Summer Ends on a Soggy Note

Many folks were happy to see another September soaking, especially one that didn't delay festivities or football games! Much of northeastern Oklahoma picked up some healthy rain totals. The map to the right shows the distribution of rain state-wide since midnight. Some of the heaviest rains fell from the Tulsa area to the east along the Highway 412 corridor. Tulsa International Airport received about 1.50" of rain while the Jones Jr. Airport near Jenks closed in on 2.20". The highest total came from Inola with a whopping 2.37" of rain! A swath of 1.0"+ totals came in from along I-44 south towards the I-40 corridor. Lesser amounts were seen north and south of there, respectively.

This is exactly what the doctor ordered as we head into another relatively long stretch of dry weather. We can't rule out rain chances within the next seven days due to a meandering cut-off low to our northeast, but we'll likely not see any rain of this caliber for quite some time. The latest Drought Monitor came out today, which does not account for Thursday's rain, but it did bring a little good news. The exceptional drought (the worst drought category) was scaled back to the west a bit after the weekend rainfall in northeastern Oklahoma. Hopefully next week's analysis of the drought will continue this trend!

According to the astronomical calendar, fall begins at 4:05 Friday morning. This is what we what we call the autumnal equinox, where the sun's rays are perpendicular to earth's equator. This means the northern and southern hemisphere share the same amount of sunlight. It's a milestone in the gradual march towards shorter days and longer nights for us, which, for the record, is not my favorite trend! Nonetheless, this leads our region into a time of year with pleasant temperatures. Some fall seasons are more fleeting than others here in Oklahoma!

In the meantime, jump in the rain puddles while they're still around and watch out for some patchy fog Friday morning!

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