Lightning flashes in the sky near 46th and Sheridan on May 31, 2012. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World
All May, we waited and waited for the rain that never came, and we ended up being more than 4 inches below normal for the wettest month of the year.
We had 1.18 inches of rain all month.
That’s depressing.
Then June came. While June isn’t the wettest, the first two weeks or so are still historically active. And 2012 hasn’t been an exception.
On Monday, a daily record of 3.32 inches fell at Tulsa International Airport. That’s about 2.8 times the amount of rain that fell during what is supposed to be the wettest month of the year. Absolutely ridiculous.
Aside from Tuesday, it has rained at least a trace every day this month, with the total rainfall for the month at 3.71 inches.
That’s 2.97 inches above normal for June (at this point in the month, which...duh). That is also more than the rainfall total for April.
That day of rain, while it was destructive for many places in Skiatook and Claremore, will keep us in northeast Oklahoma from teetering into drought again. Before Monday’s rain, Tulsa had recorded 13.65 inches of rain since Jan. 1. That’s 3.36 inches below normal for the year.
Even worse, if we remember back to the torturous summer last year, part of what led to it was the conditions before summer. Those conditions were somewhat similar to what we had last year. The rainfall total in 2011 during the same timeframe was 13.13 inches. Not far off.
Then, in one day, Tulsa went from being 3.36 inches below normal for the year to about 0.23 inches below normal.
Radar estimates showed that some areas north and east of Tulsa possibly had about 8 inches of rain in less than four hours. Here’s what happens when that much rain falls.
Flood warnings were issued for Bird Creek, but that creek bursts its banks when there is a heavy dew. You can see when and how quickly it jumped, but it just missed flood stage before dropping back down. Still, it was
quite scary and devastating for several people.
The rest of the week looks dry, beautiful and sunny with the next chance of rain coming early next week. Fingers crossed it keeps this trend going.
--Jerry Wofford
