Ticker for November 7, 2011

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
November 7, 2011   November 7, 2011   November 7, 2011   November 7, 2011


More drought relief underway!

(Don't mention earthquake...don't mention earthquake) Hey, that earthquake sure
was something, wasn't it? SHOOT! However, our attentions now turn to Oklahoma's
bread and butter, severe weather. A warm front, upper-level storm and a conveyor
belt of rich moisture from the Gulf is setting us up for a bout with the worst
Mother Nature has to offer. We do need the rain so I'm afraid we will have to
endure the threat of hail, high winds and tornadoes to get some more drought
relief.

South central up through northeast Oklahoma had a bout with training thunderstorms
(training as in forming and moving over the same area) overnight that gave them a
good 2-6 inches of rainfall, with radar estimates of more than 8 inches in a
narrow band from Jefferson through parts of Murray County.



Other storms have popped up in western Oklahoma and dropped from a half of an
inch to nearly an inch in some places. And it's still raining (I love that phrase).

The rain last night brings Ringling up to nearly 13 inches for the last 30 days,
which is a might does of water. That same area has had widespread 8-12 inch
amounts.



Should the state see a few tornadoes today, that adds to our extreme year.
Tornado guru extraordinaire Doug Speheger of the National Weather Service
office in Norman has Oklahoma with a preliminary count of 104 tornadoes for the
year thus far. That would put this year's count ahead of last year's 102
tornadoes for third place on the all-time annual list behind 1957's 107 and
1999's 145. Here's hoping we stand pat this year and don't come close to
November 1958's count of 12 tornadoes (tops for that month).

Number of tornadoes since 1950
1999		145
1957		107
2011*           104
2010		102
1982		101
1960		 98
1983		 92
1998		 83
1961		 82
1995		 79
2003		 78
* preliminary numbers

Top-10 number of November tornadoes
1958	         12
1983	          8
1973	          8
2004	          6
1999	          5
1953	          5
1988	          5
1998	          4
1985	          4
1975	          4

Oklahoma has only seen seven November tornadoes in the last 11 years (2000-2010)
and six of those struck in 2004, and the average since 1950 is 1.4. Of the 61
Novembers since 1950, only 24 have seen a tornado. So tornadoes today would not
be unheard of, but they would be uncommon.

More of the same during 2011. Whole lotta shaking going on.

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253