Drought Expands Despite Historic Rainfall
In a display of Oklahoma’s famously chaotic weather patterns, August brought historic rains to portions of central and eastern Oklahoma while drought continued to intensify and spread over other sections of the state. A remarkable 6 to 12 inches of rain fell from northwest to central Oklahoma within 12 hours on Aug. 11, with a volunteer observer near Noble in Cleveland County recording 11.01 inches–a 500-year rainfall event according to NOAA statistics. Oklahoma City set a new record for its highest single-day August rainfall at 6.58 inches, surpassing the previous mark of 5.06 inches set on Aug. 14, 2018. This also ranked as the city’s seventh-highest daily total for any month on record, dating back to 1890. The deluge caused widespread flash flooding, leading to flooded homes and businesses, road closures, and water rescues. Eastern Oklahoma also saw significant rainfall that day, with 4 to 8 inches falling in and around Muskogee County. Another heavy rain event of 4 to 8 inches occurred in far east-central Oklahoma on Aug. 16-17, primarily affecting Adair and Cherokee counties.
09/04/2024 04:00 AM