MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... January 5, 2016 January 5, 2016 January 5, 2016 January 5, 2016
I guess winter is here to stay
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/coat.jpg
It's true. I have made it through winter thus far with long-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and hooded pullovers (I have an extensive wardrobe, no?) with no difficulty. In fact, some days in December I managed to make it through the day in a t-shirt. This morning, however, I finally had enough and dug out my winter coat for the first time since early March. So from mid-March through Christmas day, I was coatless.
Check out the statewide average departure from average high temperature graph from the Mesonet for 2015. Notice the extremely cold late February and early March, then the transition into my coatless dreamland for the following nine months.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/2015-depart-normal-highs.png
What's weird is that this wasn't even the coldest morning of the season thus far. Sure, it was cold, and the thick frost makes it worse.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/todays-lows.png
I think it's more of a realization that the 60s and 70s (and even an 80 or two!) of December have faded into the calendar. Can you blame me, though? Look at the comparison of high temps from Dec. 1-25 vs. Dec. 26-Jan. 4:
Period Statewide Avg. High Temp Depart from Normal Dec. 1-25 59.9 degrees 9.2 degrees Dec. 25-Jan. 4 43.4 degrees -4.9 degrees
It's not the number itself, obviously, since early December is normally warmer than late December/early January, but the departure from normal figures there are pretty striking.
If you look at the 7-day planner from NWS Norman, you don't see many 50s on there, other than Thursday and Friday (barely). Then another strong cold front is poised to plunge through the state on Saturday with chances for more frozen precip. Doesn't look like a barn freezer (as opposed to a barn burner), but still wet and still frozen.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/nws-norman-7day.jpg
NWS Tulsa also mentions the chance for some snow overnight tonight. Again, just light stuff.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/nws-tulsa-snow.png
Other than that, there will be chances for a cold rain, with the most significant precip chances coming on Wednesday across most of the state and into eastern OK on Thursday.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/nws-norman-wed1.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/nws-norman-wed2.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/nws-norman-thur.jpg
Keep in mind we're still 5 days out from the weekend storm, so the amounts and even precip types could change, but the hope is for light snow at this time due to a limited chance for moisture return from the Gulf of Mexico. We're definitely not seeing a huge moisture producer this week, but check out the moisture across California.
EL NINO MAGIC!!
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/7day-preci-forecast.gif
Other than that, winter's here to stay for awhile. Stupid winter.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20160105/jan10-16-temp-outlook.gif
Gary McManus State Climatologist Oklahoma Mesonet Oklahoma Climatological Survey (405) 325-2253 gmcmanus@mesonet.org
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