News - Blogs - Drought update stagnant but it doesnt reflect Tuesday

Drought update stagnant, but it doesn't reflect Tuesday
Published: 1/31/2013 11:17 AM
Last Modified: 1/31/2013 11:20 AM

Jan. 29 drought update

Here is the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map. No, you’re not crazy. It looks very familiar to last week. That’s because it’s nearly the same.

“But what about the rain we had Tuesday?! There was nearly an inch here and more than 2.5 in parts of northern Oklahoma. Why are things worse?!”

Frustrating, no? Well, look for the improvements in the next update. The cutoff for the update is 8 a.m. Tuesday, which is then released at 8 a.m. Thursday. Most of the rain occurred after that cutoff Tuesday, so the big totals won’t be reflected here.

What we’re left with this week is another visual representation of the depressing continuation of our devastating drought.

This update keeps the D-4 category -- the most severe -- the same as last week, at 38.59 percent of the state. The next most severe category, D-3, covers 92.14 percent, up from 91.8 last week. The entire state is in D-2.

Tulsa County is classified D-4 in our western arm and across the corner of the northern arm. The rest of the county is D-3. Southeast, northeast corners and northwest Panhandle are the "winners" here, still in D-2.

At least we’re not alone here in Oklahoma. Nearly 70 percent of the country is experiencing at least abnormally dry conditions, with 58 percent in some drought classification.

How depressing is it? Here is what the summary from the U.S. Drought Monitor says about the Plains. It's harshing my buzz for sure (emphasis mine).

Same song, fifth verse with no changes of note on the map this week in what is now becoming the epicenter of the 2013 drought.

Associate State Climatologist Gary McManus pointed out yesterday that the rain this week brought the statewide average above normal, the first time since April. However, the May-January state average rain total is about 15.5 inches. That’s the second driest May-January period on record, he said.

Looking for any relief? Fat chance. The NWS seven-day is sunny and (relatively) warm, not good for drought busting. Looking out 14 days, the Climate Prediction Center has us at near normal precipitation levels, with above normal temperatures possible.

So whatever improvements we see to the map will be short lived unless the skies miraculously open up and stay open to wash away our drought and our sorrow. Like I said, fat chance.

-- Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical 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

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

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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