Ticker for May 16, 2003

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
May 16, 2003       May 16, 2003       May 16, 2003       May 16, 2003


Spring Fights Back

Oklahoma's severe weather season got off to a late start this year,
but it has roared in recent days.  Spring showed more of its resume
during the last 24 hours, as supercells, bow echoes, squall lines
and everything in between churned across the state.  The rainfall is
certainly welcome, but comes with a violent price tag: damaging winds
and flash flooding.  The following tables list selected Mesonet wind
and rainfall observations as of Noon today (rain is still falling in
some corners of the state):

Wind gusts:
Hooker       90 mph  Thu  8:35 pm    Byars      62 mph  Fri  3:10 am
Cheyenne     81 mph  Thu 11:40 pm    Bowlegs    61 mph  Fri  3:40 am
Hooker       77 mph  Thu  8:45 pm    Fairview   60 mph  Fri  1:20 am
Byars        74 mph  Fri  3:15 am    Hooker     60 mph  Thu  8:30 pm
Pauls Valley 73 mph  Fri  3:00 am    Copan      59 mph  Fri  4:20 am
Foraker      67 mph  Fri  3:55 am    Wynona     59 mph  Fri  3:40 am
Cheyenne     67 mph  Thu 11:35 pm    Grandfield 59 mph  Fri  1:20 am
Hooker       67 mph  Thu  8:40 pm    Hooker     59 mph  Thu  8:50 pm
Butler       66 mph  Fri 12:05 am    Stigler    58 mph  Fri  5:00 am
Ringling     63 mph  Fri  2:40 am    Cherokee   58 mph  Fri  1:25 am
Shawnee      62 mph  Fri  3:50 am

Rainfall:
Fairview    3.10"    Jay           2.13"    Camargo    1.86"
Seiling     2.92"    Webbers Falls 2.15"    Sallisaw   1.85"
Inola       2.70"    Buffalo       2.05"    Ardmore    1.76"
Cherokee    2.32"    Weatherford   1.95"    Foraker    1.71"
Kingfisher  2.27"    Claremore     1.95"    Newkirk    1.70"
Lahoma      2.25"    Cheyenne      1.89"    Haskell    1.69"


What a Difference a Day Makes

The following web page shows the impact of today's rainfall on the
seasonal rain totals.  The tables compare "since March 1st" rainfall
values at yesterday's end to those of today.  Keep in mind that
May 16th still has several hours to go!

https://content.mesonet.org/ticker/archive/20030516/tables.html

Also, if you look very closely at the "Wettest on Record" values
for North Central Oklahoma, you'll see another "What a Difference
a Day Makes" scenario from May 16, 1957: the CD-averaged rainfall
increased by nearly four inches on that day!  By the way, 1957 is
the wettest year on record for North Central Oklahoma.