Oklahoma monthly climate summary, 02/2013

              Copyright © 2012 Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma. Oklahoma Monthly Climate Summary 1
Winter roared back into Oklahoma during February, providing
significant drought relief to much of the state while dumping
as much as three feet of snow in the northwest. According to
preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide
average precipitation total for February was 3.03 inches,
1.27 inches above normal. That would rank the month as the
13th wettest February since records began in 1895, although
melting snow in the northwest could push that mark higher.
Radar estimates indicate 2-6 inches of liquid equivalent
precipitation fell across the state during the month. February
was the wettest month in Oklahoma since April 2012, which
had a statewide average of 3.81 inches. A statewide average
deficit of more than 12 inches still exists since the beginning of
last May, the beginning point of this second round of drought
that has persisted since October 2010. The deficit since that
point is nearly 25 inches. Not only was the month wetter
than normal, it was also cooler than normal. According to the
Mesonet, the statewide average temperature finished at 40.7
degrees, 1 degree below normal – only the seventh month out
of the last 35 to accomplish that feat. The winter period of
December 2012-February 2013 ranked as the 30th warmest
at 1.9 degrees above normal and 35th wettest at 0.6 inches
above normal.
The month’s last storm system was also its most powerful.
Severe thunderstorms, hail, freezing rain and snow pounded
the state on Feb. 24-26. Strong winds of over 50 mph whipped
the snow, often accompanied by thunder, into drifts as high as
10 feet that paralyzed much of northwestern Oklahoma. More
than 36,000 electrical customers were left without power
thanks to ice-coated power lines and trees, and nearly all
highways across extreme northwestern Oklahoma were shut
down as roads drifted shut. The heavy, wet snow crumpled
awnings and in some cases, roofs. One fatality was attributed
to a roof collapse at a private residence in Woodward. The
snow totals were extreme, and in some cases, possibly record-breaking.
The preliminary February snowfall total of 42.5
inches from the small Ellis County town of Arnett would break
the state’s all-time snowfall record for any month if it verifies.
That mark currently stands at 39.5 inches from Buffalo, set
in February 1971. Alva, to the northeast in Woods County,
recorded a preliminary total of 35.6 inches.
The month began with 92 percent of the state depicted in
at least extreme drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor, and
40 percent considered to be in exceptional drought. The
Drought Monitor’s intensity scale slides from moderate-severe-
extreme-exceptional, with exceptional being the
worst category. The latest report released on Feb. 28 portrays
remarkable improvement with only 12 percent of the state in
FEBRUARY 2013
Oklahoma Monthly Climate Summary
February 2013 Statewide Extremes
Description Extreme Station Day
High Temperature 75ºF Waurika,
Anters
17, 18
Low Temperature -2ºF Hooker 22
High Precipitation 4.61 in. Fairview
Low Precipitation 0.26 in. Kenton --
February 2013 Statewide Statistics
Temperature
Average Depart. Rank (1895-2013)
Month
(February)
40.7ºF -1.0ºF 55th Coolest
Season-to-
Date (Dec-Feb)
40.7ºF 1.9ºF 29th Warmest
Year-to-Date
(Jan-Feb)
40.2ºF 1.4ºF 43rd Warmest
Precipitation
Average Depart. Rank (1895-2013)
Month
(February)
3.04 in. 1.28 in. 13th Wettest
Season-to-Date
(Dec-Feb)
5.82 in. 0.59 in. 35th Wettest
Year-to-Date
(Jan-Feb)
4.89 in. 1.68 in. 16th Wettest
Depart. = departure from 30-year normal
exceptional drought. The amount in at least extreme drought
dropped to 62 percent. The state had not seen a lower
percentage of exceptional drought since the end of last July
when the level was at five percent. Only the Panhandle and
far southwestern Oklahoma remain in exceptional drought.
Most of eastern Oklahoma dropped from extreme to severe
drought thanks to improving drought impacts. Soil moisture
data from the Oklahoma Mesonet show saturated soils down
to 24 inches across the eastern half of the state, with similar
conditions in the topsoils across all of Oklahoma.
.