Ticker for August 22, 2008

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
August 22, 2008    August 22, 2008    August 22, 2008    August 22, 2008



August Going Along Swimmingly

The Eighth Month has provided us with a pool of unique information
to splash across the Ticker. The superlatives simply poured forth
and if we didn't float them by you, we'd be all wet.

So far, August 2008 is on pace to be the fourth-wettest since the
beginning of very robust climate records (1921). In individual
locations (the OKC airport, parts of SW Oklahoma), this is already
the wettest August:




The first map shows August rainfall totals, through Noon today. The
second shows how dramatically above-normal the month has been for the
vast majority of the state.

Southeast Oklahoma, on average, has recorded 284% of its normal
precip so far this month, its wettest Aug 1-22 since 1966.

Soil moisture has recharged dramatically in Oklahoma during the
last 30 days:



This map just shows the 30-day *change* in soil moisture at 25 cm
(about 10 inches). Green means soils are more moist at 25cm, while
brown shows a drying trend. All of the numbers on the map are quite
dramatic: up or down. In other words, very few locations changed
only slightly. The trend in the northern third of Oklahoma's wheat
belt is a little disturbing. Let's hope for a quick turnaround.

Northeast Oklahoma continues to be remarkably wet. The year-to-date
and warm-season (since March 1) numbers are still on record pace.
But here's something that might blow you away (it surprised us):
Statistically speaking, the rainfall since March 1 in northeast
Oklahoma is statistically less likely than the lack-of-rain that
the Oklahoma panhandle endured from August through July.