Ticker for July 19, 2013

                
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July 19, 2013      July 19, 2013      July 19, 2013      July 19, 2013


Latest lake levels

The ample rains we had did manage to keep our lakes across much of eastern
eastern Oklahoma filled. Many of those lakes are still at or above capacity. Now
once they get above 100% capacity of the conservation pool, the readings get
pretty erratic, but still, an amount above 100% indicates a full lake. Let's take
a look back at where we were on June 11 and where we are today.

June 11: 

July 19: 


The lakes across eastern Oklahoma did drop some, a least for the most part. As
mentioned previously, most are full or near-full. But there are some exceptions.
Skiatook dropped 3%, as did Arbuckle. Keep in mind these might actually be
increases over last week, before the rains hit. Lots of heat and lack of rains
probably dropped the levels somewhat and these rains helped them inch upwards just
a bit. But at least from there they were more than a month ago, most Oklahoma lakes
dropped.

The big problems continue across western Oklahoma. Canton, Altus-Lugert, Tom
Steed ... those lakes are in big trouble with the rest of July and then August
staring them in the face. We can't rely on another oddity of a storm system to
bring us 3-4 inches of rainfall, I'm afraid. Now we could get a nice tropical
system to move up this way. That would certainly help. But, let's be honest ...
as much as we talk about those being saviors for us, it's still exceedingly
rare to see one move up our way.



But you know what, it was almost unheard of to see a storm system form on the
East Coast and move west towards us, so we'll see just how odd our 2013 weather
can become.

I expect a hurricane over Oklahoma within the next month!

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