January

Considering the extreme precipitation that ended 2015, and with the “super” El Niño that boosted the November-December period to the wettest on record for the state still in place, January was a veritable dud. According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average precipitation total was 0.71 inches, nearly an inch below normal and the 28th driest January since records began in 1895. Only 29 of the Mesonet’s 120 stations recorded at least an inch of rain, and only three exceeded 2 inches. Cloudy led all Mesonet sites with 2.45 inches.

The old adage "numbers never lie" is a good principle in theory, but often dangerous if used within the context of Oklahoma's eccentric weather patterns. For example, the statewide average temperature and precipitation values for January ended very close to normal, but the journey to those numbers was anything but. The first half of the month was frigid and mostly dry, somewhat typical of a cold Oklahoma January. Around the 15th, however, the weather decided it was time for spring a couple of months early.

January seemed destined to finish on the dry side of normal, just as the eight months previous to it had, before a late-month burst of spring changed its fortunes. Tornado watches covered much of the eastern two-thirds of the state on the 29th, a by-product of the storm system that also dumped 1-3 inches of rain across parts of that same area. There were no confirmed tornadoes in Oklahoma, but reports of large hail and wind damage were scattered across the state.