Heat Wave Continues To Take Its Toll On Oklahoma

Saturday, August 12th 2006, 6:27 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Scattered clouds and some brief showers helped keep much of the state from breaking triple digits on Saturday, but the high temperatures and lingering drought continued to take their toll on the state.

Temperatures across most of Oklahoma were in the mid to upper 90s on Saturday, but some parts of the state were approaching 100 degrees in the afternoon, said Jennifer Palucki, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman.

Scattered showers on Friday and the likelihood of more rain late Saturday were expected to keep temperatures from climbing too high, but Palucki said the extra moisture raised the humidity level.

``The rain does drop the temperature for a time, but once the thunderstorms pass, the temperature goes back up pretty quickly,'' she said.

The chance for rain is expected to continue Sunday and into next week before dry conditions return, along with more triple-digit heat.

``Right now, it looks like by mid to late week, we'll be seeing plenty of 100-degree temperature readings again,'' Palucki said. ``It will be more of the same, unfortunately.''

The death toll from the summer's blistering heat rose to 25 on Saturday when the state Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that a 72-year-old woman from Lone Grove died Friday from heat-related causes.

Kevin Rowland, the office's chief investigator, said that when Annetta Faye Lee was found dead in her kitchen, the temperature in her house was 110 degrees. Lee's house had an air conditioning unit in a window but Rowland said it was insufficient to cool the house.

Rowland said that three other deaths _ in Cordell, Ardmore and Oklahoma City _ are being investigated as being possibly heat-related.

Twenty-three of the state's heat-related deaths have come since July 9, and the state's official record for heat-related deaths already has been broken this year. The unofficial record is much higher _ in 1980, state officials said that that summer's heat wave left 40 people dead. The state Medical Examiner's office has kept official records on heat-related deaths since 1986.

The heat and drought also are taking a toll on livestock, drying up farm ponds and cutting into hay production.

The apparent dehydration deaths of as many as six horses are being investigated by the Custer County Sheriff's Department, Lt. Steve Moss said.

Four horses were found dead on Wednesday on the property south of Foss Lake, and two others are missing and presumed dead.

``The cause of death is unknown for sure at this time,'' Moss said in a statement. ``However, the only source of water for the animals was a farm pond that only had about one-and-a-half inches in it.''

Many of the state's cattlemen are being forced to sell their cows at auction because producers are running out of water, hay and grass, said Jack Carson, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

``When you run out of water, you don't have very long before you either have to move the animals or haul water to them,'' Carson said.

The impact of the current drought on grazing land means more producers are being forced to feed their animals hay, which already is in short supply because of low production last year, Carson said.

``The conditions have just been terrible for hay production, and we're not in any position during this drought to replenish the hay stocks we were already short on,'' he said.

``The situation is going to continue to deteriorate, because we are at the point now where even if it started raining today, we are at the end of the growing season for the hay. It's going to be very bad.''

Associated Press Writer Murray Evans in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.