Drought surged throughout Oklahoma because the driest September since 1956 took its toll on the state’s panorama. The quantity of drought within the state remained largely unchanged by way of September at roughly 99%, however the depth of that drought elevated dramatically based on the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Extreme and distinctive drought, the Drought Monitor’s two worst classes, jumped from 47% on Aug. 30 to 64% on the finish of September, the very best such ranges seen within the state since Feb. 19, 2013. Exceptional drought alone rose to 17%, its highest degree since May 8, 2018.
Soil moisture plummeted and fireplace hazard elevated within the sizzling, dusty situations. The USDA estimated that 91% of the state’s topsoil moisture was thought-about “short to very short” by the tip of the month. The Oklahoma Mesonet measured critically dry soils right down to at the least 32 inches, which helped increase massive wildfire potential into the intense class. Farm ponds had been reported low to utterly dry throughout many components of the state, and the majority of Oklahoma’s bigger reservoirs sat 5-10 ft beneath regular by way of the third week of September.
The statewide common rainfall whole was 0.71 inches based on the Oklahoma Mesonet, 2.61 inches beneath regular and ranked because the fifth driest September since data started in 1895. None of the 120 Mesonet websites got here even near a surplus for the month. Fittstown led the way in which with 2.36 inches. Three western Oklahoma websites – Eva, Grandfield, and Hollis – shared the underside spot with three-hundredths. Eighty-seven websites recorded lower than an inch for the month, and 54 of these websites really had lower than a half-inch.
The statewide common temperature of 75.7 levels ranked because the twenty fourth warmest September since data started in 1895, 2.8 levels above regular. Temperatures had been solidly above regular for many of the month, at instances 10 to fifteen levels increased than the seasonal averages. The 120 Mesonet websites recorded triple-digit temperatures 342 instances on 10 separate days, with 102 levels being the highest mark at many areas throughout a number of days. The month’s – and probably the seasons’ – remaining 100s occurred on the twenty fifth on the Burneyville, Hugo, and Valliant Mesonet websites.
September’s coldest studying of 36 levels occurred on the thirtieth at Wister. That studying and the 39 levels at Talihina the identical day had been the primary 30s recorded within the state since May 22. The yr continued very heat with a January by way of September statewide common of 64.8 levels, a level above regular and ranked because the twenty second warmest such interval on document.
The Climate Prediction Center’s outlooks for October painting attainable heat and dry situations persevering with, with elevated odds of above regular temperatures for the complete state and beneath regular precipitation for all however the western Panhandle. The western Panhandle has equal possibilities for above-, below-, and near-normal precipitation for October. CPC’s October drought outlook signifies drought persisting throughout the complete state by way of the tip of the month, and increasing to cowl many of the Southern Plains by way of that very same interval.
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