Ticker for April 26, 2011

                
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Finally, A Ticker Not About Drought

Let's talk temperatures. Drought (DARN IT!! I tried.) can have many unfortunate
side effects, of course, and one of those well known here in the Southern
Plains is excessive heat. A Ticker-ite asked me  how many 90-degree days has
Oklahoma City had this during April, and if we were close to the record. So
like the industrious fellow that I am, I waited a week to look up the answer.

Oklahoma City has reached at least 90 degrees five times this April. How does
that stack up historically? Dating back to 1896, only April of 2006 had more
temperatures of at least 90 degrees in Oklahoma City with a total of six. This
April is actually tied with 1936 at five. Here are the top five April counts
of temperatures 90 degrees or higher.

Year         # of Days
2006	        6
2011            5
1936	        5
1972	        4
1987	        4

There was another 90-degree day in March of 2006 as well. The first four of
those years are all associated with drought.

The important bit of information for us currently is, of course, how did those
years end up? If you look at the final annual totals for those years, 2006
stands second in history with 108 readings of 90 degrees or higher.

Year        Rank       Annual # of 90-degree days
2006          2                    108
2011          ?                     ?
1936          8                     98
1972          14                    89
1987          82                    61

So there is at least some *anecdotal* evidence that an early start to the heat
during droughty periods can lead to years with lots of warm days if the drought
continues into the summer months.

It brings up a key point about the current drought, even as relief is occurring
in parts of the state. The current drought has yet to see Oklahoma's warm side
yet. When a drought starts to get a taste of the warm season, nasty things
occur, like depleted reservoirs and soil moisture, ground baked to a rock-hard
sheen, and infamous summer heat. Some of these things have been hinted at
already, like the 100-degree temperatures seen in the southwest in the last
few weeks, and the disappearing soil moisture (notice the improvement in the
east).



The key is to end the drought before summer gets here. Evapotranspiration (ET)
demands are just beginning, as seen in this plot of average ET using data
from the Oklahoma Mesonet.



No need to rebel here. Don't you listen to your Mother Nature? Let's not hang
out with those bums 2006 or 1936.

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