Ticker for March 4, 2021

                
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March 4, 2021      March 4, 2021      March 4, 2021      March 4, 2021


Spring Wars




Yeah, I KNOW that this is a pretty wimpy potential severe weather day by Oklahoma
standards, with a bit of hail and win in the offing.







But I'll be darned if this isn't a bit more "fun" to talk about than the potential
for snow and freezing weather. We're not done with freezes, obviously, and
maybe not snow either, but when we start to get into March and more and more 70s
and 80s show up than 20s and 30s, then we can start to switch our radars (do NOT
pardon the pun) from winter to spring. And that means REAL severe weather season.
I know we say severe weather season is year-round in Oklahoma, but we know, don't
we. And this won't be the first possibility of severe weather...we had some in
February even right after the blast from the Arctic. But we're staring April
and May in the face, not winter...spring temperatures, not January.



That area up in NW OK needs the rain, and during spring, that often means
storms that are sometimes severe. Check out the latest rain maps and stats and
you'll see why they'll take it any way they can get it.











And while the U.S. Drought Monitor map shows worsening conditions in the far
western Panhandle and parts of south central OK, most of those dry areas are
still a week or two away from headed into abnormally dry conditions, the
precursor to drought.





Given the conditions, and the time of year with all the dead/dormant vegetation,
each system will probably come with some fire danger.





But this will help, at least in the short run.



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