Fri, May 07, 2021
Fall 2021 Mesonet OK-First Classes Fall 2021 OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! We will be offering a mix of… Read More »
Mon, May 03, 2021
Cold April Feels Severe Weather Impacts Cool weather helped keep severe weather at bay in Oklahoma throughout much of April. A late spring freeze—damaging in its… Read More »
Thu, Apr 01, 2021
March Weather More Lamb Than Lion The first month of spring greeted Oklahoma with warmer and more tranquil weather than the historic cold and snowy February… Read More »
Mon, Mar 01, 2021
Historically Frigid February Punctuates Winter Oklahoma experienced a historic cold air event during February, boosting the month into the company of other legendary frozen periods… Read More »
Tue, Feb 02, 2021
Warm and Wet January Greets New Year The winter storm that began the year captured January’s biggest weather headline. The event straddled the changeover from 2020 to… Read More »
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 »
Thu, Apr 01, 2021
The first month of spring greeted Oklahoma with warmer and more tranquil weather than the historic cold and snowy February that preceded it. While March offered up momentary glances of nearly every weather hazard in Oklahoma’s arsenal, the month was most often quiet. By coincidence—although state lore will say it’s the norm—the most active weather occurred during Oklahoma’s collectively shared spring break. On March 16-17, local National Weather Service offices issued a blizzard warning in the Panhandle, and severe thunderstorm and tornado watches in the main body of the state. That storm system started with severe weather across western Oklahoma the evening of the 16th, and transitioned to snow the morning of the 17th. Snowfall of 3-4 inches was being driven by 40 mph winds to create white-out conditions across far northwestern Oklahoma throughout the day on the 17th while the severe weather was pushed east. The additional 3-4 inches of snow across the northwest brought seasonal totals to more than 40 inches in that region, with Arnett leading at 42.3 inches. Oklahoma City’s seasonal total of 22.5 inches through March was just 2.7 inches behind its record tally of 25.2 inches from 1947-1948, and ranked sixth highest on record. Tulsa’s seasonal total was 15.8 inches, its 17th highest on record and well behind 2010-2011’s 26.1 inches.
The statewide average precipitation total was 3.07 inches according to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, 0.03 inches above normal, to rank as the 36th wettest March since records began in 1895. The northwestern half of the state saw surpluses of 1-3 inches, while the southeast fell 1-2 inches below normal. The moisture abundance was profound across parts of Oklahoma, with the Panhandle, north central and west central sections each experiencing one of their top 10 wettest Marches on record. The more robust totals came in Osage County, where Foraker and Burbank tallied 8.06 inches and 7.59 inches, respectively. Twenty-five of the 120 Oklahoma Mesonet sites recorded at least 4 inches of rain for the month. Thirty stations saw less than 2 inches, with Fort Cobb seeing the least at 0.64 inches. The first three months of the year ended as the 51st wettest since 1895 with a statewide average of 6.2 inches, 0.23 inches below normal. The January-March moisture distribution was similar to March’s pattern, with surpluses to the northwest and deficits to the southeast.
March was warm by any standard, but especially so following the historic cold weather of the previous month. The statewide average temperature for the month finished at 53.6 degrees, 3.2 degrees above normal, to rank as the 27th warmest March on record. High temperatures rose into the 70s and 80s quite often, with Beaver taking the top spot at 88 degrees on the 29th. Freezes were still common through the month, especially across far northwestern Oklahoma. Kenton recorded March’s lowest reading at 8 degrees on the month’s first day. The first three months of 2021 ended at 41.9 degrees, 1.6 degrees below normal and ranked as the 55th coolest January-March on record.
Drought continued to diminish in Oklahoma during March, dropping to an areal coverage of 10.71 percent on the month’s final U. S. Drought Monitor map. Drought was nearly eliminated across southwestern Oklahoma, although a newer area of drought was attempting to intensify and spread across south central Oklahoma. The April temperature and precipitation outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) indicated increased odds of above normal temperatures across the entire state, and below normal precipitation across the western half of Oklahoma. Given those outlooks, CPC’s April drought outlook considered drought development likely in southwestern and west central Oklahoma, with no changes considered likely over the rest of the state.
