Ticker for November 12, 2012

                
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November 12, 2012  November 12, 2012  November 12, 2012  November 12, 2012


Rain

'nuf said, although not everybody got 'nuf. Come to think about it, nobody got
'nuf considering the deficits we're working against, and some got none. But for
those that got anything, I'm sure it was greatly appreciated. Hopefully it wet
some of that wheat seed dusted in up north and moistened up the soils. Here is the
rainfall total map from the Oklahoma Mesonet for the event, with the radar
estimated overlay from the River Forecast Center in Tulsa thrown over the top.



A general rain for the main body of the state, but the Panhandle went without.
Those areas in the differing shades of green account for about 0.75-1.0 inches.
It certainly made a difference in our "days without" maps. These maps do not
indicate an end to drought, and in most cases, not even really a dent, but they're
much easier to stomach now for most.




Statewide, November has now had about a half of an inch of rain on average,
about a half of an inch below normal. The more you go rainless during the
first half of the month, the higher your deficit will be since the rainfall
starts to really taper down historically as we get into the latter half of the
month. The Panhandle has only had 0.04 inches on average, which is only the
30th driest Nov. 1-12 on record! Yeah, it's often quite dry out that way. Here's
a percent of normal map for Nov. 1-12 so you can see where the better rains
have fallen a bit better.



Still a fairly dry November thus far but we have lots of time to correct that.
Last year's November was when our drought relief kicked into high gear
with a statewide average of 4.36 inches, the 12th wettest on record for the
state. Wouldn't we all love to see that now!

We're also dealing with a hard freeze over much of the northwestern two-thirds
of the state. Lows have dropped down into the teens in the northwest and the
20s in most other places.




Hopefully that's the final blow to the flies and crickets that continue to
invade our houses. No rain showing up for awhile, but there are some hints of
another storm for this weekend. There ain't much money to be made forecasting
rain during a drought, but some hope is better than none!

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