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MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... August 3, 2023 August 3, 2023 August 3, 2023 August 3, 2023 The Ballad of Drought Buster https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/heat.dome.png Somebody sent in a request for this graphic and meme. I get a lot of those types of requests, and I just want to say "HOW DARE YOU!" Yes, how dare you come up with something better than I could have. But that graphic of 500 millibar height anomalies gives us a great snapshot of the upper- level heat dome that has plagued us for almost two weeks now. That closed area of anti-cyclonic (clockwise) circulation keeps that air sinking and compressing, suppressing clouds AND rain chances, and pumps those temperatures up into the dangerous category that we've seen over that 11-12 day period. And today again. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/nws-norman-heat.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/nws-tulsa-heat.png And it's gonna stay that way into the weekend before we see relief. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/nws-norman-7day-temps.png Our relief-maker actually shows up on that top map there. See that area of blue, indicating cooler temps, and the kink in the height anomaly contours hanging out over Nevada and Utah? Well look again, it's there! It's okay, I'll wait until you're done to start typing again. Yes, that small storm system will eventually turn into a weather-changer for us as that heat dome slinks off to the SE and weakens and that storm system rotates over the top of it, until we get this picture of that height anomaly field Sunday at 1pm (this is a forecast...but looks pretty solid). https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/1pm-sunday.png Notice how that trough has strengthened up over Iowa, and Oklahoma is now on the pereph...perif...edge of that clockwise rotation, putting us back in northwesterly flow, like we saw for much of June and the first 3 weeks of July? https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/1pm-sunday-winds.png Well, without trying to teach you a whole course in synoptic meteorology (because then we'd both fail), that feature is going to allow a fairly substantial cold front through the state Sunday into Monday. AND it should allow for some rain chances. Storms should fire up in the High Plains and move to the southeast, hopefully into Oklahoma. It doesn't look like we will see the types of toad- stranglers we saw early last month, but it's moisture and better than our attempts at a mini-flash drought we're seeing currently. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/mesonet.rainfall.tenthinch.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/mesonet.rainfall.quarterinch.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/5day-rain-forecast.gif With those lengths without significant precip...uhhhhh, lengthening, and the terrible heat we've had recently, it doesn't take long for flash drought to erupt and we start heading backwards from all the progress against that 2-year drought we were mired in (and we all know just how painful a good miring can be!). And the cooler weather should help. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/sunday-forecast-highs.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/monday-forecast-highs.png Drought in the state actually went up for the first time since early June as conditions continue to deteriorate in the far SW. Pictures from Jackson County show horrible conditions continue with dry ponds and dead grass. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20230803/20230801_ok_trd.png Going forward, it appears we're gonna be on the edge of that heat dome that intensifies over the Desert Southwest (just once, I'd like to go see the Dessert Southwest, where cakes abound along with the cacti), and just how far north and east it tries to shift. Hopefully it stays to our SW and we can continue in that NW flow with occasional cold fronts and storm chances. Gary McManus State Climatologist Oklahoma Mesonet Oklahoma Climatological Survey gmcmanus@mesonet.org ================================================== The OCS/Mesonet Ticker https://ticker.mesonet.org/ To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Ticker or for questions about the Ticker or its content Phone or Email the Ticker Manager at OCS Phone: 405-325-2253 Email: ticker@mesonet.org --------------------------------------------------- -C- Copyright 2024 Oklahoma Climatological Survey ===================================================