MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
March 27, 2019 March 27, 2019 March 27, 2019 March 27, 2019
There's green in them thar hills
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/relative-greenness-1yr-later.png
(Relative greenness maps courtesy of OK-FIRE, the Mesonet's wildland fire
management and risk outreach program, headed by Dr. JD Carlson of Oklahoma
State University).
Wow, what a difference a year makes, right? At this point last year we were
dealing with an intensifying-but-already-intense drought, a failing wheat crop,
and sitting on a powder keg of dry kindling that would later become the Rhea fire
complex...one of the worst wildfire disasters in state history. The truth is in
the pudding (relative greenness pudding, mind you, which doesn't sound too
appetizing). The slide above shows subtle yet distinct differences between the
relative greenness at this point last year and this year. A LOT more green is
showing up across Oklahoma's winter wheat belt from southwest through north
central Oklahoma. And the reds/oranges are definitely deeper signalling less
green up, obviously, last year vs. this year.
Another pudding-of-proof would be our rainfall through the water year (Oct. 1-
present day) during the two periods. Here you can see the rather pitiful rainfall
maps from last year's water year through March 25
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/rain-totals-oct1-mar25-2018.png
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/rain-depart-oct1-mar25-2018.png
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/rain-pct-oct1-mar25-2018.png
vs. this water year's maps.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/rain-totals-oct1-mar26-2019.png
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/rain-depart-oct1-mar26-2019.png
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/rain-pct-oct1-mar26-2019.png
HOLY MACKEREL! Look at those rainfall totals across western Oklahoma last year
vs. this year. 1-3 inches across much of western OK last year vs. 10-20 inches
this year. Wow.
Heck, look at the differences between the drought maps last year vs. this year
at this point.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20190327/drought-monitor-differences.png
Now there are a couple of caveats here, of course. Aren't there always?
1. The temperature experiences between the two periods can have a pretty big
impact. Last year's water year through March was significantly warm while
this year's has been a bit below normal. So that probably exacerbated the lack
of green up last year by adding stress to plants that weren't seeing enough
water. And it has probably impeded the green up this year as well by keeping
the vegetation dormant/dead just a bit longer. This is speculative, of course,
but it seems reasonable.
2. March temperatures aren't figured in, and last year's March was 3.7 degrees
above normal to rank as the 27th warmest on record. This March thus far has
been cold...miserably cold according to many ("many" meaning myself), nearly
4 degrees BELOW normal so far. Ugh.
So there are lots of intricacies that go into those two relative greenness
maps. But the point is we're in much better shape this year vs. last year at
this time, not only with wildfire danger, but also the status of our winter
crops. I don't want to jinx anything, but I'd say Mother Nature has done a
great job this year of bypassing most of Oklahoma's primary fire season.
Knock on wood (wet wood, hopefully).
Gary McManus
State Climatologist
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253
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
===================================================
|
Share
Tweet
