Timely rains have been falling across the state for the past two weeks. Still, several counties in dire need of rain, including Woodward, Woods, Dewey, Marshall, Johnston, and Pontotoc counties, all got missed by the moisture; according to State Climatologist Gary McManus, “Their wheat crop is gone, already devastated by drought. Oklahoma’s projected winter wheat yield is already down 17.9% from a year ago from a harvest that was also heavily damaged by drought. Almost all of Oklahoma’s Wheat Belt was ensconced in drought through its entire life cycle from last fall to present.”
Even though several counties have received good amounts of moisture, McManus says we will still need more to fill up the ponds that have been depleted over the past few months, “There are also farm ponds that need to be filled to water cattle, and prairie and range grass that needs improvement, not only to feed livestock but to hold that soil in place. And there’s the psychological aspect, just the oppressive beatdown of a person’s psyche that can pound on you day-by-day without rainfall, let alone the cost to someone’s ag operations. So this is our best chance in a while for significant rain in some of those areas.”
Oklahoma will see some more chances for good rain as another system moves into the state possibly on Thursday with the possibility of flooding potential and heavy rains, “We could have added to the hopeful environment by going out to 5 days, but we stuck with the 3-day period for hopefully a forecast with a bit more accuracy if not precision.”
To read more from State Climatologist Gary Mcmanus on his Mesonet ticker, click here:
