Mesonet Ticker for September 8, 2026

                
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Billions would suffice




Yes, it's true. Do the math.

No, I already did the math. YOU do the math.



Well okay, so over the last 60 days:

Using Oklahoma’s 68,596.53 square miles of land area provided by theU.S. Census
Bureau, and the USGS conversion of 27,154 gallons per acre-inch:

68,596.53×640×3.60×27,154 = 4.292 trillion gallons

*Normal rainfall: 5.70 inches, equivalent to about 6.80 trillion gallons
*Actual rainfall: 2.10 inches, equivalent to about 2.50 trillion gallons
*Deficit: 3.60 inches, equivalent to about 4.29 trillion gallons

It can be helpful to put the drought in a different light, and that light is
pretty darned dark. For example, imagine being down 4.292 trillion Cherry Pop-
Tarts! Shudder, indeed. Or being UP 4.292 trillion Strawberry Pop-Tarts!

That'd be an act of war.

But back to our dearth of rain, here's where it actually fell.



Wow, you go, western Panhandle! How often does a Panhandle site come in second
for leading the rain totals? And Eva to boot! Smithville still takes the prize,
but the monsoon was kind to parts of Cimarron and Texas counties.

All of this leading up to, HOPEFULLY it's about to start raining again, at least
for most of the state. The totals are most hopeful across north and east OK,
at least through the next seven days, but that could certainly change for the
better. Or the worse, of course, but we won't go there.



And maybe after that as well?



It's been a long time coming.



Gary McManus
State Climatologist
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climate Survey
gmcmanus@ou.edu
                

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