At the 2023 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s Annual Convention and Trade Show, Farm Director, KC Sheperd talked with Wes Lee from the Oklahoma Mesonet about an outlook for Oklahoma weather.
While Oklahoma had some cooler temperatures this week, Lee said the week of July 24 may yield more triple-digit temperatures.
“I believe the D4 drought has been totally erased out of the state as of last week,” Lee said. “We still have some areas that are relatively dry, but last night (Thursday, July 20) should have made some impacts on some of those drier parts of the state.”
Lee said the panhandle received some good rains, along with northeast Oklahoma, which has really been suffering from dry conditions.
“We have been relatively wet the last two or three months here in Oklahoma, but we can’t really attribute that to El Niño that has taken over that weather pattern this year,” Lee said. “But we are looking forward to, if it continues to strengthen and persist, hopefully, we will have a wetter than normal fall, winter, and spring next year that we have not had for the last three years.”
It was rare to have three winters in a row of La Niña, Lee said, so he is looking forward to an El Niño year, which tends to yield better weather conditions for crops such as winter wheat.
Lee explained that there are three weather patterns, which include the neutral weather pattern, El Niño, and La Niña.
“It all has to do with water temperatures along the equator in the Pacific,” Lee said. “So, anytime we are within one degree of normal, we call that a neutral pattern. Once that water temperature is one degree or more warmer, that is when we expect to have the El Niño pattern with it.”
Lee said at this point in time, they are expecting a moderate to strong El Niño, but there are no guarantees yet.
“So, we do expect, hopefully, wetter than normal conditions, and as far as temperatures- yes, one of the patterns is cooler than normal and one of the patterns is warmer than normal,” Lee said. “So, more moisture could be more snow, but in Oklahoma, snow is not that predominant anyways.”
At the moment, Lee said soil moisture is in great shape as it can be for the summertime months, so if we can continue to receive normal rainfall from now until fall planting time, farmers will hopefully have some good crops this fall.
“Better germination rates, better stands, of wheat, canola, those cool season crops, and finishing out our hay and summer crops on a positive note is what we are looking forward to,” Lee said.
