Drought Update

[bucktalk]

Is there a link or does anyone have any info regarding an update on the drought since all of the rain of the past several weeks? I doubt we are at normal rainfall levels but surely things have improved significantly.....

[ljbab728]

Is there a link or does anyone have any info regarding an update on the drought since all of the rain of the past several weeks? I doubt we are at normal rainfall levels but surely things have improved significantly.....

The OKC area is still around 6 inches below normal for the year. It's an improvement anyway.

[j7m7l7]

If you go to mesonet.org it has all the info you could ever want on OK weather.

[LordGerald]

This is also a great site with tons of great data...

http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/drou...th-central_u.s

[king183]

This is also a great site with tons of great data...

http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/drou...th-central_u.s

What is the proper time frame to consider vis-a-vis a drought? The last year? The last half year? The growing season?

[ljbab728]

What is the proper time frame to consider vis-a-vis a drought? The last year? The last half year? The growing season?

I don't believe there is an official defintion of length of time to be considered a drought. We know when we're having one though. LOL

[adaniel]

Link to the US Drought Monitor:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Eastern half of OK (including OKC) has seen marked improvement. OKC is in the moderate zone.

Western OK as well as a large part of TX is still really hurting.

[Questor]

A little over 12 months....

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/09...pagewanted=all

[ljbab728]

A little over 12 months....

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/09...pagewanted=all

Yes, some areas have seen drought conditions for that long but there still isn't an official length of time for an area to be dry to be considered as having a drought.

[Questor]

Sorry, thought he was asking about this drought, not all droughts in general. The closest thing to an official declaration is when NOAA / NIDIS declares it to be a drought, which is evaluated but somewhat subjective based on surface dryness and things like that.

Nearly all of Oklahoma is still in the drought. Much of Oklahoma dropped from an extreme or exceptional category down to just severe or moderate drought with all the rain we received recently. About half the state is still in a category 3 or 4 drought.

http://www.drought.gov/portal/server...state.htm?OK,S

So yes what adaniel said.