Ticker for December 1, 2014

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December 1, 2014   December 1, 2014   December 1, 2014   December 1, 2014


Mother Nature bigtimes November

Mother Nature seems to enjoy doing this to me, giving us a big weather event on
the day I release my weather summary for the previous month. Yeah, there were big
snows during November, and a big rain. Blah blah blah! But this is all anybody
cares about (and I can't blame 'em).



Single-digit wind chills will cause you to forget the past pretty quickly.
Luckily, this shallow air mass will soon pull back to the east and we'll warm back
up to seasonable levels. And by "seasonable" I mean within 10 degrees of normal
(so I can say "BRING ON TOMORROW!").



But even better, we have a bit of soggy weather coming from mid-week through
the weekend. These are pretty decent amounts for December.



So sit back, grab your hot chocolate and read about the frigid arctic outbreak
of November. Then keep it handy for the soggy, not-as-cold chill of the next week
(except for today!).
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Oklahoma?s weather during November was both simplistic and momentous. It began
and ended on the warm side, and had a good dose of January thrown in during the
middle. That?s the simplified version, of course. As is often the case with
Oklahoma weather, however, the excitement lies in the details. A big rain late
in the month provided some drought-quenching exhilaration, and the strong
arctic cold front on November's final day was a non-gentle reminder of the
season. But the big story was undoubtedly the brush with frigid weather in the
middle of the month, one of the most significant early-season winter outbreaks
on record for Oklahoma. Despite the abundance of warm weather, that
mid-November arctic blast pulled the entire month down to a statewide average
of 44.5 degrees, 4.8 degrees below normal to rank as the 10th coolest November
since records began in 1895.




The year is still on course to be one of the coolest in recent memory with a
January-November statewide average of 60.6 degrees, 1.3 degrees below normal
and the 19th coolest such period on record.

The cold snap began with a cold front on the 11th that dropped temperatures
from the 70s and 80s into the 30s and 40s. The Oklahoma Mesonet station at
Boise City struggled to a high of 15 degrees on the 12th just two days after
reaching a high of 81 degrees. Kenton dropped to a low of 3 degrees on the 17th
for the month?s lowest reading.  Temperatures were on the rise from that point
forward signaling an end to the weeklong foray into deep winter, but not before
most of the state had spent from 100 to more than 150 hours below freezing.



The event also came with a statewide blanket of snow. Amounts of 3-4 inches
were common across parts of western, northern and central Oklahoma. Totals of
more than 4 inches were reported near Forgan and Laverne.





Within a few days, highs had risen back into the 60s and 70s across much of the
area, culminating in widespread 70s and 80s on the 28th and 29th. November 30
was a day of transition as the month's second strong cold front barreled through
the state.

The snow added a bit of moisture, but the big rains of Nov. 21-23 provided the
biggest boost to the month's statewide average of 2.12 inches, 0.4 inches below
normal and the 50th wettest November on record.





Areas across south central Oklahoma recorded more than 6 inches of moisture
with the Mesonet station at Ketchum Ranch in Stephens County leading the way at
6.6 inches. Totals of 3-5 inches surrounded that mark from southwestern up into
east central Oklahoma. Much of the far northwest remained considerably dry with
less than an inch of moisture. Far southeastern Oklahoma was also left wanting
with barely an inch falling across that region. The statewide average
precipitation total for climatological fall, September-November, finished at
7.84 inches, 1.74 inches below normal to rank as the 58th driest autumn on
record. The year-to-date period remained quite dry at 27.04 inches, more than
7 inches below normal and the 25th driest January-November on record.

Oklahoma did see a reduction in drought intensity according to the U.S. Drought
Monitor report.



Parts of southwestern through central Oklahoma saw extreme-to-exceptional
drought reduced to severe-to-moderate intensity. With the southeastern corner's
poor showing during the month, that area actually saw abnormally dry conditions
increase. The "abnormally dry" designation is not a drought intensity, but
signifies an area that could be entering (or leaving) actual drought conditions.
By month's end, 60 percent of the state was considered to be in at least
moderate drought. The Drought Monitor?s intensity scale slides from moderate-
severe-extreme-exceptional, with exceptional being the worst classification.

The December precipitation and temperature outlooks from the National Weather
Service's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) indicate increased odds of above
normal precipitation and temperature across the state.




The expectation according to CPC forecasters is for a dramatic pattern change
across the northern two-thirds of the U.S. following the first few days of
December, replacing chilly arctic air with above normal temperatures through
the month's first couple of weeks. Medium range outlooks call for greatly
increased odds of above normal precipitation across the Southern Plains during
the second week of December.



CPC's U.S. Monthly Drought Outlook sees drought persisting or intensifying
across most of Oklahoma, with some improvement or removal likely across south
central Oklahoma.



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