Mesonet Ticker for April 27, 2026

                
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April 27, 2026     April 27, 2026     April 27, 2026     April 27, 2026


Green T




Well that about covers the severe weather for awhile. We're up above 50 tornadoes
probably. I won't hazard a guess, but I guess it is a hazard, and we're probably
getting close to our annual average of 59 WITH MAY AND EARLY JUNE STILL TO GO!

Gulp. Getting ravaged by tornadoes is a terrible thing. It would be much better
to be ravaged by a pack of llamas, I'm thinking.

But another hazard continues to ravage western OK and the Panhandle...drought.
Wait, make that TWO hazards...drought and wildfire danger. That's drought. And
Wildfire danger. Not drought danger and wildfire danger. The greenness map up
above tells the story, as does the continuing lack of rainfall in that area. Even
with all the storms over the weekend, that area was still left out.



You see, it takes several ingredients to enter the greenness of spring: increased
sunshine as the daylight hours grow longer, check; increased heat, as the
temperatures climb, check; adequate moisture for those plants to come out of
dormancy, no check (but we do take credit). Here are some more maps that tell
the same story.







Do we have that last ingredient showing up anytime soon? Maybe. You'll have to
convince me that this next storm system isn't gonna do the old "southerly
shuffle" and start to draw that moisture back across the Red River, but we'll
see.



Until then, our main hazard out west will be drought. And wildfire danger.





If you miss winter, just drive west and turn your AC down real low and enjoy
the yellowness.

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

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