Drought Conditions Disappearing in Western Oklahoma

July 6, 2023

By News Director Jared Atha

The latest drought monitor has been released and as expected, conditions have improved in Western Oklahoma after the last 30 days of rain have shown impressive accumulations.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor‘s latest data that was released Thursday, the driest conditions in the region appear to be in Southwest Oklahoma with Greer, Kiowa, and Harmon Counties shown to still be in a severe drought, while Beckham, and Washita Countes are shown to be in moderate to abnormally dry. Custer County is described to be abnormally dry, while the major benefactor of the recent rains, Roger Mills County, shows to be either in abnormally dry conditions or no drought conditions at all.

The worse drought conditions are shown to be in Osage County in northern Oklahoma with the monitor showing the northern part of the county to be in an exceptional drought – the highest on the monitor’s intensity rating.

The last 30 days have been good to Western Oklahoma when it comes to rain.

According to the Oklahoma Mesonet, over the last 30 days, Cheyenne has received just over 8.2″ of rain – the most in the state. Butler received 7.8″, Elk City and Weatherford 6.4″ each, and Erick receiving 3.3″.

An area of the state that typically is the driest, the panhandle, also benefited from the rainy June.

Mesonet sites show that Beaver received just over 7″ of rain and Hooker received just under 6″.

Local lakes are benefiting from the rain as well.

Foss Reservoir has risen but still shows to be 3′ below normal level, however runoff from the Washita River out of Roger Mills County could bring the lake up to normal levels soon.