WFO Norman Year in Review - 2022

The drought continued to worsen through mid- March, as very little rainfall occurred since January. On the afternoon of March 20th, a volatile combination of strong winds, dry air, and warm temperatures combined to spark several fires across several states.

Multiple fires broke out across several states. On the satellite loop to the right, you can see the smoke plumes and fire signatures (yellow) as seen from space. Also of note is a dust storm in West Texas, roughly between Midland, Lubbock, and Amarillo. Unfortunately, the fires led to one firefighter death in southwest Oklahoma

Tornadoes occurred near the Red River, beginning in Grayson County, Texas before moving into southern Marshall County, Oklahoma. The storm system produced 5 tornadoes. More information found here:  The Severe Weather Event of March 21, 2022 

More information can be found on this event on this website:  The Severe Weather Event of April 23-24, 2022 

Numerous severe thunderstorms developed across portions of northern and central Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of May 2, 2022. Storms developed along and just ahead of a fast-moving cold front. As such, storms tended to form into a line quickly after initiation. Still, a pair of semi-discrete supercells persisted across central and north central Oklahoma during the late afternoon into early evening. Given cold temperatures aloft (associated with the main upper-level system), large hail was the main severe hazard type observed with these storms during this event, though a few tornadoes and sporadic wind damage also occurred across the NWS Norman warning area.

More information on these storms can be found at this website:  The Severe Weather Event of May 2, 2022  &  The Severe Weather and Tornado Outbreak of May 4, 2022 

The pair of semi-discrete supercells that traveled across central into north central Oklahoma both became weakly tornadic. The first storm tracked across northern Blaine and Kingfisher counties producing a few brief and weak tornadoes near the town of Loyal, OK. An additional supercell thunderstorm tracked along the U.S. Interstate Highway I-44 corridor from northern Comanche County to Seminole County, OK. The first tornado from this storm significantly damaged a mobile home near the town of Cyril, OK in Caddo County. An additional tornado occurred as the parent supercell began to merge with an expansive quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) along the cold front. This EF-1 tornado moved just south of Seminole, OK, where similar areas would be affected by a significant tornado two days later on May 4, 2022. Additional (weak) tornadoes occurred with the QLCS across Noble and Payne counties.

Additional pictures and data on the link below

Multiple rounds of nighttime thunderstorms occurred over the first half of the month of June. Over 5 inches of rain fell across a large swath of the area, with a few exceptions.

After several rounds of thunderstorms and localized flooding, the rain stopped, and the heat started building.

The rains did make it extremely humid and unbearable for a time.

After about a month, record highs started to be in danger of falling.

By the end of July, the drought had come back, thanks to extremely little rain since the flooding of early June.

More information about the tornado near Calera on November 4th at this website:  November 4, 2022 Tornado (arcgis.com) 

The first strong front of the season moved through the region in mid-November, producing a band of snow across northwestern Oklahoma.

After a generally mild fall and early December, temperatures dropped rapidly just before Christmas. On the 22nd, an arctic cold front moved through the south plains, dropping temperatures around 20 degrees in a few hours. Temperatures dropped to around 20, but the wind chill readings dropped to -30 or below.

The cold air was no surprise, as the forecast for several days showed the temperature and the wind chill to be falling rapidly.

On the right are two maps - one for the highest temperatures recorded in 2022...across WFO Norman's area of responsibility. The other is the coldest temperature recorded in 2022. Swipe left or right to see the highest and lowest values for your area in the past year (2022). If you zoom in far enough, you can see the date that these temperatures were reported.

• Lowest Temperature: 2 ^o 
• Date of Lowest Temp: Dec 22
• Highest Temperature: 110 ^o 
• Date of Highest Temp: July 19
• Number of 100-degree days: 24
• 2022 Rainfall: 26.26
• Normal Rainfall: 36.29
• Difference: -10.03

• Lowest Temperature: 9 ^o 
• Date of Lowest Temp: Dec 22, 23
• Highest Temperature: 115 ^o 
• Date of Highest Temp: July 19
• Number of 100-degree days: 63
• 2022 Rainfall: 19.37"
• Normal Rainfall: 27.81"
• Difference: -8.44"

• Lowest Temperature: 7 ^o 
• Date of Lowest Temp: Jan 21
• Highest Temperature: 114 ^o 
• Date of Highest Temp: July 19
• Number of 100-degree days: 54
• 2022 Rainfall: 27.20"
• Normal Rainfall: 27.39"
• Difference: -0.19"