Ticker for March 12, 2015

                
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March 12, 2015     March 12, 2015     March 12, 2015     March 12, 2015


The Drought



I wish it was as exciting as that scene, but I had to grab your attention
*somehow*! All the rain/snow/ice we've had you'd expect a bit much nicer looking
drought map (seems like I've said this before). Alas, drought actually worsened
across the state thanks to NE OK not playing nice and building up a nice moisture
deficit through all the wet stuff. First, here's the new U.S. Drought Monitor
map with that increase in D1 moderate drought across the far NE, extending over
into NW Arkansas.



So we go from approximately 66% of the state in drought (at least D1) last week
to around 71% this week. We did see the amount of D0 (abnormally dry, which isn't
a drought designation) go down from around 99% to 98%, thanks to some generous
rains and responses in streamflow in McCurtain County (far far FAR SE Oklahoma).





Those numbers don't mean much if you don't have anything to compare them to, so
here are the percent of normal maps for those same periods.





Looking ahead, there's a bit of a chance for rain this weekend, mostly across
SE OK, and then later on next week a bit more widespread for the state. Nothing
major for most of the state at this time, at least through next Thursday, but
we're approaching that point of the year where those things can change in a
hurry.




There is at least hope on the 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks from CPC.




Spring brings new hope for ALL areas of the state to finally start kicking some
drought tail...just stay away from those cans.



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