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A Boston weatherman's station loses power during a broadcast and Tulsa and Oklahoma drought update
Published: 7/20/2012 2:20 PM
Last Modified: 7/20/2012 2:20 PM

We're not the only area getting hit by thunderstorms, as this "There's a lot of lightning in the Boston area" video shows:


As David Harper reported in today's edition, the Tulsa area and parts of northeast Oklahoma experienced another downburst last night. Please check out his article for more info and some amazing lightning photos from photojournalist Mike Simons.

World Capitol Bureau reporter Barbara Hoberock and I will have a drought article in this weekend's Tulsa World, but before then, please check out the current U.S. Drought Monitor map nationwide:

And now, look at the map from one year ago:


So, while our drought situation in Oklahoma is an improvement over 2011, the drought situation overall in the U.S. is much worse than in 2011.

First time hearing about the U.S. Drought Monitor? Here's some specifics:
  • Created in 1999 as a cooperation of local, state and federal authorities

  • Assesses the drought situation nationwide using a five-step scale, from D0 for abnormally dry through D4 for exceptional drought

  • Monitors drought factors including lake and pond levels, rainfall, crop reports, wildfires and fire danger, temperatures, soil moisture

  • Used to institute burn bans and agricultural relief programs

  • Updated weekly on Thursdays


  • And I should note that while it is updated weekly on Thursdays, information is finalized on Tuesdays.

    You can check it out yourself here.

    Stay cool this weekend! It's going to be a hot one.
    --Althea Peterson



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    Almanac
    View 2012
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
    Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
    TemperaturePrecipitation
    DateHigh TempLow TempTotalMonth to dateHistorical average
    1 44° 16° 0 0.00 0.05
    2 59° 24° 0 0.00 0.11
    3 57° 33° 0 0.00 0.16
    4 68° 37° Trace 0.00 0.21
    5 69° 29° 0 0.00 0.26
    6 66° 33° 0 0.00 0.32
    7 59° 38° 0.05 0.05 0.38
    8 51° 34° 0 0.05 0.44
    9 44° 36° 0.01 0.06 0.51
    10 62° 37° 0.07 0.13 0.57
    11 54° 28° 0 0.13 0.64
    12 44° 30° 0.25 0.38 0.70
    13 55° 40° 0.01 0.39 0.76
    14 ° ° 0.83
    15 ° ° 0.89
    16 ° ° 0.95
    17 ° ° 1.02
    18 ° ° 1.09
    19 ° ° 1.16
    20 ° ° 1.23
    21 ° ° 1.31
    22 ° ° 1.38
    23 ° ° 1.46
    24 ° ° 1.53
    25 ° ° 1.61
    26 ° ° 1.69
    27 ° ° 1.77
    28 ° ° 1.85

    Weather World

    Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

    Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

    Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
    Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
    Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
    Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
    Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
    Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
    Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
    Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
    Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
    Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
    Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
    Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
    Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
    Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

    >> Visit the main weather page
    >> Send us your weather photos
    >> Meet the forecasters

    Contributors
    Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

    Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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