Fri, Feb 01, 2019
A Tale of Two Januarys The weather was a bit confused in Oklahoma during January. The first half of the month was on the warm… Read More »
Wed, Jan 02, 2019
December Storms Bring Moisture Three soaking storm systems brought much needed precipitation to the state, ending a run of up to 78 days without… Read More »
Mon, Dec 03, 2018
November’s Eventful Weather Much of Oklahoma’s weather was downright boring during November – cold and dry with a few warm days in between.… Read More »
Fri, Nov 09, 2018
October Extends Oklahoma's Rainy Streak Oklahomans experienced the gamut of their state’s annual weather hazards during October. Flooding rains, extreme heat, an arctic blast, the… Read More »
Fri, Nov 02, 2018
Spring 2019 Mesonet OK-First Classes Spring 2019 OK-First classes are open for enrollment. We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days), 1… Read More »
Mon, Oct 01, 2018
September Sees Historic Rains Many of Oklahoma’s most extreme rainfall events have occurred during the fall, the result of a rare conjunction of meteorological… Read More »
Mon, Sep 03, 2018
August Rains Shrink Drought Autumnal temperatures, heavy rain, and drought reduction captured the Oklahoma weather headlines during August, although the blazing voice of summer… Read More »
Wed, Aug 08, 2018
Fall 2018 Mesonet OK-First Classes Fall 2018 OK-First classes are open for enrollment. We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days), 1… Read More »
Thu, Aug 02, 2018
July Provides Fall Preview Mother Nature threw Oklahoma a Hail Mary during the final week of July, offering drought-quenching rains and a glorious preview… Read More »
Mon, Jul 09, 2018
June Rains Ease Drought The Gulf of Mexico was in a giving mood throughout June, feeding a deep plume of tropical moisture to a… Read More »
Fri, Jun 01, 2018
May Breaks All-Time Temperature Record In defiance of spring, Mother Nature slipped right into summer during May, and broke a major record in doing so.… Read More »
Tue, May 01, 2018
April's Fiery Chill Wildfires rolled across the Oklahoma prairie for two weeks in April, scorching hundreds of thousands of acres and placing entire… Read More »
Mon, Apr 02, 2018
March Sees Mixed Drought Fortunes Drought continued to punish western Oklahoma throughout March, even as eastern sections saw additional relief. Similar to February, Interstate 44… Read More »
Thu, Mar 08, 2018
February Rain Records Shattered February rain records were shattered as a series of storm systems during the month’s final week brought snow, sleet and… Read More »
Thu, Feb 01, 2018
Drought Surges In January The dry weather that plagued Oklahoma through the final three months of 2017 showed no signs of letting up during… Read More »
Wed, Jan 03, 2018
Arctic Invasion Dominates December Oklahoma’s seemingly endless supply of mild weather came to an abrupt halt during the third week of December, ushering in… Read More »
Wed, Jan 03, 2018
Drought Expands During Dry November Drought flourished across Oklahoma over the past month, fed by one of the state’s driest and warmest Novembers on record.… Read More »
Wed, Nov 01, 2017
Tornadoes Highlight October Weather October’s weather was highly variable, and a bit too exciting at times as is usually the case during this transition… Read More »
Wed, Nov 01, 2017
Spring 2018 Mesonet OK-First Classes Now Open for Enrollment Spring 2018 OK-First classes are now open for enrollment! We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days),… Read More »
Tue, Oct 03, 2017
Southeast Sees Driest September on Record Hot and dry weather dominated Oklahoma’s weather headlines for much of September, a drastic change from the extraordinarily mild and… Read More »
Fri, Feb 01, 2019
The weather was a bit confused in Oklahoma during January. The first half of the month was on the warm and wet side of normal, while the second half was dominated by short, intense periods of dry winter’s chill. The state received an average of 1.86 inches of precipitation from January 1-12, but only 0.31 inches throughout the rest of the month – the 5th wettest and 25th driest such periods on record, respectively. The month’s biggest thrill came in the form of a winter storm on January 3, with freezing rain, sleet and snow falling across much of the state. Preliminary reports had Blanchard leading the official snowfall totals with 5.5 inches, although unofficial reports of up to 6.5 inches came in from the eastern side of Moore. Oklahoma City recorded 4.5 inches, their 18th largest single-day January snow total since records began in 1893. The final bit of excitement was the frigid weather to end the month. A large area of arctic air settled over the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains during the final week of January, breaking many longtime cold temperature records. Low temperatures in Minnesota and North Dakota approached minus 60 degrees, with similar wind chills across a larger range. Oklahoma received the extreme southwestern edge of that air mass – a glancing blow. Wind chills dropped below zero in a few spots, and single digits over a larger area.
According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average precipitation total was 2.17 inches, 0.61 inches above normal to rank as the 23rd wettest January since records began in 1895. Northeastern Oklahoma was unusually wet at 2.15 inches above normal, the seventh wettest January for that region. All Mesonet sites in the western quarter saw less than an inch of liquid precipitation, while areas east of Interstate 35 received 2-4 inches. A few Mesonet sites in the far northeast recorded more than 5 inches. Totals ranged from 5.41 inches at Tahlequah to 0.32 inches at Hooker. Far southwestern Oklahoma had deficits of nearly a half-inch, about 50 percent of normal for January. The first two months of climatological winter, which runs from December-February, ended with a statewide average of 5.71 inches, 2.11 inches above normal and the 11th wettest December-January on record. Burns Flat led the state in snowfall for the season through January with 8 inches, and Erick, Forgan and Shattuck had each reported more than 7 inches. The official observing site at Oklahoma City had recorded 5.5 inches.
The January statewide average temperature was 38 degrees, 0.3 degrees above normal to rank as the 52nd warmest on record. Temperatures ranged from 78 degrees at Slapout on January 6 to minus 2 degrees at Eva on the second. The first two days of 2019 were quite frigid in the Panhandle. Eva’s wind chill on the first and second of the month was minus 14 and minus 17 degrees, respectively. Boise City and Kenton had wind chills of minus 10 degrees. The first two months of winter finished with a statewide average of 39.2 degrees, 0.9 degrees above normal to rank as the 43rd warmest such period on record.
Oklahoma managed to make it three consecutive weeks with no drought or abnormally dry conditions depicted on the U.S. Drought Monitor map, from January 8-29. The month’s final map had about 1 percent of the state in abnormally dry conditions. The area was centered on Harmon County in the far southwest where those moisture deficits continued to accumulate. The February outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) showed slightly increased odds of below normal temperatures across the northwestern two-thirds of the state, and above normal precipitation for all but the far western Panhandle. The odds were a bit higher across eastern Oklahoma. CPC’s Monthly Drought Outlook does not see drought development anywhere in the state through the end of February.
