• Home
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
  • Oklahoma Mesonet
  • Climate
  • Weather
  • Research
  • Outreach
  • Reports

Mon, Jan 04, 2021

Winter Flexes Muscles During December A powerful winter storm pounded the state on 2020’s final day, a fitting epitaph to a tumultuous year—and a wintry… Read More »

Mon, Dec 14, 2020

OSU - Mesonet offers management tools to help producers promote cattle comfort OSU News and Information https://news.okstate.edu/articles/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/2020/stotts_cattle-comfort-advisor.html   MEDIA CONTACT: Donald Stotts | Agricultural Communications Services | 405-744-4079 | donald.stotts@okstate.edu Read More »

Tue, Dec 01, 2020

November Sees More Drought, Tornadoes November’s weather struggled to live up to the level of excitement provided by October’s historic cold snap and ice storm,… Read More »

Mon, Nov 02, 2020

Historic Storm Haunts October A historic winter ice storm struck the state during the last week of October, leaving nearly 400,000 residences and businesses… Read More »

Thu, Oct 15, 2020

Spring 2021 Mesonet OK-First Classes Spring 2021 OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! For just the second time in program… Read More »

Thu, Oct 01, 2020

Winter Chill Stuns September A historic cold snap set the tone for a cool September, which saw one of the earliest intrusions of winter… Read More »

Tue, Sep 01, 2020

Cold Fronts Tame August Heat   Three strong cold fronts brought the summer heat to its knees during August, but drought took advantage of a… Read More »

Mon, Aug 03, 2020

July Sees Drought Relief   July brought a near miraculous recovery to much of Oklahoma, which was faced with an intensifying drought headed into… Read More »

Thu, Jul 02, 2020

June Rains Falter As Drought Surges Largely deprived of its primary rainy season, Oklahoma saw drought surge across the state during June. A mid-month bout with… Read More »

Wed, Jun 03, 2020

Tornado Count Slows During May   Cool weather dominated a good part of May, and possibly robbed Mother Nature of the heat needed for her… Read More »

Wed, May 20, 2020

Summer/Fall 2020 Mesonet OK-First Classes Summer/Fall 2020 OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! For the first time in program history… Read More »

Fri, May 01, 2020

Weather Hazards Battle for April Headlines It’s difficult to say which weather hazard should claim top billing for April. Two late season freeze events made their… Read More »

Wed, Apr 01, 2020

Spring Steps Forward During March Winter seemed to take a final bow after February in Oklahoma, leaving March with a warm and wet transition to… Read More »

Mon, Mar 02, 2020

Snowstorm Highlights February Weather In February, Oklahoma finally received a month worthy of winter. It wasn’t tremendously cold, nor was it excessively wet, but… Read More »

Tue, Feb 04, 2020

Snow Thrives Despite Warm January Although January’s weather continued this winter’s general tilt towards unusually mild conditions, that failed to prevent several bouts of wintry… Read More »

Fri, Jan 03, 2020

December Tornado Caps Record Year Warm and mostly dry December weather dashed any hopes of walking in a winter wonderland, including dreams of a white… Read More »

Mon, Dec 02, 2019

November Feels Winter Chill November’s weather was somewhat tame by Oklahoma’s standards, with cold weather dominating the headlines. Several intrusions of arctic air blasted… Read More »

Tue, Nov 05, 2019

October's Weather Was Frightful Despite the season, spring and winter weather stole most of the headlines during October. A cold front moved through the… Read More »

Tue, Oct 01, 2019

Summer Weather Scorches September September normally sees at least one or two decent cold fronts to whet the appetite for fall. Mother Nature had… Read More »

Tue, Oct 01, 2019

Spring 2020 Mesonet OK-First Classes Spring 2020 OK-First classes are open for enrollment. We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days), 1… Read More »

News

June Rains Falter As Drought Surges

Thu, Jul 02, 2020

Largely deprived of its primary rainy season, Oklahoma saw drought surge across the state during June. A mid-month bout with showers and storms managed to stem the flash drought’s intensification and spread with beneficial rains across northwestern Oklahoma. The respite was brief, however. Dry weather and intense heat returned by the end of the month and drought was again on the move to the south and east. Contained wholly within the western half of the state at the end of May, drought had progressed to the state’s eastern border by the end of June. Drought coverage leapt from 14% of the state to 43% over that same period according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. That was the highest coverage of drought Oklahoma had seen since Aug. 14, 2018. Much of the western Panhandle was covered by extreme drought, and exceptional drought bled down from Kansas and Colorado into far northern Cimarron and Texas counties. The Drought Monitor’s intensity scale slides from moderate-severe-extreme-exceptional, with exceptional being the worst classification.

 

Normally the wettest part of the year in Oklahoma, the mid-May through mid-June period was dominated by a large dome of high pressure over the Southern Plains that limited chances for significant moisture. The mid-month storm system managed to partially salvage the primary spring rainy season for Oklahoma, but significant deficits remained following its exit. According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average rainfall total was 1.97 inches, 2.55 inches below normal and ranked as the 15th driest June since records began in 1895. Most of the state ended with deficits of 1-3 inches, with the lowest totals being reported across eastern Oklahoma. Deficits there reached 5 inches in some locations and amounted to less than 10 percent of their normal June rainfall. The Mesonet site at Walters led the reports with 6.32 inches, one of only four Mesonet stations out of 120 to receive at least 5 inches of rain. Sixty-seven sites recorded less than 2 inches for the month. Tulsa had the state's lowest total at 0.11 inches, its driest June since local records began in 1893. The January-June precipitation total of 20.1 inches was 1.07 inches above normal to rank as the 33rd wettest on record, but rainfall varied wildly from one region to the next. Deficits across the northwestern half of the state ranged from 2-6 inches while the southeastern half saw surpluses balloon to nearly 17 inches above normal.

 

June’s weather was scorching hot during the first half of the month, and ended much the same. Sandwiched in between was a 10-day period of pleasantly cooler than normal weather, a fringe benefit of the mid-month storm system that brought moisture to the state. Altogether, the statewide average of 78.5 degrees was 2 degrees above normal to rank as the 32nd warmest June on record. The top reading in the state was 109 degrees at Altus and Erick on June 30, and the lowest was a chilly 40 degrees from both Eva and Kenton on June 10. The mid-month moisture made for sultry conditions when the heat returned to end the month. The heat index soared as high as 113 degrees at several locations on June 30. The Mesonet’s 120 stations reported a heat index of at least 105 degrees 191 times during the month. The warm June continued a pattern for 2020. The January-June statewide average of 57.2 degrees was 1.5 degrees above normal to rank as the 16th warmest such period on record.

 

Drought development across the remainder of Oklahoma – save for the southeast quarter – is considered “likely” according to the Climate Prediction Center’s (CPC) drought outlook for July. The existing drought across the northwestern third of the state is expected to persist and possibly intensify. CPC’s negative stance is a result of equally unpleasant July outlooks for precipitation and temperature that indicate increased odds for above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation across Oklahoma. The odds for below normal precipitation are enhanced across much of western and central Oklahoma.

120 David L. Boren Blvd., Suite 2900
Norman, OK 73072
phone: 405.325.2541
fax: 405.325.7282
  • Climate
  • Weather
  • Research
  • Outreach
  • Reports
  • Ticker
  • Data Fees
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
Copyright © 1994-2021 Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma. All Rights Reserved.