Ticker for October 21, 2025

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
October 21, 2025   October 21, 2025   October 21, 2025   October 21, 2025


ONE BILLION DOLLARS!




Some folks call that first big rain in the midst of a late-summer/fall drought
as a "billion dollar rain," because that wheat crop that's been dusted in or
planted early in more favorable conditions is on the brink of starvation.

Well, the water version of starvation. Watervation? H2OhNo?

At any rate, most of the state is in dire need of a good rain, regardless of
whether there's a wheat crop there or not. Check out these pathetic-looking maps
of rainfall, uhhhhhhh...stuff, for the fall thus far.











Hey, that first one isn't a map, but it's no doorknob either. So now we await
our storm system that's still out over the Pacific to do what it says it's
gonna do and bring us that rainfall as we get into Thursday and Friday.

That's a tall order! I mean, that's how droughts work, ya know. They dangle
those great forecasts in front of you, and then they yank 'em back. But we
are very hopeful for this one in that the forecast models are starting to all
gather together with those hopeful totals. Here's how our NWS friends see it.









As for the season, as if we need a reason, and if you liked Jackie Gleason,
somebody help me stop and I'm not teasin'...I think yesterday was maybe the end
of our elongated summer season, and the last "really hot" day through early
November. And when you get into November, seeing 90s for highs--even in SW OK--
becomes exceedingly rare. Basically you'd have to break record highs to get
there.



Heck (no, it's not raining right now, for crying out loud!), we even had another
freeze in the Panhandle this morning.



Now we start looking ahead to winter more and more, and back to summer less
and less.

Notice I didn't say "looking forward?"

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