
Yes, cooler weather is in next week’s forecast, but the heat of the past few weeks only added to Oklahoma’s expanding drought.
Oklahoma Climatologist Gary McManus with the Oklahoma Mesonet recently wrote that conditions “are increasingly bad.”
“It’s not a hurricane, and our hearts go out to those suffering in the Southeast, but we are facing our own billion-dollar disaster right here in Oklahoma, and those damages will continue to
increase if we don’t see rain soon for this crucial planting period for Oklahoma’s hard winter wheat crop.”
He went on to explain that the wheat crops in the state suffered nearly $500 million in losses over the past 2 years. The cotton crop was hit by $240 million in losses at the same time.
“Again, that’s not counting this year, which again saw
incredibly poor conditions for the cotton crop. In addition to that, in just 2021 and 2022, we saw a $155 million loss to soy, $100 million loss for corn, and a $212 million loss in hay. That’s a billion and then some. And remember, this is only the damages directly related to agriculture.”
As a result, the state’s entire economy suffers.