Ticker for October 26, 2017

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
October 26, 2017   October 26, 2017   October 26, 2017   October 26, 2017


Here comes winter!




Sorry youngsters, long before "The Hunger Games," there was THUNDERDOME! You
know, two seasons enter, one season leaves? Forget apocalyptic desertscapes,
however. We have something crazier. Oklahoma weather.

Sometime later this afternoon, winter's going to come blasting through the state
and you're not going to be able to ignore it. Winds will howl, temperatures will
plummet and us cold blooded creatures will seek comfort under our blankets. Oh,
it won't OFFICIALLY be winter, but highs in the 40s...



and lows in the 20s and 30s (not counting wind chill either!)...




Yeah, that's winter. That's mid-December type stuff right there. Might as well
get out the Christmas tree. Doesn't mean it will stick around forever. Highs
on Sunday will rebound into more pleasant territory (DENY IT AND BE WRONG!).



But another front on Monday will cool us down again it appears. Perhaps not as
strong or cold as this front, however.

Speaking of strong, better find something sturdy to tie down those Halloween
decorations because the wind is going to be HOWLING as the front comes through.
Enough so that the NWS has issued a wind advisory today for most of the state
with winds expected to gust up to 45mph!



That'll put some cinnamon in the old bundt cake! No, I don't have a clue what
that saying means, I just thought it sounded sage (another spice I know nothing
about) and wise.

Wait, the lovely winter preview doesn't stop there! Don't be shocked if the
western Panhandle gets flurried into oblivion tonight.



Soil temps are still a tad high to worry about any accumulations, but it's
flurries so that probably wouldn't have been a problem anyway.



Other good(???) news, the drought has been greatly relieved across much of the
state thanks to the generous rains earlier this week. The new drought map
shows a mere 3% of the state in drought, compared to 12% last week.





We do need some more to help those areas across the east and northwest, but
nothing big showing up just yet.



It's all over now but the crying. Frozen tears. Some will be tears of joy.
Whichever side you fall on, don't worry...it's Oklahoma. It'll come around
again.

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