Ticker for April 28, 2025

                
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April 28, 2025     April 28, 2025     April 28, 2025     April 28, 2025


Overperformance




Yep, it's one of THOSE days in Oklahoma. One of those days when you wake up and
smell the coffee...except it's not coffee, it's lots of humidity with dewpoints
in the mid-60s. No, you're not getting a cup of java...you're getting a cup of
baseball sized hail with a significant tornado pastry.



You know the drill, later today you gotta be weather aware, you gotta have a
severe weather plan if you're anywhere in any of the colored areas of the top
maps. If you have to be out late this afternoon and evening, know where you're
gonna go if things pop up. Have at least 2 ways to get warnings, and stay tuned
to your local NWS office through weather radio, and your favorite media source.

Because here's the deal, folks...the atmosphere is overperforming this year.
Mother Nature has take some steroids or something, because I definitely haven't
seen the overwhelming types of setups to produce 31 tornadoes (preliminary NWS
number, could go up with more investigation) so far in 2025, but 31 tornadoes
we have had. And the worst part of those numbers is we've had one fatality and
several injuries.

And the threat doesn't end on Monday, it also continues into Tuesday and
Wednesday.











I won't belabor the point...if there's one thing I hate it's belaboring. My
friends growing up always described me as both incredibly handsome (work with
me) AND not a belaborer. When I'd discuss my future career with our guidance
counselor, I'd always lead with "I don't want to belabor anything, or work
with anything belabored." So then they said "How about State Climatologist?"

And here we are. Wait, where were we? Oh yeah, I won't belabor the point, but
flooding is what could get ya, if you aren't taking your safety precautions.
At least 6 people have died in Oklahoma this year due to storms, and 5 of those
were due to flooding. That threat will be maximized again this week.



To be honest (now why would I lie??), at this point we need to be watching for
the month to possibly overcome Aprils 1942's 8.32 inches of statewide average
rainfall to become the wettest April on record for Oklahoma. The Mesonet
currently has us at 6.33", which is already the sixth-wettest since records
began in 1895. If just this 3-day forecast comes to fruition (English to Okie
translation: "comes true"), then we could be seeing a record.



Turn around, don't drown may sound like a simplified message in a complex
weather setup, but it could also simply save your life.

Stay safe today!

Gary McManus
State Climatologist
Oklahoma Mesonet
Oklahoma Climate Survey
gmcmanus@ou.edu