Ticker for October 13, 2011

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
October 13, 2011   October 13, 2011   October 13, 2011   October 13, 2011


Ding dong, the D4 drought is dead...

for the I35 corridor. Hey don't complain. Doesn't D3-extreme drought feel better?
It's a process. Have I said that before? I'm trying to be repetitious so Mother
Nature will follow suit. Now we just need several more 75-mile wide areas of 3-4
inches of rainfall and we'll have the state all down to D3 in six months.



The percent of the state in D4 went from 70% down to 59%, and the percent in
D3-D4 went from 80% down to 79%. Again, the improvements were limited by the
long-term vs. short-term indices and impacts. Wetting of the upper soils was
very beneficial and widespread but that moisture became more limited deeper into
the soil. For instance, look at Kingfisher. That Mesonet site received 2.9 inches
during the last event but the soils at 24 inches are bone dry.




Reservoir recharge was limited and the lower soils didn't see widespread
recharge. Eliminating drought can be a slow process, especially when the
rainfall events come once a month instead of several times a month. Look at
it like credit card debt. You ran up the balance (rainfall deficit) buying that
life size replica of the Death Star and now you're trying to pay it off by just
sending in the minimum payment due (rain once a month). Chances for another
large payment look limited in the short term.





I'm not sure what to do. Wait, don't you have a life size replica of the Death
Star? Go threaten Mars for those ice caps.

Rebel scum.

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