Recent rains leave Oklahoma with its lowest drought in over a year

KOSU | By Graycen Wheeler

Published July 14, 2023 at 9:41 AM CDT

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Elmer Thomas Lake in Southwestern Oklahoma, pictured in September 2022.

Graycen Wheeler

After most of the state received days of heavy rainfall, Oklahoma’s drought report looks refreshing. Only a quarter of the state remains in moderate to exceptional drought, although another third is still classified as “abnormally dry.”

The U.S. Drought Monitor calculates the severity of drought on a scale from 0 to 500, where 0 would indicate a drought-free state and 500 would mean the entire state is under the most severe category of drought.

Last October, the current drought in Oklahoma hit its peak at 412 on that drought severity index. But this week, the state dropped below 100 on that scale for the first time in over a year.

That’s likely thanks to recent rains — the past month has been wetter than normal for this time of year across most of the state, according to the Oklahoma Mesonet.

Still, about half a million Oklahomans remain in a drought. The most severe drought is in Northern and Southwestern Oklahoma.

The U.S. Drought Monitor releases a new report every Thursday.

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Recent rains leave Oklahoma with its lowest drought in over a year

After most of the state received days of heavy rainfall, Oklahoma’s drought report looks refreshing. Only a quarter of the state remains in moderate to exceptional drought, although another third is still classified as “abnormally dry.”

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