Ticker for January 17, 2023

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 17, 2023   January 17, 2023   January 17, 2023   January 17, 2023


WORMER!




So it's been awhile since we Ticked, but there's surprisingly little new to Tock
about since we are mired in a very boring (albeit excitingly warmer than normal)
weather pattern. However, boring can often be bad, especially when dealing with
drought. We'd like a *little* excitement, right? At least in the name of moisture?

This ain't it.





And of course that dry spell extends back much further than 30 days. In some case,
much MUCH further.





And with all those zeroes, obviously that period is gonna rank pretty high in
the annals of all halfway through December-Halfway through January periods on
record.



The fourth driest Dec. 18 through Jan. 16 in at least the last 100 years with
a statewide average of 0.14 inches, 1.52 inches below normal? Not bad, but
very bad indeed! In our quest for normalcy (don't bother...I've been trying
for years), we continue to look towards those historic rains and snows falling
in California, upstream in our storm track. Unfortunately, those storm systems
simply come too fast to get much return moisture up our way by the time they
get here. The next 7 days, even though there are at least a couple of chances
for moisture tonight into tomorrow morning, and again over the early weekend
with possibly some snow across northern OK....still don't look like much of an
end to the current dry spell.



The exact track, precipitation chances, AND precipitation type are still
uncertain for the weekend storm, so I'm sorry I even mentioned it! Something
*MIGHT* happen, but it also *MIGHT* not. So interpret that!

Other than that, we have a front coming on Thursday that will drop us all the
way back to normal-ish? Does that grab you as exciting?



Other than that, we have to go out to fantasy-cast territory to see any
excitement for Oklahoma. ONE deterministic model run from ONE model is showing
some definite excitement for the first couple days of February.



Will this happen? NAHHHHHHH, I mean, when have we seen anything but boring
winter weather in February?

Oh yeah, I guess you're right!

At any rate, this will disappear in the next model run, so enjoy the imaginary
snow whilst it lasts.

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