Ticker for June 6, 2016

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
June 6, 2016       June 6, 2016       June 6, 2016       June 6, 2016


There's something about summer




MYSTERIOUS GLOWING ORB APPEARS IN SKY THIS WEEKEND, LOCALS FEARFUL OF END TIMES!

End times indeed...the end of that creepy creeping upper-level storm that brought
us a couple of weeks (sorry, still can't remember when it started) of gray skies,
lots of rain here and there, and well below normal temps for May. It's a bit of a
shocker, but even the 24-hour rainfall map from the Mesonet is devoid of rain
(well, except for the Bixby site, and that could have been dew collecting in the
gauge...and the extreme SW Panhandle shows some radar returns).



And you can see the dreary May pretty clearly in our 2016 departure from average
percent of sunshine graph for the state (as well as all those clear skies
throughout 2016).



But other than that, we have lots and lots and LOTS of clear skies ahead as the
jet stream makes a somewhat uncharacteristic early retreat to the north. This
week is normally one of the wettest of the year in Oklahoma, as evidenced by the
2000-2014 long-term average statewide average rainfall graph from the Mesonet.
Now notice it does drop rather precipitously (pun intended) as we get farther
into summer.



That doesn't mean our chances for rain have ended for. The upper-level
ridge of high pressure giving us all this glorious sunshine and seasonable- to
above-seasonable temperatures will shift east, it appears, and we will then see
storm chances increase a bit early next week. Until then, enjoy the sunshine
and an early taste of summer.

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