MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... September 11, 2014 September 11, 2014 September 11, 2014 September 11, 2014
It's too cold to think about drought!
It got downright chilly in the Panhandle and NW OK last night. Yes, 50s are officially "chilly" in this climatologist's handbook of scientific terms. The rest of the state saw 60s and 70s, but that just depended on how long it took that front to make it through.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/todays-lows.png
Of course, as we've reminded several times over the last few days, the real fall weather comes tomorrow into the weekend with the arrival of a more powerful (or at least colder) frontal system.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/fridays-highs.png http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/saturdays-lows.png
And with that second front comes a chance of rain, as detailed by the fine folks at the local NWS offices. The Tulsa image indicates the chance for rain today as well.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/nws-amarillo.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/nws-norman.jpg http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/nws-tulsa.png
Rain amounts don't appear to be heavy at the moment...maybe an inch or more across southeastern Oklahoma.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/2day-rain-forecast.gif
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that even those areas do need rain, so while the west might not get much, the east can still use it.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/20140909_OK_trd.png
Some oddities about this week's map...the amount of D3-D4 drought went down from 17% to 12%, but the amount of D0-D4 went up from 81% to 86%. That was due to a large increase in D0 "Abnormally Dry" conditions across NE and east central Oklahoma. You can see the reason why drought is trying to gain a foothold there when you look at the Mesonet rainfall maps over the last 30 days.
http://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20140911/30day-mesonet-rainfall.png
You can see that blue-green "rain shadow" up across NE OK, but also down in the SE...both places where drought is trying to intensify.
At least we added a small hole of "D-Nada" (i.e., no drought or abnormally dry conditions) in central Oklahoma. Hopefully that will start to expand with any further rains we get.
Now getting those further rains...that's the problem.
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
===================================================
|