News - Blogs - The top rainfree streaks in Tulsa history and drought update

The top rain-free streaks in Tulsa history and drought update
Published: 7/6/2012 7:00 AM
Last Modified: 7/5/2012 4:43 PM

About the only ones that don't like rain in Oklahoma are baseball spectators. In this April 13 file photo, fans wait out the rain delay at ONEOK Field. BRETT ROJO/For the Tulsa World

When we ended our 10-day rainless streak on Monday, I was curious about where it (which tied an earlier 10-day rainless streak that ended on June 14) ranked in Tulsa weather history.

It doesn't. And don't blame the Dust Bowl.

Karen Hatfield, Tulsa National Weather Service meteorologist, said that with records dating back to 1893, here are the top streaks for not recording any measurable rain in Tulsa:

1: 67 days, ending Dec. 27, 1910
2: 62 days, ending March 23, 1904
3: 57 days, ending Oct. 10, 1897
4: 51 days, ending Sept. 11, 1896
5: 50 days, ending Jan. 8, 1901

In the Dust Bowl era, Hatfield said that you have to go down to the ninth-longest streak before you'll get a rainless period from that era: 44 days, ending Aug. 13, 1935.

As for last year's drought-filled summer, here are the longest streaks:

11 days, ending Aug. 5

10 days, ending July 23

9 days, ending June 9

In a nutshell, it's hot and it's dry, but Tulsa has been hotter and drier.

Speaking of hot and dry, the U.S. Drought Monitor just bumped Tulsa County's drought classification from D0 for "abnormally dry" up to D1 for "moderate drought."

But, consistent with our blog entry's "in could be worse" theme, look at the surrounding states and the rest of the country:

In other words, hot and dry weather happens and drought follows. A majority of Oklahoma and the contiguous 48 states are now classified under D1 (moderate drought) or worse.

I will have more to say about the U.S. Drought Monitor in this weekend's Tulsa World print edition. Stay tuned!

--Althea Peterson

PS: There is never a dull moment with Mother Nature here in Oklahoma, nor is there with motherhood anywhere. Please check out Tulsa World's newest blog "Because I Said So: Perspectives in parenting," of which I am one of six contributors.

Reader Comments

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

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.

Subscribe to this blog

Temperature
High Temp:	(Example: 45)
Low Temp:	(Example: 45)
Temperature Date:	(Example: 1/1/2011)

Precipitation
Total:	(Example: '.01)
Month to date:	(Example: '.01)
Normal month to date:	(Example: '.01)

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :