November Was Warm & Dry. A Continuation of Some Interesting Trends.

Now that we are into December, thought a look back at November and some weather trends over the last year or two would be appropriate. By the way, this is with the caveat that I am only looking at the ‘official' data recorded here in Tulsa. So, with that in mind, the month of November was some 2 degrees warmer than normal and 1.51" drier than normal. Keep in mind that what is considered as normal is the average over the most recent 30 year period calculated at the end of each decade. Currently, the normal values are still using the 1971-2000 data but a ‘new' normal will be released after the complete tabulation of data from 1981-2010.

By the way, although this past November was 2 degrees warmer than normal, it was still much cooler than November of 2009 which was more than 5 degrees warmer than normal. In fact, November of last year was the only month from July 2009 through March 2010 that was warmer than normal. That means we entered 2010 with a prolonged period of below normal temperatures that culminated in a very cold Jan, Feb, and March of this year. Since then, the tables have turned and we have been warmer than normal on a monthly basis for the rest of this year.

Regarding precipitation, as mentioned November was much drier than normal but nowhere close to any records. However, it does extend the trend of below normal precipitation that began in August of this year. This also is a continuation of the trend for drier than normal Novembers for all of NE Ok as shown on the image to the right from the Ok Climate Survey.

The forecast for the short term is also a dry one with no major rain/snow makers currently in the cards for us. A system will be moving over the state along about Tuesday of next week which we will be monitoring. Otherwise, look for temperatures to be moderating over the next few days before another significant cool-down arrives over the weekend which will extend into the early part of next week.

As always, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot