Ticker for January 21, 2010

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 21, 2010   January 21, 2010   January 21, 2010   January 21, 2010


Welcome Rains

Despite the lovely contribution of snow by Mother Nature, Oklahoma has been quite
dry since November began. In fact, statistics from the Oklahoma Mesonet indicate
that the November 1, 2009-January 19, 2010, period was the sixth driest across the
state since 1921. The statewide average came in at 2.37 inches, 3.38 inches below
normal. Those numbers don't reflect some of the moisture received during the
Christmas Eve blizzard, however, so they are probably a bit low. That doesn't
change the fact the state has been dry, of course. Drought conditions have yet
to re-emerge in the state, mostly due to the residual moisture from our wet
July-October. Winter is normally a recharge period since the demand is relatively
low due to the cool temperatures and lack of plant growth. The statewide average
Mesonet precipitation total for July-October was 19.09 inches, 6.39 inches above
normal and the sixth wettest since 1895.

Oklahoma can't live on last fall's rainfall alone, however, so last night's rains
were very welcome. Here's a look at the totals for Mesonet sites across the
state for the last couple of days:



The latest outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center have an increased chance
of above normal precipitation for the state for February as well as for the
three month period February-April.




And remember, you can always keep track of Oklahoma's precipitation fortunes
with the Oklahoma Mesonet right here:

http://climate.mesonet.org/rainfall_update.html

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253