a transformer randomly explodes.

The moment it crossed my mind, everything went dark. Computer. Lights. Air conditioner. Gone.

Now I'm sitting in a house that's heating up by the minute, waiting on what might be the hardest-working people in Oklahoma today to get the power back on.

With not much else to do besides wonder how much hotter the thermostat is going to climb, my mind wandered to all the weather terms we hear this time of year.

It seems like we hear them every summer, but a lot of them don't actually mean what people think they do. Since we're right in the middle of what could be the hottest day of the year so far, I figured this was as good a time as any to break down some of Oklahoma's most misunderstood weather terms.

Heat Index vs. the Actual Temperature

I get it. This one is pure shenanigans. It's how the air feels, not how warm the air is.

This is that old Oklahoma "It's not the heat that gets you, it's the humidity" thing. Still, like most people, I think it's a stupid technicality.

If it feels like it's 112° outside, I'm going to say it's 112° outside.

The Dew Point

Your weather app loves to show you the barometer, but the dew point tells you more about the day.

Humidity is relative to how it feels outside at any given moment. As the day warms and cools, it constantly changes.

I know that's not a technically perfect answer, but if you what it means, it makes sense.

The dew point stays pretty stable during the day, and measures exactly how much moisture is actually in the air.

You can feel it too. When you walk out of the house and think "Yep, it feels like storms today." That's a high dew point.

Heat Advisory vs. Extreme Heat Warning

They sound similar, but they aren't. A Heat Advisory means dangerous heat is expected, be mindful of your time outside... Drink water, take breaks, etc.

An Extreme Heat Warning means the heat is life-threatening, time to spend the day inside.

You might think you need a degree in meteorology to understand the weather, but general knowledge is good enough. We're in for a long, hot summer across Oklahoma. Do your best to beat the heat.