Statistical Analysis of Heatburst Events Across Oklahoma from 1997 to 2016

Heatbursts are a surface phenomenon characterized by sudden increases in temperatures, winds, and decreases in dew point temperature. While traditionally considered a rare phenomenon, they occur quite commonly over the Midwestern states, and the associated winds have caused millions of dollars of damage in the past. Limited temporal and spatial coverage of weather stations makes studying heatbursts difficult, but the Oklahoma Mesonet offers a solution with 5-minute observations across over 100 locations for 20 years. Archived data from the Oklahoma Mesonet and a set of predetermined metrics identified heatbursts over the entire archive, while drylines and other events were automatically filtered out. This work extended previous work done by (McPherson et al. 2011) and (Lane, 2000) by using dew point depressions and Dew Point Depression Ratios. These updated metrics uncovered 600 heatburst detections, with significant temporal similarities to the results from previous manual inspection studies.