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Historically Frigid February Punctuates Winter

Oklahoma experienced a historic cold air event during February, boosting the month into the company of other legendary frozen periods from calendar pages long torn away and discarded. February 1895, February 1899, and January 1930 all suffered through exceedingly long cold spells. More recently, December 1983 still lives in the minds of many Oklahomans as the bellwether of cold months, which followed those winters of the late 1970s when bone-chilling cold was simply a way of life; but those cold times were more than 37 years ago.

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Warm and Wet January Greets New Year

The winter storm that began the year captured January’s biggest weather headline. The event straddled the changeover from 2020 to 2021, with as much as 10 inches of snow falling in Vici on New Year’s Day. Reports of 4-8 inches were widespread across the northwestern half of the state. Seasonal totals through January climbed to nearly 3 feet across northwestern Oklahoma. The National Weather Service cooperative observer at Arnett reported 34.3 inches since late October, 24.1 inches more than their entire normal seasonal total of 10.2 inches.

Winter Flexes Muscles During December

A powerful winter storm pounded the state on 2020’s final day, a fitting epitaph to a tumultuous year—and a wintry December. The storm lasted into the first morning of 2021 and brought widespread totals of 2-6 inches of snow from southwestern into northeastern Oklahoma. Localized areas in central Oklahoma reported up to 10 inches of snow. The storm was the last in a series of four impactful winter systems that struck the state during December, and the fifth of the season. The month’s first storm dumped 10-15 inches of snow in far northwestern Oklahoma between Dec. 2-3.

November Sees More Drought, Tornadoes

November’s weather struggled to live up to the level of excitement provided by October’s historic cold snap and ice storm, although it had its moments. Following that burst of moisture just before Halloween, some areas of the state went more than a month without seeing at least a quarter inch of rain in a single day. Other areas saw Oklahoma’s weather at its worst, however. Storms on the 24th brought severe weather back to the state with damaging winds and hail up to the size of golf balls. At least two tornadoes touched down that day in southeastern Oklahoma.

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Historic Storm Haunts October

A historic winter ice storm struck the state during the last week of October, leaving nearly 400,000 residences and businesses without power. The extreme nature of the event – arguably the most impactful early-season winter storm in the history of Oklahoma – was punctuated by heavy snow in the Panhandle and flooding rains in eastern sections of the state. Trees, still burdened with a full head of leaves so early in the season, were easy prey for radial ice accumulations of up to 3 inches across western and central Oklahoma.

Spring 2021 Mesonet OK-First Classes

Spring 2021 OK-First classes for public safety officials are now open for enrollment! For just the second time in program history all of our classes will be held online. The classes will be self-paced and open for a specific set of weeks and include:

 

  • 1 Certification class (6 weeks in length)
  • 1 Assistant Certification class (4 weeks in length)
  • 2 Re-certification classes (2 weeks in length)

 

Winter Chill Stuns September

A historic cold snap set the tone for a cool September, which saw one of the earliest intrusions of winter weather in state history. An unusually strong cold front blasted through the state September 8-9, sending temperatures plummeting up to 50 degrees lower than the previous day’s highs. Lowest maximum and minimum temperature records were shattered across the western half of the state. High temperatures on the ninth struggled to a chilly 40 degrees at Boise City and Kenton following lows of 33 degrees.

Cold Fronts Tame August Heat

Three strong cold fronts brought the summer heat to its knees during August, but drought took advantage of a mostly dry month to proliferate across western Oklahoma. The far southeast was anything but parched, however, after several rounds of heavy precipitation and a brush with the outskirts of Hurricane Laura left it with nearly a foot of rain for the month. There were sporadic outbursts of severe weather during August.

July Sees Drought Relief

July brought a near miraculous recovery to much of Oklahoma, which was faced with an intensifying drought headed into summer’s scorching middle stanza. Uncharacteristically wet conditions succeeded in beating the drought back to a more manageable level, however, especially across the hardest hit areas in northern and central Oklahoma. Drought covered as much as 51 percent of the state on July 7 according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. That coverage was reduced nearly in half by the end of July, however, eventually encompassing a little less than 26 percent of the state.
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