Thu, Apr 25, 2024
Summer/Fall 2024 Mesonet OK-First Classes Summer/Fall 2024 Mesonet OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix… Read More »
Tue, Oct 10, 2023
Winter/Spring 2024 Mesonet OK-First Classes Winter/Spring 2024 Mesonet OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix… Read More »
Thu, Apr 27, 2023
Summer/Fall 2023 Mesonet OK-First Classes Summer/Fall 2023 Mesonet OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix… Read More »
Tue, Jan 03, 2023
December Caps 2022 Rain Record December provided a fitting end to Oklahoma’s tumultuous 2022 weather story. This final chapter came complete with a half-dozen tornadoes,… Read More »
Tue, Nov 01, 2022
October Drought Relief Mixed Drought held on through October in Oklahoma for the fifteenth consecutive month, its roots dating back to August 2021 and… Read More »
Tue, Oct 11, 2022
Winter/Spring 2023 Mesonet OK-First Classes Winter/Spring 2023 Mesonet OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix… Read More »
Mon, Oct 03, 2022
September Continues Dry Dusty Weather Drought surged across Oklahoma as the driest September since 1956 took its toll on the state’s landscape. The amount of… Read More »
Wed, Aug 17, 2022
Fall 2022 OK-FIRE Classes Free training workshops will be offered this fall for both new and experienced users of OK-FIRE, the statewide weather-based decision support system… Read More »
Mon, Aug 01, 2022
July Heat Punishes Oklahoma The seemingly impenetrable heat wave and dry spell that had punished Oklahoma since early June continued through nearly all of… Read More »
Fri, Jul 01, 2022
June Teases Several Seasons June managed to pack pieces of three seasons into a single month. The first 10 days were quite springlike, with… Read More »
Wed, Jun 01, 2022
May Rains Dent Drought May’s reputation as Oklahoma’s most prolific severe weather month was confirmed within the first week with as many as… Read More »
Mon, May 02, 2022
April Winds Highest in Mesonet Era Opinions on Oklahoma’s weather are often more variable than the weather itself. Some Oklahomans will look back on April… Read More »
Wed, Apr 13, 2022
Summer/Fall 2022 Mesonet OK-First Classes Summer/Fall 2022 Mesonet OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix… Read More »
Fri, Apr 01, 2022
Variety Describes March Weather March’s weather ran the gamut of nearly all the hazards Oklahoma has to offer, befitting a seasonal transition month in… Read More »
Tue, Mar 01, 2022
Wintry Weather Rules February Three impactful winter storms struck Oklahoma during February, snarling traffic on state highways, bringing down power lines, and forcing… Read More »
Tue, Feb 01, 2022
Winter Arrives In January Winter arrived with conviction at the dawn of the new year in Oklahoma and delivered a startling counterpunch to the… Read More »
Tue, Jan 04, 2022
December Shatters Temperature Record In what could best be described as a climatological anomaly on steroids, Oklahoma soared to its warmest December on… Read More »
Wed, Dec 01, 2021
November Caps Off Warm, Dry Fall An extended pattern of warm, dry weather exacerbated drought conditions during November. Drought impacts, including fire danger and soil… Read More »
Thu, Nov 18, 2021
Spring 2022 Mesonet OK-First Classes Spring 2022 OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix of… Read More »
Mon, Nov 01, 2021
October Sets Tornado Record Oklahomans are growing accustomed to Mother Nature’s October weather shenanigans following a snowstorm of up to 13 inches in… Read More »
Mon, Apr 02, 2018
Drought continued to punish western Oklahoma throughout March, even as eastern sections saw additional relief. Similar to February, Interstate 44 served as a rough demarcation line between the above normal totals to the southeast and paltry offerings to the northwest. The news was dire for northwestern Oklahoma, where precipitation deficits that began in early October 2017 strengthened drought impacts. Fire danger rose to critical levels almost daily. Continued damage to the winter wheat crop was reported in western Oklahoma, along with low or empty stock ponds, desiccated soils, and struggling pastures. Severe weather reports were sporadic, but somewhat tame for a springtime month in Oklahoma.
According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average precipitation total was 1.86 inches, 1.18 inches below normal and the 41st driest March since records began in 1895. Most areas of the state finished below normal except the regions just to the southeast of I-44. East central Oklahoma finished with its 34th wettest March on record at 0.42 inches above normal, while the Panhandle was 1.32 inches below normal to rank as their 18th driest. The Mesonet site at Hooker recorded no precipitation for the month, and 25 additional sites recorded a half-inch or less. Cookson led the state with 5.97 inches. The first three months of the year were just a bit below normal statewide, but the various regions across the state had remarkable differences during that period. The Panhandle had its second driest January-March on record with an average total of 0.32 inches, 2.38 inches below normal. The southeast saw an average of 16.28 inches, 5.29 inches above normal, to rank as their eighth wettest. The Mesonet sites at Eva and Hooker received 0.06 inches through that time. Broken Bow recorded 13.38 inches. Again, I-44 served as a rough dividing line between areas with 10 inches or more to the southeast and 3 inches or less to the northwest for the first three months of the year. Dating back to Oct. 1, 2017, eight Mesonet sites in northwest Oklahoma had recorded less than 2 inches of rain for that six-month period. Boise City and Kenton received less than an inch.
The month was 2.2 degrees above normal statewide with an average temperature of 52.6 degrees, the 33rd warmest March on record. The Mesonet’s top temperature reading of 95 was recorded at three different sites on the 23rd. Kenton owned the lowest reading of 9 degrees on March 6. Freezing weather was somewhat uncommon with the Mesonet site at Medicine Park spending just 1 hour below freezing, while Eva spent 119 hours at 32 degrees or lower. The first three months of the year were a tenth of a degree below normal with a statewide average of 43.3 degrees.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of the area southeast of I- 44 was drought free by the end of March. Drought continued to intensify across the northwestern half of the state, however. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the total area of the state in drought decreased from 66 percent at the end of February to 48 percent at the end of March. The most intense category of drought – the Drought Monitor’s intensity scale slides from moderate-severe-extreme-exceptional, with exceptional being the worst classification – increased from zero percent at the end of February to 15 percent at the end of March. That intensification occurred in the far northwest through much of the Panhandle.
The April temperature and precipitation outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) did not bode well for drought improvement across western Oklahoma. The precipitation outlook indicated increased odds of above normal precipitation across far northeastern Oklahoma, but also below normal precipitation across far western portions of the state. The picture for April temperatures was unclear, so equal odds of above-, below- and near-normal were expected. That led to an April U.S. Monthly Drought Outlook that predicted drought as persisting or intensifying across western Oklahoma. No drought development was expected across eastern Oklahoma, however.