Ticker for April 25, 2011

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
April 25, 2011     April 25, 2011     April 25, 2011     April 25, 2011


Oklahoma Half-Full

To be quite honest, it's tough to be excited about the rains when so many that
needed it so badly received very little. The potential failure of Oklahoma's
winter wheat crop continues, and with it our ringside seats to a possible
billion(s?)dollar disaster for Oklahoma's economy.

But knowing the good folks of western Oklahoma who remained largely high and
dry over the weekend, I'm betting they are happy for the lucky ones that did
get those good rains. Of course, some had a bit too much, but that's what can
happen in Oklahoma during the spring. Of the Mesonet's 120 sites, 40 received
less than a half of an inch of rain from this system since Thursday. Most of
those were in western Oklahoma.

Top-30 Mesonet Rainfall Totals, April 22-25
Westville	12.45		Stigler	        6.26	Vanoss	        4.38
Cookson	         9.24		Bristow         6.09	Wilburton	4.36
Tahlequah	 9.09		Okemah	        6.07	Shawnee	        4.19
Okmulgee	 8.44		Eufaula	        6.04	Talihina	4.06
Haskell	         8.42		Walters	        5.51	Claremore	4.06
Jay	         8.20		Sallisaw	5.42	Foraker	        3.93
Porter	         7.67		Bixby	        5.26	Vinita	        3.92
Hectorville	 7.33		Pryor	        5.16	Broken Bow	3.92
Wister	         7.10		Byars	        4.73	Copan	        3.86
Webbers Falls	 6.46		Pauls Valley	4.43	Miami	        3.75

We have to remember it's still raining in eastern Oklahoma, and there are still
rain chances for the rest of the state tonight and tomorrow. The Mesonet map
with the NWS RFC's rainfall estimates (in color) shows the heaviest totals
occurring in east central Oklahoma. An area from eastern Lincoln County to the
Arkansas state line has received from 6-12 inches. The Mesonet site at
Westville has over 12 inches as I'm writing this and the total continues to go
up!



In fact, much of eastern Oklahoma has had from 3-6 inches over the last four
days. Unfortunately, I-35 appears to be the dividing line once again, and
Oklahoma's wheat crop didn't get the drink it needed. Two areas on that side of
the state that did receive lots of rain were Walters in Cotton County which
had 5.51 inches. Most of that rain fell in less than 3 hours so I would think
a bunch of that is on its way to the Gulf of Mexico as we speak. Western
Garvin County shows estimates of 5-6 inches of rain in a localized area as
well.

What does this mean for the drought? Well, first let's remember that drought
relief doesn't necessarily mean the drought is over. Now obviously those areas
that saw 7-10 inches (and more) will realize substantial reduction in drought
severity, all the way up to ending the drought. For those areas that saw 2-4
inches of rain, the drought might subside a bit but some drought conditions
remain.

For areas in western Oklahoma that saw little to no rain, drought will persist
and continue to intensify until they see the types of rains eastern Oklahoma
received.

It's yet another crippling blow for the remaining part of Oklahoma's wheat crop
that still showed promise. A grand chance was missed this weekend and once
again we're sitting with ringside seats to a billion dollar disaster in the
making.

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253
gmcmanus@mesonet.org