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Drought conditions don't get worse, but aren't any better
Published: 1/3/2013 4:48 PM
Last Modified: 1/3/2013 4:48 PM


Jan. 1 drought map

Looking at the latest drought map from the U.S. Drought Monitor, you couldn’t tell that we recently had the wettest day in Tulsa since Nov. 11. That's 0.69 inches of rain on Dec. 31. Quite an exciting day!

That, and all the snow that released moisture into the ground across the southeast did nothing at all to change the latest conditions. But, at least it’s not worse?

And I guess that is something. The little bet of moisture has helped to keep a little lid on the drought for now, but a significant amount of rain is needed to really move us in the right direction.

The most recent map shows that 37.06 percent of the state in D4, the most severe drought category. It includes much of the Panhandle and areas east and south from there to Tulsa and Washington counties and down to the Red River. Last week, 37.05 percent of the state was in D4. The percentage of the state in D3 is at 94.89, which is unchanged from last week.

While there was a bit of rain in the last week, it will take a lot more than a bit to break this cycle.

That being said, there is the possibility for more than a bit or rain next week. The current estimate from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center said most of the state could see more than a half inch of rain over the next seven days. Now, that could (and most likely will) change as we get to the middle of next week.

So, rain is good news. More good news is that it is expected as of right now to be all rain, none of that other icy stuff. That’s good, since an inch of rain roughly translates to about 10 inches of snow, and Tulsa is near the inch range.

But like I said earlier, it is going to take a lot more than a few rain events to change things in a meaningful way. To get eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas back to near-normal levels on the Palmer Drought Severity Index, we would need between 9 and 15 inches. Of rain. Or, roughly 90 to 150 inches of snow. Bahaha. Just imagine that for a moment with me.

This is typically the dry season for Oklahoma, with a monthly average of about 1.66 inches in January. So, drought-busters anytime soon would be outside the norm. Let’s see if we can hold on to spring, and then hope it doesn’t disappoint.

--Jerry Wofford


Reader Comments 1 Total
Dadzilla (last month)
Green Country has turned brown as a result of the continued drought conditions.

We can hope that this is just an effect of El Nino, but what if that huge majority of scientists are right about climate change...
...If they are right, this is the new normal
1 comments displayed


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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.

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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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