Rainfall Update

With all the recent rains, perhaps you are wondering how we are doing in terms of our current totals and, more significantly, the drought.  The latest drought monitor shows some significant improvement across a lot of the state, but rain-free days in the forecast ahead may not be a welcoming sign.  In this blog post, we will look at the current month-to-date totals across the state and then examine the drought.

The graphic to the right shows the month-to-date precipitation totals across the state of Oklahoma.  We can see that a lot of the rain has fallen across parts of central and eastern Oklahoma (especially the northeast from the flooding rains of slow-moving weather systems), but also in scattered spots farther west.  For example, parts of the panhandle have seen some welcoming rainfall from severe storms earlier in the month, slowly closing the ever-increasing gap between the normal year-to-date and actual year-to-date totals.

Now let us take a look at the drought and where Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Guymon stand in their current precipitation totals.  This week's drought monitor has shown improvement in all drought categories, with significant improvement in the higher drought categories.  Only .19% of the state is in an exceptional drought at this time, which is a big difference from the 4.47% last week.  All other drought levels have decreased since last week, putting more of the state in a "no drought" situation.

But with a seven-day forecast showing no rain in sight, could good news quickly turn into bad news?  Even if in a "no drought" situation, all areas across the state need to continue to conserve water.  However, cities that are still below average for their year-to-date totals, including Guymon and Tulsa, should take extra precaution in doing this.  Additionally, areas in southwest Oklahoma should also be on the lookout for a return to worsening drought conditions, as relatively little rain has fallen so far this month.

Sources: NWS, AHPC, U.S. Drought Monitor, WordPress (photo)