2023 Year In Review

January started out very warm. Below is a graph of the departure from normal for average temperatures (statewide).

Severe storms developed over northeastern Oklahoma and produced 5 tornadoes in NWS Tulsa's forecast area on January 2, 2023. This is the earliest date on record for tornadoes to occur in Oklahoma during a calendar year.

The first winter storm of the year brought snow to parts of Oklahoma and western north Texas on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. The highest snowfall measurement received was 8.9 inches in Erick with snow accumulations of 6 to 8 inches observed over western Oklahoma. Parts of central and eastern Oklahoma recorded 4 to 6 inches of snowfall.

The colder temperatures and bouts of wintry weather continued into early February.

Another storm system brought rain and snow to our forecast area on February 8 with generally 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulation observed over parts of central Oklahoma. Isolated amounts of near 6 to 8 inches were observed in west-central Oklahoma between Weatherford and Oklahoma City.

Peak wind gusts during the afternoon on February 14th were as high as 70 mph across the Oklahoma Panhandle, but wind gusts of 40-60 mph were common across the area. This led to a windy and dusty Valentines Day.

February 26 ^th  was the first big severe weather day of the year. Multiple tornadoes occurred, including one that was around a mile away from our office on the south side of Norman.

SHORT TERM... (This evening through Monday) Issued at 345 PM CST Sun Feb 26 2023 A remarkable, perhaps historic storm system, is currently approaching our forecast area. Impacts of concern through tonight: - Severe thunderstorm wind gusts (greater than 80 mph) as storms move through west/central/north Oklahoma and parts of western north Texas - Severe (post-frontal) westerly winds gusting to 60 mph following the line of storms - Significant tornadoes and significant hail produced by severe storms as they track across northwest, west, west-central, southwest Oklahoma and portions of western north Texas The potent mid/upper-level trough is currently approaching the four corners region, as seen on latest water vapor loop. Observations place the warm front near or just north of I-20 near the DFW area, though the boundary is quickly approaching the Red River with the Waurika mesonet station reporting 68 over 58 degrees. This trend will continue with a warm and very moist air mass advecting into Oklahoma through the afternoon and evening hours asthe trough approaches the plains. Supercell thunderstorms are currently developing over the western panhandles and far southwest Kansas. Storms will continue to develop, march east, and reach our western counties around 5-7 PM. SBCAPE values up to 1500 J/kg are prog'd (far southwest OK and western north TX) with low to non-existent values farther north, there is remarkable (and highly unusual) wind shear. This along with rapid cooling aloft will aid in development/continuation of supercell thunderstorms across western Oklahoma through the evening. The higher tornado and large hail risk will accompany these storms as they move across western Oklahoma before transitioning to more of a derecho/wind event over west- central/southwest/central Oklahoma this evening and into tonight. However, QLCS tornadoes cannot be ruled out as storms move through central Oklahoma. Strong winds will continue behind the front and into the early morning hours on Monday. Everyone should have a safety plan in place by now, and by this evening: + People located in mobile homes should urgently plan to vacate to nearby/permanent structures + Have multiple ways to receive warnings as power outages appear quite possible with damaging winds + Charge digital devices and cell phones + Secure or put away loose items (e.g., trash cans, trampolines, grills, basketball goals) Thompson

Below-average temperatures were observed for much of March, including spring break.

.SHORT TERM... (Today and tonight) Issued at 335 AM CST Thu Mar 2 2023 ...On the hazard(s) front, a few storms from the mid-afternoon through late evening are likely to provide additional chances for severe weather. Large hail will remain a threat with any severe-criteria updraft/storm. However, the big question remains how robust does the damaging wind and tornado potential get this evening across southern zones (mainly far southern/southeastern Oklahoma). This threat will be highly dependent on the spatial evolution of the warm sector/warm front through the day today. Current indications are for the effective warm front to slant from far southeastern Oklahoma (near or just south of the Red River) towards central Texas by the afternoon. Any storm within or south of the frontal zone will have the potential to produce damaging wind gusts and perhaps a tornado through the evening. Given an expected complex evolution of both synoptic and mesoscale features today, this event will be one where frequent evaluation of our 'nowcast' products/discussion is rather important, especially for interestsin southeastern Oklahoma. Another warm season hazard to monitor today is the potential for isolated flash flooding, especially across the southeastern corner of the forecast area. This threat is expected to peak from the evening through early Friday morning, and is aided by seasonally anomalous (approaching record max) magnitudes of Precipitable Water, a strengthening (southerly) low-level jet, and potential for repeated rounds of storms over similar locales. As such, a Flood Watch has been introduced for Bryan and Atoka counties, though isolated flash flood concern extends across much of far southern/southeastern Oklahoma, especially for usual flashy locations. As the upper low shifts overhead through early Friday, additional wrap-around showers are expected across a broad expanse of the area. For northern portions of the CWA (north of I-40), a period of a rain-snow mix (perhaps briefly mainly snow) continues to remain a distinct possibility. Though rates may be locally high, especially into early Friday morning, borderline temperatures cast doubt on impact (and accumulations) beyond grassy/elevated surfaces. Ungar

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 10 PM CDT FRIDAY... .DISCUSSION... Fire weather will be a concern for the next several days across our area. Friday will be the day of greatest concern. Extreme fire weather will occur with winds gusting to 55 mph and relative humidity dropping near or below 10 percent. However, fuels will not be particularly receptive. Fire weather will be near-critical on Sunday and Monday in western Oklahoma and western north Texas as fuels continue to dry, and critical fire weather will occur on Tuesday across a large portion of our area.

