Ticker for November 8, 2016

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
November 8, 2016   November 8, 2016   November 8, 2016   November 8, 2016


Drought killer or no?


Yes, a very nice rain fell across parts (PARTS!) of Oklahoma thanks to that large
upper-level low that sat to our west and churned out mini storm systems.



And as it moves off to the northeast, it leaves a drizzly, gray mess in its wake.




But hey, the Panhandle is getting sunshine (as it should since it's the brightest,
most grand spot in the universe)!



What was the question though? Drought relief? Well, yes and no. If I take my
8-count box of crayons (they took away my 64 pack after I ate the burnt umber
color...hey, I thought it looked tasty!) and try and superimpose the Drought
Monitor lines onto the rainfall map, well, it ain't pretty in more ways than one.
First off, I'm a horrible artist and it's now apparent that Mrs. Dunn was right...
I cannot color in the lines. Secondly, some parts of the state that badly needed
rain got some, some got more, more got less and less got...well, now I've confused
myself. Here's the map and you can judge for yourself.



So from that map, there are definitely some trouble spots. The central Panhandle
and then central OK through the OK/AR border....trouble. Again, the best rain
fell across the part of the state without drought...from SW up through NC OK.
In other words, don't expect a much improved drought map on Thursday because
less than an inch of rain ain't gonna cut it.

We are lucky that the weather has become much more Autumnal, although for how
long remains to be seen. Temperatures should remain seasonable, and we even
have freeze and frost warnings in effect for tonight.







It appears summer is finally dead (jinx ACTIVATE!), so for now enjoy it getting
dark at 5:30pm and prepare for winter! Whenever that may be.

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