June 1, 2023
By News Director Jared Atha
Despite a wet May, drought conditions remain in western Oklahoma.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, the western Oklahoma counties that border Texas all show to still be in D3 or “extreme drought” conditions.
Those counties include Jackson, Beckham, Roger Mills and Ellis.
In fact the conditions are similar in both southwest and northwest Oklahoma, with portions of northwest Oklahoma described as being in an “exceptional drought” – the highest drought rating according to the monitor.
However conditions do improve in central and eastern Oklahoma with the majority of the east side of the state showing no drought conditions.
However the month of May showed good signs of breaking the drought with rain totals well above normal when compared to years past.
In a 30-day span, Elk City received 4.6” of rain, Clinton just under 5”, and Weatherford just over 5.3”. Cheyenne is shown to have received 4.9” and Butler, just north of Foss Lake, received over 5.1” of rain.
Speaking of Foss Lake, even with the rain data collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still shows that the lake is 5.3’ below normal levels.
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