MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... June 23, 2011 June 23, 2011 June 23, 2011 June 23, 2011
Exceptional drought creeps back to the east in Oklahoma
All the heat and wind we have seen in June has taken its toll in the western half of the state, and the drought we've been mired in since last fall continues to intensify and persist. Exceptional drought, the worst such designation in the U.S. Drought Monitor's intensity scale, increased from 10 percent of the state last week to 33 percent this week. The new map released this morning shows the ugly details.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/ok_dm.png
In addition to the widespread D4 drought covering virtually the entire western third of Oklahoma, D3 (extreme) and D2 (severe) drought also shifted back to the east.
The state missed out on a substantial amount of its normal rainfall during the last 30 days. According to data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the May 24-June 22 statewide average rainfall total of 1.24 inches ranks as the driest such period dating back to 1921. Southwestern and south central Oklahoma suffered through similar rankings for the last 30 days, receiving a scant 12 percent of normal rainfall over that period.
Climate Div. Total Rainfall Dep. from Normal Pct of Normal Rank Panhandle 0.61" -2.41" 20% 3rd driest N. Central 2.12" -1.99" 52% 12th driest Northeast 2.06" -2.74" 43% 7th driest W. Central 0.78" -3.31" 19% 2nd driest Central 1.88" -2.93" 39% 6th driest E. Central 1.45" -3.64" 28% 5th driest Southwest 0.50" -3.83" 12% 1st driest S. Central 0.58" -4.27" 12% 1st driest Southeast 0.71" -4.38" 14% 3rd driest Statewide 1.24" -3.23" 28% 1st driest
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/last30daystot.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/last30dayspct.png
The tremendous early summer heat exacerbated the drought impacts and allowed for its eastward progress. The statewide average temperature for the month thus far stands at 82.7 degrees, which would be high enough to rank as the third warmest June on record for Oklahoma. Number one on June's warmest list goes to 1953 at 84.6 degrees, with 1911 coming in second at 83.3 degrees. During that period, high temperatures across the state averaged 95.7 degrees, 8.6 degrees above normal. The average high temperature in southwestern Oklahoma came in at 100.9 degrees.
Here is a time series of statewide average June temperatures in Oklahoma dating back to 1895. Note June 2011's preliminary rank.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/jun1-23_temps.png
The view from space is as grisly as one would expect. The relative greenness map from the OK-FIRE program for the week ending June 20 gives a pretty good picture of where it has rained and where it hasn't. That lack of greenness in the western half of the state is the primary reason the wildfire season never found an endpoint during spring.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/relative_grenness.gif
Another view from space is the VEG-DRI picture provided by the USGS and the National Drought Mitigation Center. It shows the response of vegetation due to the drought conditions. Note the gray areas, signifying "out of season." Some of that is due to the bare fields left by wheat harvest and some is due to the destruction of crops and natural vegetation due to drought.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/VEG-DRI.png
A chance of rain exists today, especially for northern Oklahoma, but those chances will also be accompanied by high fire danger.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/NWS-Norman_outlook.png
This graphic tells the sad story for the next week as the heat dome shifts over Oklahoma once again.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20110623/fxc_Fire_Danger_Graph.jpg
The billion-dollar disaster continues unabated, with no end in sight ... yet.
Please remember to visit our new website at http://climate.ok.gov for up-to-date drought news and other climate/weather information.
Gary McManus Associate State Climatologist Oklahoma Climatological Survey (405) 325-2253 gmcmanus@mesonet.org
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