.SHORT TERM... (This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 449 PM CDT Tue Apr 18 2023 the surface cyclone will move eastward through Kansas, continuing the strong southerly and southwesterly winds throughout Oklahoma and northern Texas. With the more westerly component of the winds, the dryline is expected the move further east Wednesday, with it expected to encroach into central Oklahoma as well as northern Texas. A similar situation to Tuesday, a stable capping layer will develop to prevent any widespread storms, however additional support with an upper-level shortwave ahead of a large trough as well as increased temperatures at the surface may be enough to produce some storms. If storms do develop, moderate instability (SBCAPE ~ 3000 J/kg) and shear (0-6km ~ 35kts), as well as strong anvil layer flow (Cloud Layer Winds > 60kts) will likley result in some large to potentially significant hail to occur, along with damaging wind.

Much needed rain fell across Oklahoma and northern Texas during the late winter and early spring. To see more information on the drought relief, visit our  storymap .

.SHORT TERM... (Today and tonight) Issued at 405 AM CDT Thu May 11 2023 Today's weather issue is of course the severe weather potential. Severe storms. An increasingly unstable atmosphere, good 6 km shear decent low-level shear (especially as a low-level jet increases around sunset), and the cap becoming breakable by mid-late afternoon are creating a favorable environment for supercells and severe weather late this afternoon and into this evening. There are also some restraining issues as well though. The biggest will be a little uncertainty on how much instability we will be able to realized today with widespread cloudiness associated with the current convection in the Texas panhandles as well as any convective modification of the low-level thermodynamics. Another issue is that the mid-level and upper-level jet will be over a fairly narrow area of northwest Oklahoma as the upper-level storm system shifts northeastward from New Mexico into eastern Colorado and northwest Kansas. There is weaker flow over the remainder of the area. In fact, the 300 mb flow across much of the area away from the jet is actually relatively light which is not ideal for storm-top ventilation. Forcing is also relatively weak with the primary area of differential positive vorticity advection occurring close to the ejecting low in the northwest, and the good upper level diffluence also confined to the northwest. Although this lack of forcing may work against us as well by preventing widespread storm development since there is forecast to be little convective inhibition by late this afternoon, allowing developing supercells to be more isolated and potentially stronger. Some of the forecast models also show a less unstable layer between the LCL and the LFC which, if true, could prevent the rapid low-level vertical acceleration of the updrafts. Despite the negatives listed above, the rest of the set up today is rather concerning for the potential of significant severe weather with any storms that do develop. And in that environment, even if only one or two supercell storms develop because of the negatives listed, they still have the potential to be very significant storms. So the general expectations are that the current convection in the panhandles will likely continue to weaken, and at the moment it does not seem like the storms are organized enough to significantly affect the low-level thermodynamics later today. The cloud cover associated with the current convection will linger into the morning, then likely dissipate allowing warming/destabilization of the airmass near the dryline later today. Many models suggest some high- based showers or storms developing and moving across northwest and western Oklahoma, but severe weather is not expected with these showers. There is some uncertainty on how far the dryline will mix east today with 00Z hi-res ARW and FV3 models mixing the dryline out to near the US-81 corridor, but most models and recent CAMs suggest it set up farther west when storms will likely develop late this afternoon. There has been a signal in some of the models of a dryline bulge somewhere in southwestern Oklahoma with the strongest signal being in the general Hobart/Anadarko area. The backing winds east of the dryline associated with this may provide an enhanced potential of both storm development and low-level shear. If storms do develop in this area, we will definitely have to watch the potential of these storms moving into the OKC metro area. But storms may develop elsewhere along the dryline and all of the enhanced risk area (and even the slight risk area) should be alert today. Storms will generally be moving east-northeast or east and will exit the area before sunrise Friday. /26

 NWS Norman StoryMap for the May 19, 2013 Tornado Outbreak   NWS Norman StoryMap for the May 20, 2013 Tornado Outbreak   NWS Norman StoryMap for the May 31, 2013 Tornado Outbreak & Historic Flooding Event   NWS Norman Roundtable: Remembering the 2013 Tornadoes (YouTube) 

June, as usual, ended up being a rainy month, with most of the area receiving more than 6 inches of rainfall

July 2023, as you might guess...started out: rainy. The Cooperative Observer in Oklahoma City recorded at least some rainfall for the first 11 days of the month.

The rainfall of early July didn't last long, and by the end of July, things were back to normal for much of Oklahoma and north Texas. Especially in Wichita Falls, the temperatures were unfortunately breaking a lot of records.

The weather was generally quiet in October, but there was a decent eclipse on the 14th, which the satellites were able to capture nicely.

November did some November things. After a very cold start to the month, temperatures rose quickly and then became very up and down. While the entire month of November turned out to be quite average...we did see some very early freezes (about two weeks earlier than usual) in Oklahoma and north Texas.

Just after Thanksgiving, we had our first taste of winter for the season, but only in Northwest Oklahoma.

December was generally quiet...until the holidays. Rounds of heavy rain began on the 23rd of December, with most of the area getting a good soaking rainfall.

Lowest and highest recorded temperatures across central and western Oklahoma, as well as north Texas. Zoom in to see the date of the extreme temperatures in 2023. A date with a "+" sign means that the temperature was hit on multiple dates.

Drought Monitor by week: 2023