News - Blogs - Welcome back drought

Welcome back, drought
Published: 5/24/2012 2:39 PM
Last Modified: 5/24/2012 2:39 PM

This is a phenomenon known as a thunderstorm. It's been a while, I know. A severe storm grows over north Tulsa with the University of Tulsa in the foreground, taken in Tulsa, Okla. on April 7. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

Here is a number that would be chilling if it weren’t so hot outside: 0.15.

That’s the total amount of rain that has fallen at Tulsa International Airport this month. Guess what the normal amount should be. Well, you don’t have to guess. It’s over there on the right side of this page.

That is way down. Like, if we don’t get 0.65 inches of rain in the next week, it will be the driest May on record. Combine the drastically low rainfall total with the warm temperatures we’ve had all spring (average temperature between March and now is 65.9, 5.5 degrees above normal and the warmest spring by a full degree) and the windy conditions, especially lately, and we have a flash drought, which sounds more exciting than it is.

A flash drought is to flash flood what a seasonal drought is to river flooding. It’s about the timing. Flash droughts spring up in a month while seasonal droughts take seasons to develop and persist.

Here are some maps to illustrate this point. Both are from the U.S. Drought Monitor. The first map is where the drought was in the state a week ago. The second map is the most recent drought map, released today. I’ll give you a piece of candy if you can spot what changed in that week.

This is as of May 15.

And this is May 22.

OK, that was an easy one. You get, like a peppermint or something. Follow me on Twitter to claim your prize.

The drought that peaked last September began to diminish after heavy rain in the fall to a point that was looking pretty good for the state. Heck, last month we were right on par almost with rainfall averages and March had a higher rainfall total than the May normal.

Then, the bottom dropped out (or, a summer-like high pressure system set in) and the tap ran dry.

But, there is a chance of rain Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. At this point, whatever we can get will be nice because this summer may not be that fantastic.

The Climate Prediction Center’s 3-month outlook gives us equal chances of above, below or normal precipitation amounts. The temperature outlook map is a little redder: much of the south and southwest has above-normal chances of above average temperatures.

With the end of La Nina, one of the main culprits responsible for last summer's hellscape, I was looking forward to a more normal year. But this is Oklahoma. Shoulda known better.

--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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