Ticker for February 13, 2020

                
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February 13, 2020  February 13, 2020  February 13, 2020  February 13, 2020


You think this is crazy?




I'm getting too old for this...winter. Thanks to Mother Nature for unleashing
chaos and mayhem (I'm Chaos, he's Mayhem. GASP! Mixing the sequel and the
original?? A horrible faux pas.) on the state for the last couple of weeks, then
finishing us off with another frigid air mass. The least she could have done was
sped the front up by a day so we'd have had TRUE chaos and mayhem yesterday. But,
we are in the grips of some of the coldest air of the season so far. Probably not
the coldest, but darned close. Kind of tame compared to past years, but in this
unusually warm season thus far, still a shock. It's darned cold even without the
wind, and this is after a dose of sun. It was downright lip-cracking cold earlier
this morning!







I guess the rain is as good as the snow when it comes to our persistent drought
problem in the far southwest and also the far western Panhandle. A drought too
far? No, a drought too long. We've shrunk it down to just the bare minimum in
those areas with a combination of short- and long-term deficits.

Here's how wet it has been...going back to 1921, based on the statewide average,
2020 thus far is the 3rd wettest such period on record with an average across
Oklahoma of 4.85 inches. That's more than 2.5 inches above normal. And for
East Central and South Central Oklahoma, it has been the wettest start to the
year on record! All sections of the state are at least top-20.









So our drought is really starting to dwindle save for those two strongholds
mentioned earlier.



And the warmer weather has put a bit more pressure on the moisture due to
increased evaporation and even transpiration. Some vegetation has been awakened
from dormancy a bit earlier than normal -- if it ever went to sleep at all.

So this rain and snow puts us on good footing for a pretty robust spring, and
so far the wildfire season has been very tame. If we can make it about another
month or so, we should green up right nice and not have to worry about wildfires
too much.

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