February

The first two weeks of February in Oklahoma were a nice preview of spring with temperatures rising at times into the 70s and 80s with just a few mildly cold days scattered here and there. The final two weeks were a different story altogether, however, as the frigid arctic air ensconced across the eastern half of the country slid its way west and into the state. The forgotten season flexed its muscles at that point with several rounds of wintry weather, punctuated during the month's final few days with several rounds of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

Winter roared back into Oklahoma during February, providing significant drought relief to much of the state while dumping as much as three feet of snow in the northwest. According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average precipitation total for February was 3.03 inches, 1.27 inches above normal. That would rank the month as the 13th wettest February since records began in 1895, although melting snow in the northwest could push that mark higher. Radar estimates indicate 2-6 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation fell across the state during the month.

Golf clubs replaced parkas as the outdoor accessory of choice this winter, and Oklahoma’s kids can only dream of missed school days filled with sledding and snowball fights. The mildness of this winter – the 11th warmest on record at nearly 3 degrees above normal – stands in stark contrast to the cold, snowy experiences of the previous two years. The winter of 2009-10 was the state’s seventh coldest on record at more than 4 degrees below normal. Statewide average records date back to 1895. Oklahoma City and Tulsa both recorded approximately 23 inches of snow that cool season.

In a state accustomed to extreme weather, February was a bit startling to even the most seasoned veteran of Mother Nature’s whimsy. The roller coaster ride began on the month’s first day with a crippling blizzard and ended on its last with tornado warnings. The month was peppered with records, including the state’s all-time lowest minimum temperature and greatest 24-hour snowfall total. Those extremes occurred amidst the larger backdrop of an intensifying drought across the western two-thirds of the state.