Drought in Oklahoma, September 1 to 30, 2015

Name: Drought in Oklahoma, September 1 to 30, 2015
Start: 2015-09-01T00:00
End: 2015-09-30T23:59
Location: Oklahoma

September 1 to 30, 2015 · NWS OUN · 14 events in 14 counties and zones

After a long period of little rain, flash drought (D0-D2) began to creep back into southeast Oklahoma. This event continues into October.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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: 14

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.

After a long period of little rain, flash drought (D0-D2) began to creep back into southeast Oklahoma. This event continues into October.

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 Aug 31, 9:45 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 9:45 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1045 PM CDT MON AUG 31 2015

.AVIATION...
6Z TAFS...A FEW HIGH CLOUDS FROM CONVECTION OVER THE HIGH
PLAINS...MAY SPREAD OVER WESTERN OKLAHOMA TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...
VFR CONDITIONS AND A SOUTH WIND CAN BE EXPECTED.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 656 PM CDT MON AUG 31 2015/

AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS AND A SOUTH WIND WILL PREVAIL THROUGH 00Z
WEDNESDAY.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 326 PM CDT MON AUG 31 2015/

DISCUSSION...
A WEAK UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO SPIN ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
ALTHOUGH LATEST RAP & HRRR RUNS KEEP IT INACTIVE THERE, WATER
VAPOR IMAGERY CONTINUES TO SHOW A SLIGHT MIDLEVEL CIRCULATION,
ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN LOW TSRA POPS THERE UNTIL THIS EVENING.
OTHERWISE, AN UPPER RIDGE IS EXPECTED TO BUILD THROUGH MUCH OF THE
WEEK, KEEPING US DRY AND MAINTAINING SEASONABLY NORMAL
TEMPERATURES. HOWEVER, THE ECMWF SOLUTION SUGGEST A SHORT WAVE
DISTURBANCE DIGGING ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA FOR THURSDAY
NIGHT. FOR NOW, WILL BE KEEPING ANY POPS OUT OF THERE, MAINLY DUE
TO UNCERTAINTY OF MOISTURE AVAILABILITY.

A MUCH DEEPER TROUGH WILL BE DIGGING ACROSS THE NORTHERN U.S.
DURING THE WEEKEND, WHICH WILL BE PUSHING A COLD FRONT INTO OUR
AREA BEGINNING FOR MONDAY. AT THIS POINT, BOTH LONG RANGE MODELS
HINT A PACIFIC BASED MIDLEVEL MOISTURE PLUME, ORIGINATING FROM THE
GULF OF CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING INTO NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA BEGINNING
SUNDAY. WITH THE COLD FRONT APPROACHING NEAR THE TIME PERIOD, IT
WOULD CERTAINLY NOT RULE OUT LOW TSRA POPS IN OUR NORTHWEST FOR
THE SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY TIME FRAME.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  71  92  70  92 /   0   0   0   0
HOBART OK         70  95  71  95 /   0   0   0   0
WICHITA FALLS TX  72  95  71  95 /   0   0   0   0
GAGE OK           69  94  70  94 /   0   0  10   0
PONCA CITY OK     71  93  70  92 /   0   0   0   0
DURANT OK         71  94  71  94 /  10  10  10   0

&&

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

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 31, 6:45 PM CST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
745 PM CDT MON AUG 31 2015

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-011700-
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-
745 PM CDT MON AUG 31 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN...
WESTERN...CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH
TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

.THUNDERSTORMS...
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES RETURN TO PARTS OF NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA BY SUNDAY
AS A STORM SYSTEM PUSHES A WEAK SURFACE FRONT TOWARD THE AREA.

GET GRAPHICS AND MORE DETAILS AT WEATHER.GOV/NORMAN...AND FOLLOW
OUR WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK.

MBS/30

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Atoka

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Atoka forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.374, -96.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Bryan

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Bryan forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 33.962, -96.260 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Johnston

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Johnston forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.317, -96.661 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Marshall

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.025, -96.769 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Murray

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Murray forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.482, -97.068 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Carter

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Carter forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.251, -97.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Love

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Love forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 33.950, -97.244 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Jefferson

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.111, -97.836 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Stephens

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Stephens forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.486, -97.851 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cotton

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Cotton forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.290, -98.372 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Comanche

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Comanche forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.662, -98.472 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Tillman

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Tillman forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.373, -98.924 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Jackson

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.588, -99.415 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Harmon

When: September 1, 12:00 AM CST to September 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Harmon forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 34.744, -99.846 (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 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, September 2015

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: 598287, 598288, 598289, 598290, 598291, 598292, 598293, 598294, 598295, 598296, 598297, 598298, 598299, 598300.