Ticker for May 6, 2020

                
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May 6, 2020        May 6, 2020        May 6, 2020        May 6, 2020


Get your hardhats




Remember when we used to be known for tornadoes? Yes, we have had our share of
twisters this year (we've had at least 18), but we've had more than our fair
share of hailstorms. I guess it's a matter of pick your poison. Hailstorms can
be monumentally destructive since their footprint can be much larger than your
garden variety tornadoes. Of course if you start getting into the Ef2s and larger
twisters, then those can wreak havoc in a hurry. It'd be nice if we had far fewer
of both, but they're as much a part of the Plains as we are.

All of that is a prelude to tomorrow's severe weather chances. Another storm
system, another chance for big hail. There will also be a bit of a chance for
some flash flooding, as these storms could dump a lot of rain in a compressed
period of time. Tornado threat is pretty low, at least.









Nothing major here, springtime in Oklahoma. We'll possibly have a better (or
worse, depending on your perspective) chance of severe weather next week as
conditions are looking ripe for a big storm system to move our way.



Speaking of temperatures...oh, did I not mention temperatures? Well, that's
because every time I do, we end up with a much-stronger-than-necessary cold
front to send us back two months climatologically. If we were in July, that'd
be nice. But here we are with lows in the 40s again. And more cool weather is
coming early next week. And this is after we saw the highest temperature ever
recorded this early in the year on Monday. We made 106 at the Altus Mesonet
site, but the Frederick airport hit 108 degrees, besting the 107 degrees Buffalo
hit on May 1, 1992.





So let's look back to July on Monday, and look forward to March next Monday.

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