Weather Variety Marks Season’s First Day
By Penny Cockerell, The Daily Oklahoman
Mar. 21–Spring arrived Monday, bringing more rain, heavy snow and at least one tornado.
And after months of drought conditions, wildfires, low lake levels, and questionable crop outcomes, Gov. Brad Henry ended a burn ban that’s been in effect since November.
The governor’s action was in response to a long weekend of rains across most of the state. Areas of McCurtain County received more than six inches from Friday through Monday morning.
That was followed Monday by 6 inches of snow in the Panhandle, nearly quarter-size hail in parts of central Oklahoma, a tornado in the northeast and possibly one north of Oklahoma City.
“It’s just a normal first day of spring,” said Brad Cornelius of the Texas County sheriff’s office.
The forecast for the Oklahoma City area shows highs in the lower 40s today and winds from 15 to 25 mph. Expect low temperatures in the mid-20s tonight.
The high temperature Wednesday is expected to be in the upper 40s with a 20 percent chance of rain Wednesday night. There also is a chance of rain on Thursday but Friday, Saturday and Sunday are expected to be dry.
Drought continues
Despite the rain and lifting of the burn ban, a long-term drought continues as rainfall amounts still are well-below normal, said Ken Gallant, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Norman. The weekend rain boosted the state’s average rainfall since the first of the year to 2.81 inches. Normal for this time of year is 4.58 inches.
In the Panhandle, spring debuted Monday with snow. Jo Bocock, a Cimarron County sheriff’s office dispatcher, said Boise City had received 6 inches of snow by 3 p.m. Boise City is 18 miles from the Colorado state line.
The only problems reported were vehicles sliding off the road. No injuries were reported, she said.
Cornelius said about 3 inches of snow had fallen in Guymon by noon with no problems reported.
Storm damage
A slow moving tornado bounced across Dewey County in the afternoon, destroying a barn and damaging two other structures. No injuries were reported.
About 4:30 p.m., the twister struck east of Putnam, destroyed a barn, damaged another barn and a house, said Taunia Bozarth, Dewey County Emergency Management director.
“It was a large one and then it went into a skinnier funnel cloud,” Bozarth said. “It was up and down, up and down,” for about 20 minutes.
The county is mostly rural, so there weren’t many targets to strike, Bozarth said.
Bozarth also said straight-line winds blew a roof off a house east of Putnam.
The National Weather Service said broadcast media reported a tornado touched down twice four miles southeast of Marshall in Logan County.
Nearly quarter-size hail fell for five minutes southwest of Piedmont in Canadian County, and also fell near Agra and Carney in Lincoln County, according to emergency management officials.
Nickel-size hail fell at Ada in Pontotoc County, according to an emergency management director.
Winds reaching 60 mph were recorded southwest of Washington in McClain County, and northwest of Ardmore in Carter County.
Utility workers reported roofs were blown off two barns six miles north of Verden in Grady County.
Firefighters, farmers, even construction crews relished the steady weekend rains.
In southwestern Oklahoma, Sweetwater Fire Chief Greg Henson stared into the hellish inferno of a wildfire a week ago Sunday in the Texas Panhandle, describing it as an “eerie” experience to drive into a mammoth cloud of black smoke. This past weekend, Henson soaked in the rain.
“It was a good feeling to know we had a break from grassfires,” Henson said. “We’ve needed the moisture, and not just for fires — for everything. I really feel like with this good moisture and a couple sunny days, everything will green up a little.”
As the green of spring takes hold, the chances of more wildfires will diminish significantly, National Weather Service Meteorologist Rick Smith said.
Some areas, such as Oklahoma City and Cordell, received more rain this weekend than they did in the past five months, Smith said.
Oklahoma City reported 2.17 inches of rainfall from Friday to Sunday; Tulsa International Airport reported 2.23 inches, according to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. The highest measurement came from Broken Bow in southeastern Oklahoma at 6.12 inches.
Since Saturday, Broken Bow Lake has risen 7 feet, but is still 8 feet below normal. Larger lakes, though, show less dramatic changes. Lake Eufaula is up only three-tenths of a foot and is still nearly 6 feet below normal. Lake Tenkiller also is up three-tenths and still nearly 11 feet below normal.
The Hackberry Flat wetland in Tillman County, meanwhile, had nearly dried up until Friday.
The wetland, a noted hot spot for bird watchers, received 1¾ inches of rainfall.
Crops have suffered, too.
Jackson County farmers have been draining water from Lake Altus-Lugert to grow crops — water they don’t usually draw down until August. Concern is that water won’t be there in August if the drought continues.
Contributing: Staff Writers Ron Jackson, Michael McNutt, Sheila Stogsdill and Chad Previch
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