OCS monthly climate summaries.
Warm and dry weather grabbed the headlines as the record-setting extremes of February gave way to a downright dull March. Data from the Oklahoma Mesonet ranked the month as the eighth driest and 31st warmest March since records began in 1895. Severe weather was scarce, although a few reports of large hail and high winds accompanied the few thunderstorms that did occur. Elevated fire risk was common during the month, a result of the dry and windy conditions.
In a state accustomed to extreme weather, February was a bit startling to even the most seasoned veteran of Mother Nature’s whimsy. The roller coaster ride began on the month’s first day with a crippling blizzard and ended on its last with tornado warnings. The month was peppered with records, including the state’s all-time lowest minimum temperature and greatest 24-hour snowfall total. Those extremes occurred amidst the larger backdrop of an intensifying drought across the western two-thirds of the state.
December tried to end 2010 in a tranquil manner after a year’s worth of tumultuous weather. Mother Nature provided a punctuation mark instead as a strong tornado touched down near Westville in Adair County on New Year’s Eve. The tornado eventually traveled into Arkansas, killing three near the small town of Cincinnati. A less violent hazard – drought – dug its heels into most of the state during the month as lack of precipitation contributed to the 32nd driest December since records began in 1895.
The mild and dry weather Oklahoma experienced through the first two months of fall continued into November, thanks in large part to La Nina’s influence. The climate phenomenon, signaled by cooler-than-normal waters in the equatorial pacific and global disruptions of weather patterns, brings an increased chance for mild and dry weather throughout the southern one-third of the United States, included Oklahoma. The effects of La Nina are reflected in the state’s temperature and rainfall statistics for the three months of climatological fall, September-November.
Dry and warm conditions continued over much of the state, although a late-month drink gave a bit of relief to drought-plagued southwestern Oklahoma. A powerful upper-level storm that brought significant rains to the southwestern quarter of the state kept this October from finishing as one of the state’s top-ten driest on record. Despite that moisture, however, much of the state still received a meager 20-60 percent of normal rainfall for the month.
Oklahoma’s penchant for warmer-than-normal months continued during September and depending on where you live, you probably had either too much or too little rain to go with that warmth. The September statewide average temperature, as measured by Oklahoma’s weather network, the Oklahoma Mesonet, was 74.5 degrees. That marks September as the 29th warmest since 1895, 2.1 degrees above normal. While the statewide average rainfall of 3.99 inches ranks as the 36th wettest on record at 0.18 inches above normal, much of the state was actually quite dry during the month.
The end of August brings the climatological summer months (June-August) to a close and data from the Oklahoma Mesonet reveal the worst kept secret in the state – this summer was a hot one. Of course, with Oklahoma weather, the final picture is never that simple. The summer was actually composed of two acts. The first half of the summer was warm and wet, but not overly hot. While June finished as the seventh warmest on record, much of that warmth was due to higher overnight temperatures and was accompanied by plenty of rainfall for most areas.