January

The old adage "numbers never lie" is a good principle in theory, but often dangerous if used within the context of Oklahoma's eccentric weather patterns. For example, the statewide average temperature and precipitation values for January ended very close to normal, but the journey to those numbers was anything but. The first half of the month was frigid and mostly dry, somewhat typical of a cold Oklahoma January. Around the 15th, however, the weather decided it was time for spring a couple of months early.

January seemed destined to finish on the dry side of normal, just as the eight months previous to it had, before a late-month burst of spring changed its fortunes. Tornado watches covered much of the eastern two-thirds of the state on the 29th, a by-product of the storm system that also dumped 1-3 inches of rain across parts of that same area. There were no confirmed tornadoes in Oklahoma, but reports of large hail and wind damage were scattered across the state.