Ticker for February 11, 2010

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
February 11, 2010  February 11, 2010  February 11, 2010  February 11, 2010


Snow more snow, please!

With the flakes (you know who you are) showing up again, just a few notes about
the snow.

Some really nice evaporative cooling effects show up on our Mesonet meteograms
from the snowfall, like these two from Norman and Burneyville:




You can see a dew point depression of about 10-12F at both stations. The snow
begins falling into the dry air and evaporates, which cools and moistens the
surface layer. The dew point depression then drops to less than a degree for
both sites. Eventually the snow can make it to the ground and the rain gauge.
A bit of melting and it shows up as precipitation on the Mesonet.

For areas that aren't getting the snow, enjoy those dew point depressions and
consider yourselves lucky!




OKC Nears Snow Record

Will Rogers International Worldwide two-stops-to-get-anywhere airport is no
doubt getting a bit of snow today. While they aren't getting piled on like
they have in a couple of previous storms this winter, they are getting within
range of setting their all-time seasonal snowfall record.

The record stands at 25.2 inches, set during the winter of 1947-48. According
to the National Weather Service forecast office in Norman, OKC stands at 19.9"
as of yesterday:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=oun&storyid=48077&source=0

That marks the seventh highest total on record, dating back to 1892-93.

Here's hoping the record stands pat. Snow more snow, please.

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