Mesonet Ticker for August 20, 2026

                
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Drizzle would be nice




Severe-to-Exceptional (D2-D4) drought continued to surge east in the face of what
is, as of now, the 4th-driest and 3rd-hottest August in our state's history. Those
are really nasty stats for an August, because if you are that above normal in
temps and below normal in rainfall, you know things are going poorly.

Of course, we still have these nonsensical nerf herders  on social media that
will post "It's August," or "It's summer," like this is some monumental
observation that we're just not seeing. Because it's in the extremes, isn't it?
Back in the summer of 2011, I should have just said "It's summer. Duh!" Or in
the midst of February 2021, I should have just written "Well it's winter, what
else would you expect?" Because there are some months that you don't want to
see compounded extremes in...like heat or dry in August, or cold or icy in
January.

And it's compounded by longer-term extremes. For instance, did you know that
Oklahoma has seen it's warmest period on record since last July? That's extreme.

And did you know that west-central Oklahoma has seen it's driest last-365 days
on record? That's extreme.

And for everybody, the 4th-driest and 3rd-hottest August is extreme. That's what
has led to this flash drought. Oh yeah, that's another misconception. Flash
drought can occur in the face of long-term drought because it can be named for
either rapid expansion OR rapid intensification. So yes, social media
clodhoppers, western Oklahoma has indeed seen a flash drought just like the
rest of the state, despite their longer-lived drought.

In fact, Oklahoma is ground-zero for flash drought over the last month. Other
states have some rapid intensification going on, but nowhere is it as
concentrated as right here in Oklahoma.



And the heat continues. There's signs of a possible relaxing of the heat wave
next week to get us to just "above normal" vs. "above ridiculous" like we've
seen over the last month, but I'm not banking on it yet. Heck, even yesterday's
miraculous cool front still yielded highs in the 100s for northern OK.



Hey, nobody's invested in seeing a cool-down more than me as I zip around town
in my 2012 Kia Optima with the air conditioner that loves to punish me. It
blows more hot air than I do!

It's paid off, cut me some slack.

Rain would help too, but that's just not showing up either. At least in any
drought-quenching quantities.



So these types of deficits will continue to deepen, at least for a little
while. Let's hope not for a long(er) while.







Fall will get here eventually. Hopefully in September and not October or
November.

Brace yourselves, the pumpkin spice lattes are coming!

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

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