2018

February rain records were shattered as a series of storm systems during the month’s final week brought snow, sleet and heavy rains to Oklahoma. The unsettled weather dumped a season’s worth of moisture over the southeastern half of the state and provided a brief brush with wintry weather. Kids across the state finally enjoyed a snow day or two as slippery travel shut down schools. The Oklahoma Mesonet site at Broken Bow led the state with an astounding 17.65 inches of rainfall, the highest total ever recorded in Oklahoma during February.

The dry weather that plagued Oklahoma through the final three months of 2017 showed no signs of letting up during the first month of 2018. The lack of precipitation was especially prominent across western Oklahoma where 19 of the Oklahoma Mesonet’s 120 stations received no precipitation for the month, and another 47 saw less than a quarter-inch. In some cases, the precipitation-free streak extended back to early October. The Mesonet sites at Woodward and Hooker had gone 113 consecutive days without a single drop of moisture by the end of January.