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Drought improving, burn bans lifting: A good-news blog
Published: 9/29/2011 10:38 AM
Last Modified: 9/29/2011 10:38 AM


Look at all that white space! That is good news for fall. But will only be prolonged good news if we get more rain. C'mon rain!

Yes, it is still a drought, and yes this will be another month where the total rainfall is way below normal, and no there is no rain in the forecast, but I do have some good news.

First, I saw the most significant change in the drought monitor for the good that I have seen in a long time.

And second, the governor-declared burn ban that has been in effect for most of the state the past two months was lifted this week. Cook-outs and bonfires! …for most of you.

On the drought, in the U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly report, the percentage of the state in the D-3 category—the second most extreme—dropped to 79 percent. That is a drop of nearly 10 percent in a week.



That is the biggest drop in any drought category for several months.

That by no means indicates the drought is over and it’s time to rejoice in the fields while we dance in the rain. But, maybe a little “Hooray!” is in order.

I say a little hooray because the percentage of the state in the most extreme drought category was literally the same as last week: 66.42 percent. It covers a little east of Interstate 35 and everything west, save a tiny patch in the southwest corner of the panhandle.

Tulsa County and much of northeast and east-central Oklahoma is in the D-2 drought category. Not the worst, but definitely not good.

For the burn bans, the only counties that remain in the ban are along the Oklahoma/Texas border and the panhandle. That is a significant change from when the only counties not in the ban were in the far northeast corner.

Those still in the governor’s ban are Atoka, Beaver, Beckham, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Cimarron, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Garvin, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnston, Kiowa, Love, Marshall, McCurtain, Murray, Pontotoc, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Stephens, Texas, Tillman, and Washita counties.

County-imposed burn bans are still in affect for some counties, however. Osage and Payne counties are two of them. However, both of those are set to expire next week, unless the county decides otherwise.

So fire up the grills and fall bonfires, Oklahoma! But, keep a bucket of water handy. You know…that’s a good idea anyway, right?



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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

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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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