Drought in Oklahoma, January 1 to 31, 2009

Name: Drought in Oklahoma, January 1 to 31, 2009
Start: 2009-01-01T00:00
End: 2009-01-31T23:59
Location: Oklahoma

January 1 to 31, 2009 · NWS OUN · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.

According to the Drought Monitor, a D2 drought continued through the month of January. Even though the region received much needed precipitation toward the end of the month, it was not enough to ease the several month period of well below normal precipitation over the five southeast counties of Oklahoma. The main impacts were increased wildfires and low lake and creek levels. Burn bans were in effect for the six counties during the month, where numerous wildfires were reported. Antelope Springs ceased to flow for the first time since 2006. Several streams and waterfalls went almost dry downstream of Buffalo and Antelope Springs. A boat dock at the Lake of the Arbuckles was closed due to low water levels. No monetary damages were given.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 11:33 PM CST, 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 11:33 PM CST, 27 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1133 PM CST WED DEC 31 2008

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THURSDAY...AND LIKELY ALL OF
FRIDAY. WINDS PRESENT THE MAIN CHALLENGE...BUT HAVE THUS FAR
FALLEN IN LINE WITH THE 00Z TAFS. WESTERN OK SITES HAVE RESPONDED
TO MIXING WITHIN 40 KNOT LOW LEVEL JET...WHILE SPEED INCREASE AT
OTHER SITES WILL WAIT UNTIL SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS
AROUND 12Z. EXPECT FURTHER INCREASE AND VEERING WITH MIDDAY
MIXING...BUT WINDS WILL DECREASE BEHIND A TROUGH...WHICH THE
EVENING MODEL RUNS BRING THROUGH JUST A BIT EARLIER.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 636 PM CST WED DEC 31 2008/

DISCUSSION...
LOWERED TONIGHTS MINS SEVERAL DEGREES DUE TO CURRENT READINGS.
TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY INCREASE LATE THIS EVENING THROUGH THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS AS SOUTHERLY WINDS INCREASE...ESPECIALLY WEST.
HOWEVER...WITH DRY AIR AND CLEAR SKIES...TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY
FALL SEVERAL MORE DEGREES.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 353 PM CST WED DEC 31 2008/

DISCUSSION...
THE RELATIVELY QUIET WEATHER PATTERN ACROSS THE REGION WILL SLOWLY
CHANGE INTO A MORE ACTIVE ONE THIS WEEKEND AS A STORM SYSTEM
ORGANIZES OVER THE ROCKIES AND MOVES OUT OVER THE PLAINS. WINDS
WILL INITIALLY TURN SOUTHERLY TOMORROW... BRINGING WARMER
TEMPERATURES INTO OUR FORECAST AREA FOR A FEW DAYS.

THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER FEATURE WILL BE A COLD FRONT THAT
WILL SLICE THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PLAINS SATURDAY. THE TIMING OF THE
FRONT IS SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME... SINCE IT IS THE KIND
OF FRONT THAT OFTEN RACES OUT AHEAD OF THE MODEL FORECASTS. IN ANY
CASE... SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS SHOULD WARM NICELY
SATURDAY... THEN THE COLDER AIR WILL SWEEP IN BY LATE EVENING.
THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN WITH THIS SYSTEM... PERHAPS
EVEN A FEW THUNDERSTORMS... OVER OUR SOUTHEAST COUNTIES.

QUIET... BUT COOL... WEATHER WILL LAST A COUPLE OF DAYS... THEN ON
MONDAY AND PERHAPS TUESDAY... ANOTHER MAJOR WAVE IN THE UPPER FLOW
WILL ARRIVE. THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION...
BUT THIS TIME IT WILL PROBABLY BE COLD ENOUGH FOR FREEZING OR
FROZEN PRECIPITATION. IT IS A BIT EARLY TO BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE
VERTICAL TEMPERATURE PROFILE SUFFICIENTLY TO DETERMINE WHICH TYPE
OF PRECIPITATION WILL OCCUR. IT APPEARS THAT AMOUNTS WILL BE
FAIRLY LIGHT AT THIS POINT... SO UNLESS SOMETHING MAJOR CHANGES IN
THE MODELS THERE IS NOT MUCH CHANCE OF A SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM.

MODEL INCONSISTENCIES BECOME RATHER SIGNIFICANT TOWARD THE MIDDLE
OF NEXT WEEK... AND THE GFS MOS GUIDANCE SEEMS AS GOOD AS ANY BY THAT
POINT.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  28  56  31  56 /   0   0   0   0
HOBART OK         28  56  30  57 /   0   0   0   0
WICHITA FALLS TX  28  65  35  64 /   0   0   0   0
GAGE OK           27  56  21  60 /   0   0   0   0
PONCA CITY OK     24  50  26  54 /   0   0   0   0
DURANT OK         28  56  43  65 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.
&&

11/22/22

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 31, 3:45 PM CST, 8 hours 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
345 PM CST WED DEC 31 2008

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-011300-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-
ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-
WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-
POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-
COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-
CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-
WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
345 PM CST WED DEC 31 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...THROUGH TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED.

DISCUSSION...
COOL... DRY... AND STABLE CONDITIONS WILL PREVENT THUNDERSTORMS.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CST THURSDAY JANUARY 1.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
              NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...ZERO PERCENT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
DRY CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THERE
WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS NEXT MONDAY OVER SOUTHERN
OKLAHOMA AND NORTHERN TEXAS.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
ELEVATED WILDFIRE POTENTIAL WILL EXIST ON THURSDAY AND AGAIN
SATURDAY... ESPECIALLY OVER WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH
TEXAS.

WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.
THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE OF ACCUMULATING SNOW. CURRENTLY THE GREATEST
POTENTIAL FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW IS FROM PARTS OF WESTERN NORTH TEXAS
NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 6 AM
THURSDAY JANUARY 1.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Atoka

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Atoka forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 34.374, -96.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Coal

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Coal forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 34.588, -96.298 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Marshall

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 34.025, -96.769 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Bryan

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Bryan forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 33.962, -96.260 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Johnston

When: January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Johnston forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 34.317, -96.661 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, January 2009

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 142788, 142789, 142790, 142791, 142792.