Ticker for February 27, 2017

                
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February 27, 2017  February 27, 2017  February 27, 2017  February 27, 2017


Farch




We're nearly to the end of the month and the big story continues to be the
temperatures. As far as we can tell, with 2 more days to go, February is going
to end up somewhere in the vicinity of 8-ish degrees above normal for the state
of Oklahoma. The actual 1981-2010 normal for March is 50.4 degrees (February's
is 42.1), and this February we should end up somewhere around 50 degrees for
the statewide average. Not too shabby, eh? And that's not particular to Oklahoma.
Much of the U.S., but especially the eastern half of the country, has seen
outrageous February temperature anomalies.



The March outlooks from CPC won't be released until tomorrow, but from what I can
see on the medium-term outlooks, an arctic blast is not showing up anytime soon.





That could definitely change at some point, and we're not really "safe" from
arctic air until we get past that first week of April or so. Our average last
freeze happens late in March across south OK and late in April for the western
Panhandle, but just from experience, damaging freeze events really start to
become uncommon/rare after that first week of April or so. And remember, freeze
means 32 or below. That's not dangerous to plants usually, especially if it is
fleeting. Get down to 28 or below for extended periods of time...that's when
to worry. The latest spring freeze, at least during the 1981-2010 normals period, gets
into mid-to-late April for much of the state, and later into May for the
Panhandle.




We look good for now, but we're one buckle in the jet stream away from a
damaging freeze. Snow lovers need to take one for the team this year and just
hope for a good chill next winter.

Farch was interesting. We definitely don't need a Marchruary!

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