Area residents like to refer to southern Oklahoma as the “sunny side of the Arbuckles” but after the winter we’ve experienced, it now may be known as the “gloomy, chilly side of the Arbuckles” instead.
State climatologists confirm this winter has been colder and wetter than normal. A Christmas Eve blizzard blanketed the state with snow, sleet and freezing rain, dumping 13.5 inches of snow on Oklahoma City. The year ended as the 37th coolest and the 31st wettest on record, the result of an exceptionally cool and wet second half of the year.
A blast of Arctic air struck in early January and brought some of the coldest weather in more than a decade to the state. The month finished as the 31st coolest January on record, dating all the way back to 1895. And conditions were even worse in February.
The statewide average temperature for the month ended more than 6 degrees below normal and ranked as the 14th coolest February since 1895. February’s precipitation total was nearly an inch above normal and ranked as the 19th highest on record
All areas of the state received snow at one time or another, with southern Oklahoma receiving the most. The climatological winter, which runs from December through February, ended as the 17th coolest on record at nearly 4 degrees below normal and the 40th wettest with a surplus of about a third of an inch.
Associate State Climatologist Gary McManus noted Oklahoma received a crash course in Midwestern- style winters after quite a few warmer-thannormal ones over the last couple of decades. In fact, 14 of the previous 20 winters in Oklahoma have been above the long-term average in temperature, McManus said.
Most of the cool and damp winter weather can be blamed on weather conditions in other parts of the world.
“The 2009-10 El Niño event, previously forecast to be of moderate intensity, turned out to be the strongest since the 1997-98 ‘super’ El Niño,” he said. “During a strong El Niño, the storm track shifts to the south during winter and can bring more storm systems across the state. Along with those storm systems comes more cloudiness and precipitation.”
Another factor in the cold winter is a phenomenon known as the Arctic Oscillation.
“When it is in the negative phase, as it has been for much of the winter, high pressure over the North Pole deflects the bitterly frigid air from that region farther to the south into the interior of the United States,” McManus said.
Those who are hoping for better weather this spring may have to wait awhile. According to the Climate Prediction Center, there is an increased chance of below- normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation in March, April and May. On the positive side, the National Weather Services’ recent hydrologic outlook indicates the potential for spring flooding will be no higher than normal. Most Oklahoma streams and rivers are running at normal or abovenormal levels, and the U.S. Drought Monitor shows no drought or drought-related conditions anywhere in the state.
Steve Biehn 221-6546
