Ticker for May 31, 2023

                
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May 31, 2023       May 31, 2023       May 31, 2023       May 31, 2023


Panhandle Paradise




We jest, of course. Surely there is water in Lake Optima now, the lake-that-is-not-
a-lake, and don't call me Shirley. Heck, most downstaters probably don't even know
that the lake, uhhhhhhh, doesn't exist. A strange turn of words, but it was
SUPPOSED to exist. Completed sometime in the late 1970s, it was SUPPOSED to be an
outdoor sports paradise and a big tourism draw for the entire High Plains region,
and flood control reservoir for the Beaver River. Well, one thing led to another,
and now the Beaver River needs mowed regularly so there's never much more than
a gigantic pond where a 100 feet deep lake was supposed to be. But Shirley there's
some water in there now? After going 8 or 9 months without significant
precipitation, now the radar estimates in the area put the rainfall totals in
that vicinity from 5-8+ inches in May alone! And go out to 60 days and we see
even more widespread 8-12 inch amounts.



I'm probably not doing the real story of non-lake Lake Optima justice, but you
get the gist (and we all know just how painful that can be). There's more rain
on the way for the area after another round of storms last night. Heck, it's
raining right now for crying out loud!





The potential for heavy rainfall is indeed high as we go through the weekend.



Parts of the Panhandle and far western Oklahoma are becoming the envy of the
state. For those of us from there...it always has been!

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