2010

December tried to end 2010 in a tranquil manner after a year’s worth of tumultuous weather. Mother Nature provided a punctuation mark instead as a strong tornado touched down near Westville in Adair County on New Year’s Eve. The tornado eventually traveled into Arkansas, killing three near the small town of Cincinnati. A less violent hazard – drought – dug its heels into most of the state during the month as lack of precipitation contributed to the 32nd driest December since records began in 1895.

Dry and warm conditions continued over much of the state, although a late-month drink gave a bit of relief to drought-plagued southwestern Oklahoma. A powerful upper-level storm that brought significant rains to the southwestern quarter of the state kept this October from finishing as one of the state’s top-ten driest on record. Despite that moisture, however, much of the state still received a meager 20-60 percent of normal rainfall for the month.