Ticker for March 17, 2004

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
March 17, 2004     March 17, 2004     March 17, 2004     March 17, 2004


It Ends Not With a Bang, but a Whimper

While the Entire Ticker Staff was racing 'round the country giving
and listening to drought talks, the fabled Oklahoma Tornado Drought
of 2003-04 came to a crashing - well, make that a relatively quiet -
halt.  A March 4th F0 tornado was confirmed in Sequoyah County on
the following day.  No injuries and minimal damage were reported,
which is the way it should always be.

The new record stands at 292 days without a tornado, breaking the
previous mark of 248 days, set in 1990-91.