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 »
Thu, Sep 05, 2019
August Rains Tackle Drought Drought had gained a toehold across western and central Oklahoma during a hot, dry first half of August; further spread… Read More »
Thu, Aug 22, 2019
Fall 2019 Training Workshops for OK-FIRE Announced Operational since 2006, OK-FIRE is a weather-based decision-support system for wildland fire management. OK-FIRE uses the Oklahoma Mesonet for current/recent… Read More »
Thu, Aug 01, 2019
Drought Returns During July Drought returned to the state for the first time since March 12, a stark reminder that spring deluges can quickly… Read More »
Mon, Jul 01, 2019
Unsettled Weather Continues During June The tumultuous weather of May calmed somewhat with the transition to June, the first month of climatological summer. Despite the… Read More »
Mon, Jun 03, 2019
May Weather Brings Disaster to Oklahoma Tornadoes and flooding battled it out for Oklahoma’s top weather headline during May 2019, with both combatants bringing mayhem and… Read More »
Wed, May 01, 2019
Severe Weather Punctuates April Following a few brief glimpses in March, spring finally arrived in earnest during April. The month was wet for most… Read More »
Wed, May 01, 2019
Fall 2019 Mesonet OK-First Classes Fall 2019 OK-First classes are open for enrollment. We are offering 10 classes including 1 Certification class (4 days), 1… Read More »
Mon, Apr 01, 2019
March Sees Spring Sparingly Spring failed to gain a toehold during March, a month that both began and finished with a healthy dose of… Read More »
Fri, Mar 01, 2019
Winter Highlights February's Weather Drought, fire danger, floods, severe storms, multiple bouts with freezing rain, and even a good old fashioned Plains snowstorm –… Read More »
Fri, Feb 01, 2019
A Tale of Two Januarys The weather was a bit confused in Oklahoma during January. The first half of the month was on the warm… Read More »
Mon, Mar 02, 2020
In February, Oklahoma finally received a month worthy of winter. It wasn’t tremendously cold, nor was it excessively wet, but it did provide much of Oklahoma with its first decent snow of the season. A strong storm system passed through the state on February 5 and dropped sleet, freezing rain, and 4-6 inches of snow along and around the Interstate 44 corridor. Higher totals of 6-8 inches were reported in the southwest, with a few localized areas receiving as much as 10 inches. There were other minor winter systems throughout the month, but none that packed the punch of the February 5 storm. For the cool season through February, all of Oklahoma has had at least a trace of snow. Portions of northwestern Oklahoma and the western Panhandle have received more than a foot of snow. Severe weather was rare during February, other than some storms in the southeast on the 18th that had large associated with them.
According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average temperature was 41.6 degrees, half of a degree below normal to rank as the 68th coolest February dating back to 1895. That statewide reading was influenced by below normal temperatures in the far southwest, as well as sustained frigid conditions in the far western Panhandle; readings there were 2-3 degrees cooler than normal. The month’s high temperature of 83 degrees was recorded at three different Mesonet sites on February 2. The lowest temperature of 1 degree came just four days later at Tipton. Buoyed by unusual warmth during December and January, the climatological winter (December-February) was significantly warm at 42.3 degrees, 2.8 degrees above normal and ranked as the 10th warmest on record. February’s highest and lowest temperatures also served as winter’s extremes. The first two months of the year ranked as the 28th warmest such period on record at 41.9 degrees, 2.1 degrees above normal.
There were some hefty rainfall totals during February, but those were uncommon. Heavy rainfall for the month was concentrated in the most likely area; far southeastern Oklahoma had totals from 4-6 inches, with the Mt. Herman Mesonet site leading the way at 6.02 inches. The driest area also came as no surprise. The far western Panhandle station of Kenton had the lowest total with 0.26 inches. Most surpluses and deficits were within a half-inch of normal. Combined, the statewide average was 1.81 inches, just 2 hundredths below normal to rank as the 45th wettest February since 1895. Of the Mesonet’s 120 sites, 41 recorded less than an inch of moisture for the month. Winter ended as the 28th wettest on record, but only 0.85 inches above normal with a statewide average of 6.3 inches. Cloudy led all sites with 14.46 inches of rainfall for the season. Kenton had the lowest winter total of 1.06 inches. The first two months of 2020 were the 10th wettest January-February on record at 5.25 inches, 1.86 inches above normal.
Oklahoma’s drought coverage was cut nearly in half through February according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The amount of drought stood at 8.03% at the end of January, but had dropped to 4.66% by the end of February. An even larger reduction occurred since the start of climatological winter on December 1, when drought covered 14.27% of the state. All of the drought over the last three months occurred across the western one-third of the state. The amount of the state in at least “abnormally dry” conditions – areas in drought and additional parts possibly headed towards drought – fell from 35% to 13% through winter. The March temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) indicates increased odds for above normal temperatures across all of Oklahoma, but those odds are greater in eastern Oklahoma. The precipitation outlook shows enhanced chances of below normal precipitation across the northwestern quarter of the state, but above normal across far eastern Oklahoma. CPC expects the existing drought to persist in the state through March, but no new development is anticipated.
