Out With a BANG?
By Mark Shafer
Director of Climate Information
The Oklahoma Climatological Survey
5/3/2006

Just one week ago, state drought managers were anxiously watching a westward expansion of extreme drought conditions across Oklahoma. The drought that began in eastern Oklahoma in 2005 had slowly crept westward, first with the wildfires, then with low stream flows, drying ponds, and crop failures.

Then came the weekend rains. From Friday April 28th through Sunday the 30th, more than seven inches of rain fell in south central Oklahoma, across Love and Marshall counties. The National Weather Service cooperative observer in Marietta reported a drought-quenching nine-inch total to lead the state. In the north, Kay and Osage counties picked up more than five inches. Two to four inches of rain were abundant across much of the rest of Oklahoma east of Highway 81. Suddenly, Oklahoma's drought landscape looked quite a bit different.

Coupled with several other recent rainfalls in eastern portions of the state, the outlook is certainly brighter than it was through the winter. After its second-driest October-March on record, northeast Oklahoma recorded its 15th wettest April ever. Most regions of the state ended April with at least near-normal rainfall.

Historical Comparison

It certainly seems droughts end with a bang. The last time the state was this dry - the winter of 1995-1996 - the drought ended with a surge of rainfall in late June and July, doubling the normal July rainfall. In fact, of the 9 times it has been drier than this for October-March, six of them ended with a month in which rainfall was two inches or more above normal. Two other years continued the drought on into summer. One year, 1925, had a wet April before returning to drought, and then finally emerging again in July.

Sometimes the deluges can seem apocryphal. The 1904 drought extended into May before the heavens opened up - dropping more than eight inches of rain on the state in June (the second-highest June total in more than 100 years of records).

Not Done Yet

While folks in the eastern two-thirds of Oklahoma rejoice for the rainfall, those in the west are still looking skyward. Northwestern Oklahoma registered its 8th driest April on record. West central and southwest Oklahoma also ended April well on the dry side. A few places in western Oklahoma picked up nearly an inch of rain with Tuesday night's storms, but much more is needed out west. Even in the east, more rain is needed to bring lakes and ponds back to normal levels. The long-term outlook shows continued improvement in eastern Oklahoma, but little hope for western parts of the state over the next several months.