Wed, May 20, 2020
Summer/Fall 2020 Mesonet OK-First Classes Summer/Fall 2020 OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! For the first time in program history… Read More »
Fri, May 01, 2020
Weather Hazards Battle for April Headlines It’s difficult to say which weather hazard should claim top billing for April. Two late season freeze events made their… Read More »
Wed, Apr 01, 2020
Spring Steps Forward During March Winter seemed to take a final bow after February in Oklahoma, leaving March with a warm and wet transition to… Read More »
Mon, Mar 02, 2020
Snowstorm Highlights February Weather In February, Oklahoma finally received a month worthy of winter. It wasn’t tremendously cold, nor was it excessively wet, but… Read More »
Tue, Feb 04, 2020
Snow Thrives Despite Warm January Although January’s weather continued this winter’s general tilt towards unusually mild conditions, that failed to prevent several bouts of wintry… Read More »
Fri, Jan 03, 2020
December Tornado Caps Record Year Warm and mostly dry December weather dashed any hopes of walking in a winter wonderland, including dreams of a white… Read More »
Mon, Dec 02, 2019
November Feels Winter Chill November’s weather was somewhat tame by Oklahoma’s standards, with cold weather dominating the headlines. Several intrusions of arctic air blasted… Read More »
Tue, Nov 05, 2019
October's Weather Was Frightful Despite the season, spring and winter weather stole most of the headlines during October. A cold front moved through the… Read More »
Tue, Oct 01, 2019
Summer Weather Scorches September September normally sees at least one or two decent cold fronts to whet the appetite for fall. Mother Nature had… Read More »
Tue, Oct 01, 2019
Spring 2020 Mesonet OK-First Classes Spring 2020 OK-First classes are open for enrollment. We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days), 1… Read More »
Thu, Sep 05, 2019
August Rains Tackle Drought Drought had gained a toehold across western and central Oklahoma during a hot, dry first half of August; further spread… Read More »
Thu, Aug 22, 2019
Fall 2019 Training Workshops for OK-FIRE Announced Operational since 2006, OK-FIRE is a weather-based decision-support system for wildland fire management. OK-FIRE uses the Oklahoma Mesonet for current/recent… Read More »
Thu, Aug 01, 2019
Drought Returns During July Drought returned to the state for the first time since March 12, a stark reminder that spring deluges can quickly… Read More »
Mon, Jul 01, 2019
Unsettled Weather Continues During June The tumultuous weather of May calmed somewhat with the transition to June, the first month of climatological summer. Despite the… Read More »
Mon, Jun 03, 2019
May Weather Brings Disaster to Oklahoma Tornadoes and flooding battled it out for Oklahoma’s top weather headline during May 2019, with both combatants bringing mayhem and… Read More »
Wed, May 01, 2019
Severe Weather Punctuates April Following a few brief glimpses in March, spring finally arrived in earnest during April. The month was wet for most… Read More »
Wed, May 01, 2019
Fall 2019 Mesonet OK-First Classes Fall 2019 OK-First classes are open for enrollment. We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days), 1… Read More »
Mon, Apr 01, 2019
March Sees Spring Sparingly Spring failed to gain a toehold during March, a month that both began and finished with a healthy dose of… Read More »
Fri, Mar 01, 2019
Winter Highlights February's Weather Drought, fire danger, floods, severe storms, multiple bouts with freezing rain, and even a good old fashioned Plains snowstorm –… Read More »
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 »
Tue, Oct 01, 2019
September normally sees at least one or two decent cold fronts to whet the appetite for fall. Mother Nature had different plans this year, however, steering summer right past the beginning of autumn and giving Oklahoma its fourth warmest September since records began in 1895. The Panhandle experienced its warmest September on record, while the north central, southeast, and west central areas of the state had their second warmest. Tulsa ended with their second warmest September on record at 81.2 degrees, 8.2 degrees above normal. Oklahoma City’s 78.8 degrees earned them a ranking of seventh warmest at 4.9 degrees above normal. Gage suffered its warmest September since its records began, dating back to 1904. At least eight other NWS sites eclipsed their previous September monthly temperature records.
The statewide average temperature of 79.4 degrees – as observed by the Oklahoma Mesonet – was a whopping 7.1 degrees above normal. Only 1931’s 80.1 degrees, 1998’s 79.6 degrees, and 1939’s 79.5 degrees were higher. Triple-digit temperatures occurred as late as Sept. 27 with the Buffalo and Freedom Mesonet sites registering 101 and 100 degrees, respectively. The month’s highest temperature of 103 degrees occurred at Grandfield on the seventh. Twenty-eight readings of at least 100 degrees were reported by the Mesonet during the month. The month’s lowest reading was 48 degrees at Kenton on the 25th. The heat index was not as unbearable as it had been over the previous couple of months, but it did hit the century mark 596 times at the Mesonet’s 120 sites. A heat index of 106 degrees topped that category at six different sites. The first nine months of the year ended at 63.7 degrees, 0.3 degrees above normal to rank as the 50th warmest January-September on record.
Rains were both plentiful and scarce, depending upon location. The statewide average of 3.43 inches was a tenth of an inch below normal to rank as the 51st wettest September on record. Deficits of 2-4 inches were the rule across the northwest and parts of central and southeast Oklahoma. Meanwhile, surpluses of 2-5 inches occurred in the north central, northeast and southeast sections of the state. Parts of McCurtain County received more than 10 inches while the far northwest struggled to eclipse a half-inch. The Mesonet’s highest recorded total was 11.6 inches at Mt. Herman in McCurtain County. Freedom in Woodward County recorded a tenth of an inch to bring up the rear. The year continued on pace to finish as one of the top-10 wettest on record with a January-September statewide average of 37.01 inches, 8.62 inches above normal, the eighth wettest such period since records began in 1895.
Drought continued a slow decline after peaking in late August. By the end of September, drought had been reduced to less than 12% of the state according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, down from a high of 24% on August 20. Most of the drought was considered moderate in intensity, centered on far southwestern Oklahoma. There was a small area of severe drought in the far southwest that had been downgraded from extreme drought the previous week. The Drought Monitor’s intensity scale slides from moderate-severe-extreme-exceptional, with exceptional being the worst classification. Moderate drought increased slightly across the northwest in Ellis, Roger Mills and Woodward counties. Additionally, 16% of the state was considered in “abnormally dry” conditions, a precursor to drought intensification or an area recovering from drought but not yet back to normal.
The October temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) indicates increased odds for above normal temperatures across the southeastern half of the United States, including Oklahoma. Those odds are greater across the southern two-thirds of the state. The October precipitation outlook shows increased odds for above normal precipitation across the northwestern one-third of Oklahoma, with better chances in the Panhandle and far northwest. CPC’s October drought outlook anticipates drought removal across the northwest and Panhandle, but persistence in southern Oklahoma.
