Spring has sprung
Much of state greets season in drought
While much of Oklahoma saw drought-busting precipitation last month, some areas of the state remain under severe drought conditions, which are likely to persist and even intensify through the spring.
Tuesday marks the first day of spring, and most of western Oklahoma and the Panhandle are entering the season under extreme drought conditions. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released their outlook through June on Thursday, where they are predicting higher than
normal temperatures and below average precipitation.
“The greatest odds for above normal temperatures exists for the southwest and southern plains,” said David Miskus, drought meteorologist for NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
A section of northwest Oklahoma is listed as “exceptional drought,” the only area in the U.S. listed under that designation, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday. The report is based on data collected March 13, so it doesn't include last weekend's rainfall.
A state burn ban remains in effect for 16 counties, all of which are in western Oklahoma and the Panhandle.
Drought conditions have dissipated for of southeast and eastern Oklahoma, which saw rainfall totals ranging from 4 inches up to more than 10 inches last month.
Rainfall also lowered severe drought conditions for central Oklahoma, which is now considered abnormally dry.
Miskus said drought conditions for western parts of the state have persisted since the area was struck by a severe period of long-term drought in 2011.
“I’m not sure if the sub-soil moisture ever really got replenished because you had enough dry periods come in during that period from 2011 to current," Miskus said. "You get the winds, the warmer temperatures, it just seems to dry out that area much quicker."
Officials said the highest impacts of the continuing drought include greater potential for wildfire and worsening conditions for agriculture in the area, including the winter wheat crop which is likely to fail for many farmers in the hardesthit areas.
Deke Arndt, chief of NOAA’s Climate Monitoring Branch, said there are a number of factors at play in terms of the continuing drought stemming from the 2011 event.
He said warmer atmospheric conditions pull more water out of the ground and when combined with regions bordering on arid or semiarid, such as western Oklahoma, it increases the role of drought.
“I would certainly not say with certainty that we’re moving into a drought era, but the pressures are pointing in that direction to the best that we can tell,” Arndt said.