Oklahoma Celebrates As Spring Rains End Six-year Drought

There's always a silver lining to bad situations. As much as we're feeling like we're drowning in Oklahoma this year, there's some good to be said about this year's spring storms. Meteorologist Damon Lane shared news that should be making every Oklahoman beam with pride, as all of the rain has officially made the state of Oklahoma droughtless for the first time in six years.

Normally, Oklahoma starts to see a downhill slide of storms once the beginning of June arrives. Unfortunately, that usually means the summer heat takes it's place and before long, we're all wishing we could get some relief. This year, however, we're seeing more rain in parts of the state than we have in years.

Since we are approaching the first day of summer in Oklahoma, June 20, maybe we should start looking at what this year's hottest season has in store for us. Will we be baking in humidity? Should we expect to see storms throughout the summer season?

Oklahoma has been in a drought every year since 2019.

According to Lane, the last time Oklahoma was completely droughtless was July 23, 2019. That year, Oklahoma also happened to have a record-breaking number of tornadoes with 149 hitting the state.

According to the National Weather Service, "this almost tripled the average annual total since 1950 of 56 Oklahoma tornadoes."

They also wrote that 2019 was one of the "most active years on record for tornadoes in the United States" with an estimated 1,520 tornadoes hitting the country that year.

Oklahoma also had tornadoes popping outside of the normal spring season in 2019, spawning tornadoes in August, October and December that year.

What do experts say is in store for this year?

We all know it's going to be hot, regardless of how much severe weather we have this year - that's just the truth about living in Oklahoma. The question is: what else is coming along with the heat? Ironically, experts and the Almanac are predicting that the "droughtless" state we're in now won't last forever.

If you're listening to the Farmer's Almanac, things are looking pretty quiet for the summer season:

"As for summery weather, predictions indicate a gradual buildup to record-breaking heat. June temperatures will be near normal in most regions (though not all), meaning the summer heat won’t surge too quickly.

However, July and August will bring above-normal temperatures across most regions, with only a few exceptions. Given recent trends, we wouldn’t be surprised to see record-breaking heat."

Other weather experts from the National Weather Service and AccuWeather has released their predictions for the summer and can be found here.

Guess the real silver lining for the recent rains is true like always: enjoy the rain while it lasts.