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| . . . Day by Day . . . | . . . January 28 in Mesonet History* . . . | ||||||||||||
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[ Consecutive days with less than 0.25" rainfall ] [ Consecutive days with less than 0.10" rainfall ] |
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MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... January 26, 2012 January 26, 2012 January 26, 2012 January 26, 2012 Near-final epitaph on the rain, and some astounding long-term statistics I say "near-final" because there is still some sort of weird spider leg thing of rain moving through southeastern Oklahoma at the moment (and yes, "weird spider leg thing" is an official weather term). So please note that these values could still go up a bit. The Mesonet and radar-estimated rainfall totals show that much of the southeastern quarter of the state received between 3-6 inches of rainfall from this slow moving storm. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/rainrfc.96hr.png Here are the top 20 totals from the Mesonet -****- Lane 4.74" Wister 3.26" Durant 4.71" Broken Bow 3.21" Mt Herman 4.44" Centrahoma 3.19" Clayton 4.30" Stuart 3.17" Cloudy 3.87" Stigler 3.06" Hugo 3.76" Sallisaw 2.99" Wilburton 3.61" Idabel 2.97" Antlers 3.56" Madill 2.92" McAlester 3.43" Tishomingo 2.85" Talihina 3.31" Burneyville 2.62" -***- Radar estimates clearly show some amounts over 5 inches in Atoka, Pittsburg and Pushmataha Counties, and then 5-6 inch amounts from down in Bryan County. The southeast is fairly well saturated by now, enough that these heavy rain events are causing flooding. River flooding was reported on Boggy Creek, the Blue River, the Poteau River, and the Kiamichi River. As a reminder, here is what the Kiamichi River looked like in August 2011. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/kiamichi-river-aug2011.jpg So things have changed dramatically in the span of six months. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, as I warned yesterday, does not portray the impacts from the latest rain event since the rain occurred after the cutoff point for consideration. Those will be reflected next week. Here is the latest released this morning. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/ok_dm.png The only change on that map is an increase in the "abnormally dry" area in northeastern Oklahoma. Dry weather has sort of snuck up on us over the last month or two in that area. It's easy to simply think that eastern Oklahoma has been getting lots of rain, but as it turns out, not ALL of eastern Oklahoma. Check out these maps of percent of normal rain for the last 30 and 60 days from the Mesonet. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/last30dayspct.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/last60dayspct.png That area in northeastern Oklahoma has definitely not enjoyed the bounty of moisture during December and January. The lucky part is that we're in the cool season so the impacts can't progress too quickly. The cooler temperatures and the lack of growing vegetation mean lower demand for that moisture. Here is how the drought has changed depictions on the U.S. Drought Monitor map since October 2011. Southeastern Oklahoma had a full 5 class improvement over the past four months from D4 exceptional drought to completely free of dry conditions. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/dm-change-6maps.png ************************************** Here's something pretty astounding for your consideration. Look at the differences in precipitation totals for the various areas of the state since October 1, 2010, near the drought's beginning point. http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/oct2010-present-rain.png The totals go from 65.2 inches in Westville in eastern Oklahoma to a measly 8.5 inches in Hooker. That's nearly 57 inches difference! Here's the top 10 wettest vs. the top 10 driest Mesonet sites over that 16 month period. -****- Westville 65.22" Hollis 15.54" Cookson 64.77" Erick 15.45" Mt Herman 62.16" Tipton 15.41" Broken Bow 62.05" Beaver 15.34" Clayton 56.78" Arnett 14.11" Wister 56.47" Altus 13.69" Talihina 54.33" Kenton 11.28" Jay 54.25" Goodwell 10.20" Webbers Falls 54.24" Boise City 9.70" Wilburton 54.12" Hooker 8.46" -***- The following is a table of benefits of receiving only 8.5 inches of rain over 16 months: (intentionally left blank) So while there is flooding in southeastern Oklahoma, this is the fate of farm ponds in northwestern Oklahoma. These are once again the pictures of my favorite fishing hold south of Buffalo, a spring-fed farm pond. Times of plenty: http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/may2009.jpg Uh oh: http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/aug2010.jpg Nothing bitin': http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/may2011.jpg Pave it: http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20120126/jan10-2012.jpg Now my purpose here is not to be a Debbie Downer, but it is always important to remember our neighbors that are still in the midst of a pretty severe and cantankerous drought. That's the Okie way. One final question ... why the heck is there a Westville in far eastern Oklahoma??? Gary McManus Associate State Climatologist Oklahoma Climatological Survey (405) 325-2253 gmcmanus@mesonet.org
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