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. . . Ticker for October 23, 2023 . . .
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... October 23, 2023 October 23, 2023 October 23, 2023 October 23, 2023 Icy pumpkins https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/oct28-nov1-temp-outlook.png I'll be darned if I didn't speak a Blue Norther into existence, just in time for Halloween! I had no idea I had this kind of power. Let's see... FULL HEAD OF HAIR! HAIR LIKE STALIN! PATRICK SWAYZE IN-"DIRTY DANCING" HAIR!! Rats. MORE EYEBROW HAIR! Okay, maybe it does work. How about this... HEAVY RAIN! Hmmm, we might be onto something. As promised (guessed??), Hurricane Norma-now Tropical Depression Norma-is onshore down in western Mexico and headed northeast towards Oklahoma. I really don't know why it needs to be depressed. I mean, it's a nice looking storm and all. Anyway, it will arrive in the form of a short-wave with some nice mid-level moisture associated with it later today into tonight, possibly giving us showers and storms. The real benefit is the return low-level moisture from the Gulf thanks to a high pressure system to our east and an approaching upper-level trough to our west. That will give all that "lift" something to work with. Rainfall amounts over the next 5-7 days could be considerable, at least for SW through central parts of the state. Totals diminish to both sides from there, but somebody is getting some really big rains, it would appear. Here's the 5-day rain forecast. I'll throw the 7-day in there as well, because we are expecting some possible rains through the weekend. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/norma.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/5day-precip-forecast.gif https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/7day-precip-forecast.gif Now the worry with this type of heavy rain during drought is the possibility of flash flooding, so that will need to be watched. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/nws-norman-heavy.rain.chances.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/nws-norman-flash-flood-risk.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/nws-tulsa-weeks-rain.png As per usual, with this type of training from southwest to northeast, somebody will get a ton of rain and their friends in another part of the county might get a lot less, so keep that in mind when you look at those rainfall forecast maps. We desperately need that rain. This flash drought AND long-term drought, depending on where you are, has gotten worse as we go out to the 90-day period. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/mesonet.rainfall.tenthinch.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/mesonet.rainfall.quarterinch.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/90day-rain-totals.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/del90day_rain.current.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/pct90day_rain.current.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/90day-rain-stats.png To add insult to injury (oh, I've had plenty of injuries added to my insults as well!), us folks that abhor (English to Okie translation: hate) cold weather are going to have to put up with a transition to winter for Halloween. As I said previously, I have been joking about our first big winter incursion coming sometime for Halloween, and now that looks distinctly possible. It's too difficult to say exactly when yet, being just at the edge of Fantasy-cast territory, but sometime between Friday and Sunday, Oklahoma's gonna get a nice layer of frost on its pumpkins! And given that there will be some moisture around with it, don't be shocked if there is some sort of wintry precip up in the Panhandle, and maybe a bit into northern OK. We will worry more about that as the pattern change starts to solidify (frozen solid??), but we are getting dangerously close to those average first freeze dates, for those that haven't already hit that mark. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/avg_firstfreeze.1991-2020.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/tmin.le32.png We hot weather lovers can bask in today's record-breaking low temperatures on the WARM side, at least. https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/todays-lows.png https://ticker.mesonet.org/archive/20231023/oct23-record-hi-tmins.png HAIR LIKE JASON MOMOA!! Rats! Gary McManus State Climatologist Oklahoma Mesonet Oklahoma Climatological Survey 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 ===================================================