Geography Oklahoma City

1 geography

1.1 tallest buildings
1.2 neighborhoods
1.3 climate

1.3.1 extreme weather

geography

mid-may 2006 photograph of oklahoma city taken international space station (iss)

oklahoma city lies along 1 of primary corridors texas , mexico, , three-hour drive dallas-fort worth metroplex. city in frontier country region in center of state, making ideal location state government.

according united states census bureau, city has total area of 620.34 square miles (1,606.7 km), of 601.11 square miles (1,556.9 km) land , 19.23 square miles (49.8 km) water.

oklahoma city lies in sandstone hills region of oklahoma, known hills of 250 400 feet (120 m) , 2 species of oak: blackjack oak (quercus marilandica) , post oak (q. stellata). northeastern part of city , eastern suburbs fall ecological region known cross timbers.

the city bisected north canadian river (recently renamed oklahoma river inside city limits). north canadian once had sufficient flow flood every year, wreaking destruction on surrounding areas, including central business district , original oklahoma city zoo. in 1940s, dam built on river manage flood control , reduced level. in 1990s, part of citywide revitalization project known maps, city built series of low-water dams, returning water portion of river flowing near downtown. city has 3 large lakes: lake hefner , lake overholser, in northwestern quarter of city; , largest, lake stanley draper, in city s sparsely populated far southeast portion.

the population density reported oklahoma city using area of city limits can misleading. urbanized zone covers 244 sq mi (630 km) resulting in density of 2,500 per square mile (2013 est), compared larger rural watershed areas incorporated city, cover remaining 377 sq mi (980 km) of city limits.

oklahoma city 1 of largest cities in nation in compliance clean air act.

devon energy center, tallest building in state


tallest buildings


neighborhoods


automobile alley in oklahoma city



looking in heart of oklahoma city s central business district

oklahoma city neighborhoods extremely varied; pin-neat affluent historic neighborhoods sit next districts have not wholly recovered economic , social decline of 1970s , 1980s.

the city bisected geographically , culturally north canadian river, divides north oklahoma city , south oklahoma city. two-halves of city founded , plotted separate cities, grew together. north side characterized diverse , fashionable urban neighborhoods near city center , sprawling suburbs further north. south oklahoma city more blue collar working class , more industrial, having grown around stockyards , meat packing plants @ turn of century, , center of city s rapidly growing latino community.

downtown oklahoma city, has 7,600 residents, seeing influx of new private investment , large scale public works projects, have helped resuscitate central business district left deserted oil bust of 1980s. centerpiece of downtown newly renovated crystal bridge , myriad botanical gardens, 1 of few elements of pei plan completed. in next few years massive new central park link gardens near cbd , new convention center built south of north canadian river, part of massive works project known core shore ; new park part of maps3, collection of civic projects funded one-cent temporary (seven-year) sales tax increase.

climate

oklahoma city has humid subtropical climate (köppen: cfa), frequent variations in weather daily , seasonally, except during consistently hot , humid summer months. prolonged , severe droughts (sometimes leading wildfires in vicinity) heavy rainfall leading flash flooding , flooding occur regularity. consistent winds, south or south-southeast during summer, temper hotter weather. consistent northerly winds during winter can intensify cold periods. severe ice storms , snowstorms happen sporadically during winter.

the average temperature 61.4 °f (16.3 °c), monthly daily average ranging 39.2 °f (4.0 °c) in january 83.0 °f (28.3 °c) in july. extremes range −17 °f (−27 °c) on february 12, 1899 113 °f (45 °c) on august 11, 1936 , august 3, 2012; last sub-zero (°f) reading −3 °f (−19 °c) on january 7, 2017. temperatures reach 100 °f (38 °c) on 10.4 days of year, 90 °f (32 °c) on 70 days, , fail rise above freezing on 8.3 days. city receives 35.9 inches (91.2 cm) of precipitation annually, of 8.6 inches (21.8 cm) snow.

the report regional climate trends , scenarios u.s. national climate assessment (nca) 2013 noaa, projects parts of great plains region can expect 30% (high emissions scenario based on cmip3 , narccap models) increase in extreme precipitation days mid-century. definition based on days receiving more 1 inch of rainfall.

extreme weather

oklahoma city has active severe weather season march through june, during april , may. being in center of colloquially referred tornado alley, prone frequent , severe tornadoes, severe hailstorms , occasional derechoes. tornadoes have occurred in every month of year , secondary smaller peak occurs during autumn, october. oklahoma city metropolitan area 1 of tornado-prone major cities in world, 150 tornadoes striking within city limits since 1890. since time weather records have been kept, oklahoma city has been struck thirteen violent tornadoes, eleven f/ef4s , 2 f/ef5s.

on may 3, 1999, parts of oklahoma city , surrounding communities impacted tornado. last u.s. tornado given rating of f5 on fujita scale before enhanced fujita scale replaced in 2007. while tornado in vicinity of bridge creek southwest, wind speeds of 318 mph (510 km/h) estimated mobile doppler radar, highest wind speeds ever recorded on earth. second top-of-the-scale tornado occurred on may 20, 2013; south oklahoma city, along newcastle , moore, hit ef5 tornado. tornado 0.5 1.3 miles (0.80 2.09 km) wide , killed 23 people. on may 31, less 2 weeks after may 20 event, outbreak affected oklahoma city area. within oklahoma city, system spawned ef1 , ef0 tornado, , in el reno west, ef3 tornado occurred. lattermost tornado, heading in direction of oklahoma city before dissipated, had width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km), making widest tornado ever recorded. additionally, winds of >295 mph (475 km/h) measured, 1 of 2 highest wind records tornado.

with 19.48 inches (495 mm) of rainfall, may 2015 far oklahoma city s record-wettest month since record keeping began in 1890. across oklahoma , texas generally, there record flooding in latter part of month.

cite error: there <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on page, references not show without {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see page).