Despite the rain in recent weeks in Oklahoma, guess what is still with us? The drought!
State Climatologist Gary McManus explained it “just hasn’t rained enough to relieve drought, or stop its intensification.” And he said there are still deficits out there even in the past 30 days.
To make his case, he compared the 30-day rainfall accumulation to the 120-day rainfall amount.
It shows the northwest part of the state is clearly in need of rainfall in order to blunt the slow growth of the drought.
But McManus is not optimistic, based on what he wrote in Thursday’s Oklahoma Mesonet Ticker.
“And with La Nina firmly placed in the forecasts, expected to develop this summer and begin impacting us this fall through next spring, the dryness is more likely to continue than not.”