Ticker for January 24, 2012

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 24, 2012   January 24, 2012   January 24, 2012   January 24, 2012


Where's winter been? Heck if I snow!

Another south-tracking storm is about to inundate parts of Oklahoma with much-
needed rainfall and provide drought relief for others. We'll give you the latest
guesstimate from the NWS' HPC forecasters, more for the location than the
amounts.



And the rain is approaching southern Oklahoma as we write (and you read).

http://www.mesonet.org/index.php/weather/radar/KFWS

Unfortunately, the northwest appears to miss out on the heavy rains yet again,
but we'll see if we can nudge that a bit close to the hardest hit areas in
defiance of the guidance. This is also another example of a missed opportunity
for snow. Temperatures are expected to remain well above freezing throughout
this event for most of the state. All bets are off in the Panhandle, but then
again it doesn't look as if they would have much moisture to work with anyway.

This winter appears to be in sharp contrast to the last two (2009-10 and 2010-11)
when the southern tier of states, including Oklahoma, were being bombarded by
intermittent fair-to-partly blizzardy conditions. I'm sure everybody remembers
the Christmas Eve blizzard of 2009 and the January-February deep freeze events
of 2011. We have had a few cold air outbreaks this winter, but mostly few and
far between. Since December 1, 2011, there have only been five below-zero
readings on the Oklahoma Mesonet ... four at Kenton and once at Boise City.
Compared to the same period during the winters of 2009-10 (52 readings) and
2010-11 (15 readings), the really frigid air has not been as nearly widespread.
As my colleagues shared yesterday, some Mesonet stations in southeast Oklahoma
have yet to see a below freezing high temperature yet this year.



The average statewide temperatures over since December 1 have been 3-4 degrees
above normal.

-****-                  High Temp     Low Temp    Avg Temp
Statewide average        52.3F         29.6F       40.9F
Normal                   49.0F         25.6F       37.3F
Departure from norm.     +3.3F         +4.0F       +3.7F
-***-

And it's not just Oklahoma. Much of the U.S. has had a mild winter thus far, as
portrayed in these average temperature anomaly maps from the NWS' CPC . And
yes, to define a cliche, the anomalies up in the Dakotas and Minnesota have
been off the charts!




That warmth has meant a lot less snow across the northern tier of states, even
in those areas that have had a lot of (liquid) moisture to work with. The cold
air simply hasn't coincided with that moisture. Winter did make something of a
comeback lately and snow now covers about 41% of the U.S.



The average snow depth across the U.S. is 4.1 inches, which is pretty paltry
for this time of year. Now that's just a snapshot so it can change dramatically
after just one storm, but that 41% coverage amount is on the high end for
this winter. Just a couple of weeks ago only 13% of the country had snow at an
average depth of 1.4 inches, for crying out loud.



For another contrast, check out this map from January 11, 2011, in which we
see 69% of the U.S. covered by an average of 6.9 inches of snow.



At that time there was actually snow in 49 of the 50 states (thanks for
ruining it, Florida.

Don't let anybody convince you that winter is over just yet. Just remind them
of 27 inches of snow in Spavinaw last February. If that doesn't work, raise
them 26 inches of snow from Woodward and Freedom in late March 2009. Still no
luck? Buy their snow shovel and sell it back to them double the price later.

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253
gmcmanus@mesonet.org