Ticker for March 24, 2014

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
March 24, 2014     March 24, 2014     March 24, 2014     March 24, 2014


Was that our last freeze?

Yep, it got downright chilly last night across much of the state as most of the
Mesonet stations saw 32 degrees or below.



That's getting dangerously close to the average date of the last spring freeze,
at least based on data from 1981-2010 (the most recent "normal" period), for the
southeastern corner of the state. Remember now, to get that average, there were
probably quite a few later dates and quite a few earlier dates mixed in there. The
average date of the last freeze ranges from just around this date to late-April
for the far western Panhandle.



The latest spring freeze, again based on 1981-2010 data, ranged from approximately
April 10 to somewhere around May 20 (dates increased from southeast to northwest,
of course).



Remember last year we had a freeze into early May for much of the state, and
even a bit of snow up in northeastern Oklahoma. Tulsa received its first ever
snowfall in the month of May (at least since records were kept) on May 2nd,
although it was only a trace. Annndddddd, May 2, 2013, was the coldest day ever
recorded in May for Oklahoma based on a statewide average. What I'm trying to
say here, in way too many words, is not to count your chickens before they hatch
in late March because there's still a decent/good chance they'll freeze later.




Watch for a decent freeze again tomorrow morning.



We're still tracking rain for Wednesday and Thursday, although it doesn't look
like a deluge at this time. And for western Oklahoma and the Panhandle, not
a lot of moisture at all (where have we heard that before?).






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