Agricultural News
Forty Four Percent of Oklahoma Now Officially in Drought- and It Could Continue to Get Worse
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 10:31:29 CST
The dry fall is translating into more of Oklahoma falling into drought- and the southeastern parts of Oklahoma that have struggled with dry conditions are slipping deeper into drought. A very unwelcome visitor, Extreme (D3) drought has made an appearance in the state for the first time since Oct. 20, 2015. Granted, it's but a small sliver across far southern McCurtain County, but this connects to the area in the SE U.S. where bigtime drought is going strong, becoming one of their worst drought's in history. Exceptional Drought is now seen in a good part of Georgia, including the Atlanta area and into parts of South Carolina, North Carolina and just over the border in southeastern Tennessee.
The graphic above shows the current Drought Monitor for Oklahoma, with almost 44% of the state now in moderate to severe drought. Less than one percent of the state is in that Extreme drought category. Most of the Severe Drought is being seen to date in southeastern Oklahoma. And these drought conditions are the result of rainfall deficits that date back to summer.
In the graphic below- it appears that Drought may hang with a lot of the US into the end of 2016. The new U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook from the National Weather Services's Climate Prediction Center paints a really nasty picture for the SE U.S. through Oklahoma into the High Plains. Where drought exists in Oklahoma, it's expected to persist (brown). And then drought development is considered likely across much of the rest of Oklahoma.
State Meterologist Gary McManus offers multiple graphics and further explanation on the outlook ahead for a drier and perhaps slightly warmer winter than normal- click here for his latest Mesonet Ticker which explains a lot more.
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