Drought diminishes in Tulsa County, state
BY Staff Reports
Thursday, February 28, 2013
2/28/13 at 9:30 AM
From the Tulsa World weather blog: Local snowfall totals from this and last week, as well as snowfall totals, photos and videos from state-to-state
Tulsa will end February with above-normal rainfall and likely below-normal temperatures, which the U.S. Drought Monitor recognized in this week's drought report.
Tulsa County is now classified mostly as D2 for severe drought, with the northern and western regions under D3 for extreme drought.
This is an improvement over last week's classification of mostly D3, with the northern and western regions under the highest classification, D4 for exceptional drought.
Oklahoma as a whole dropped to 11.8 percent D4, down from 41.6 percent last week. However, more than half of the state remains D3 or worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
With one day to go, Tulsa's average temperature for February is 41.1 degrees, which is 1 degree below normal. Tulsa's total liquid precipitation, which includes melted snow and ice as well as rainfall, is 3.18 inches, more than an inch above normal for the entire month.
Tulsa temperatures rising into next week
Tulsa's highs are forecast for the mid-40s today, with highs rising to the 50s by Sunday and possibly the 60s Monday, according to the weather service.
Overnight lows are forecast for the 20s through Sunday night, when lows in the upper 30s are forecast.
Tulsa's highest temperature so far this month was 70 degrees on Feb. 17. The lowest was 16 degrees on Feb. 1.
There is currently no precipitation chances forecast for the next week in Tulsa, according to the weather service.
Tulsa World Weather: A new weather site powered by the Tulsa staff of the National Weather Service. The partnership allows Tulsa World readers to receive weather alerts, forecasts and current conditions as the staff issues them.
Associated Images:
Areas in dark red are classified as D4 for exceptional drought. Bright red is D3 for extreme drought. Orange is D2 for severe drought. Map courtesy of the U.S. Drought Monitor
|
