Ticker for March 4, 2013

                
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March 4, 2013      March 4, 2013      March 4, 2013      March 4, 2013


It's my rain...I want it NOW!

I feel like the J.G. Wentworth (google if you haven't been forced to watch
daytime TV lately) of Oklahoma weather. These storm systems show up in the
forecast models 7-10 days out, if not longer, and therefore my entire existence
becomes somewhat moot until they actually hit. The worst is when they look
magnificently wet on the long-term only to get slowly whittled down as they get
closer. That's sort of what has happened with the storm scheduled for the coming
weekend. We went from about 5 inches of rain and 18 inches of snow for the state
a couple of days ago to now just a good beneficial rainfall. Here is the 7-day
rain total forecast from this morning.



Here is what it looked like in its last awesome manifestation from last night.



So it appears to have shifted to the north a bit. The good thing is it is still
offshore of the Pacific Northwest and can change for the better between now and
then. The trouble is it can change for the worse as well. Still some good rain
on that map, but you can tell why I wanted that rain NOW (although that "now" is
now "then" ... shoot, I've lost myself), before it could shift.
Even at its current forecast output, it's a VERY WELCOME SIGHT!

We still have plenty of snow to melt up in the northwest, however, so that's
like having rainfall in the piggy bank. Interestingly, I don't need to look
at a satellite picture to find the snowpack. The Mesonet does a pretty good
job of that by itself. Check out these temperature maps and see if you can tell
where the deepest snow has stuck around.

Here are the highs from yesterday (hint ... look for blue!)



Holy mackerel! 82 degrees down in Hollis. That looks pretty darned nice.
Certainly much better than the 46 degrees up at May Ranch, where the snow is
still deep enough to keep things in the deep freeze. Here are the current
temperatures.



And here's what it looked like at May Ranch at sunrise this morning (I'm lucky
enough to be related to the landowners that our Mesonet site sits on).



It has melted a lot, however! Check out this pic from Feb. 26.



And remember, that's on top of a previously unmelted snowfall from a few days
before!



And to think some of you poor misguided souls WANT that sort of thing. The
bones in my back shudder just looking at those pictures.

877-RAIN NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

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