Ticker for December 15, 2022

                
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December 15, 2022  December 15, 2022  December 15, 2022  December 15, 2022


Hoth Oklahoma




Yeah, it still looks like we will be freeing our TaunTauns off next week (and we
all know just how painful that can be). But hey, look on the bright side, at least
we aren't being chased by a hungry Wampa.



STOP ME BEFORE I NERD AGAIN!

It's still just a bif itty...I mean bit iffy...on just how cold it will get, and
how long it will last, and even more so if there will be any snow with it (not
looking great, which to some of you means "LOOKING GREAT" because you don't want
snow), etc. etc. Our friends at the NWS offices in Amarillo and Norman pinpoint
with great precision the lack of precision on next week's forecast.





So considering the timing of the front is next week around Wednesday night
or Thursday morning, still just on the edge of fantasy-casting. And we're gonna
have lots of temperature changes leading up to that point as well, so it's
once again best to stay up with weather changes next week. Even if no snow, the
type of cold air and wind chills we're looking at could be extremely dangerous.

Speaking of dangerous, WAMPAS!! No, we've covered that already...I meant
"drought!" We have seen some glorious moisture over the last two months, and
that rain previously this week added to the coffers.







Obviously still hurting tremendously up in the NW corner, but we still have
lots of improvement in the drought map over the last 60 days, and now we only
see 57% of the state in extreme and exceptional drought, the two worst
categories.





There are arguably more improvements possible, but the Drought Monitor continues
to err on the side of caution (and longer-term deficits).





Not much more coming this next 7 days or so, and also looks dry next week (sorry
snow lovers).





But keep in mind the forecast next week could change, and that includes for
the better (snow or no snow?), or for the worse (snow or no snow?).

Gary McManus
State Climatologist
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
gmcmanus@mesonet.org