Ticker for April 18, 2014

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
April 18, 2014     April 18, 2014     April 18, 2014     April 18, 2014


STEEEERIIIIIIKE TWO!



Okay, I wasn't expecting a downpour, but something to wash the dust off my
windshield would have been nice.



The good news is the strip of Highway 54 from Goodwell to Hooker got around a
quarter-inch or so. The bad news is, nobody else did. There was a bit more down
along the Red River in the far southwest, but not enough to amount to much. At
least we finally reset Goodwell from the "not even a quarter-inch" map.



But this wasn't the rainstorm you were looking for ... I don't even need the Force
to convince you of that. It was always the one this weekend that held the most
promise, and so now we set out sights on that one. This 5-day rainfall forecast
is for now through next Wednesday morning and shows the possibility of maybe an
inch or so across western Oklahoma and up to a half-inch over most of the state.



One of the things I like the most about these recent rainfall chances is they
seemed to have shifted the higher amounts to the west. That doesn't mean that
it will work out that way, of course, but it's better than seeing it primarily
across eastern Oklahoma (sorry Broken Bow, but you've gotten your fair share
for now).

Even the "not even a tenth of an inch" map has dwindled, but there's still a
broad swath of have-nots though western Oklahoma, led by Oklahoma Wheat Central
Medford with 40 days.



To add insult to (freeze) injury, we had another long freezing spell last night
up in that area. I'm not sure what this will do to the wheat up that way, but
I know that 33 degrees is probably better than 28 degrees.





We'll leave you with some graphics from our local NWS offices and their thoughts
on this weekend.







It's all up to Mother Nature now. Windy, dry and dusty is no way to go through
spring, son.

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