5 ms·

I live on this line (Oklahoma). We go through feast or famine with water here and have for 100s of years. Here's a nice graph from OWRB (old 2011 data but stil

I live on this line (Oklahoma). We go through feast or famine with water here and have for 100s of years. Here's a nice graph from OWRB (old 2011 data but still shows the swings): https://i.imgur.com/vLA1hAk.png https://i.imgur.com/vLA1hAk.png Source: (slow loading) http://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/pdf_dro/DroughtFactSheet2011.pdf http://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/pdf_dro/DroughtFactShe... It's on page 2.

tantalor 9y ago
If rainfall is normally distributed, then this outcome is expected anywhere. Are you trying to say that the average (34") is near the threshold for feast/famine?
- justherefortart 9y ago
  Feast or famine was a turn of phrase, meant to illustrate that we're either flooding or in a drought along this 100th Meridian.
Retric 9y ago
The minimum seems to be ~19 inches which is quite a bit of rain. Around 1/2 the US averages less than that: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/climate/US%20Climate%20Maps/Lower%2048%20States/Precipitation/Mean%20Total%20Precipitation/Gallery/mean-total-precipitation.html http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/climate/US%20Climate%20...
- justherefortart 9y ago
  This is the state average. Typically the western part of the state (west of the 100th Meridian) is dry as a bone and in constant drought, while the eastern side is flush with water. Along the 100th we get both extremes. This summarizes it pretty much perfectly: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?OK http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor...
  - davidw 9y ago
    I'm not well versed in that kind of thing, but doesn't "drought" just mean with respect to the average? In other words, what counts for a drought in western Oregon is different from a drought in southern Arizona, right?
    - planteen 9y ago
      Yes, drought is for a region based on its averages. One problem is droughts and wet spells can happen on periods with length of a decade.
hinkley 9y ago
During the flood of ‘93 things got so bad there were college professors making allowances for people who wanted (or needed) to leave school and go bag sand along the Mississippi. Edit: this despite the peak of the flood happening weeks before fall semesters were due to start. Wonder when the next one will be.
neuronexmachina 9y ago
From the article, it looks like precipitation has varied normally, but temperature has been increasing: > Now, the researchers say, warming climate appears to be pushing the divide east. In the northern plains, rainfall has not changed much, but temperatures are going up, increasing evaporation from the soil. Further south, concurrent shifts in wind patterns are in fact causing less rain to fall. Either way, this tends to push western aridity eastward. Data collected since about 1980 suggests that the statistical divide between humid and arid has now shifted closer to the 98th meridian, some 140 miles east. You can see the statewide temperature increase over time here: http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/climate/climate_trends/temperature_history_annual_statewide/CD00/tavg/Annual/oklahoma_climate http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/climate/climate_trends/tempe...

tantalor 9y ago

If rainfall is normally distributed, then this outcome is expected anywhere. Are you trying to say that the average (34") is near the threshold for feast/famine?

justherefortart 9y ago
Feast or famine was a turn of phrase, meant to illustrate that we're either flooding or in a drought along this 100th Meridian.

Retric 9y ago

The minimum seems to be ~19 inches which is quite a bit of rain. Around 1/2 the US averages less than that: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/climate/US%20Climate%20Maps/Lower%2048%20States/Precipitation/Mean%20Total%20Precipitation/Gallery/mean-total-precipitation.html http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/climate/US%20Climate%20...

justherefortart 9y ago
This is the state average. Typically the western part of the state (west of the 100th Meridian) is dry as a bone and in constant drought, while the eastern side is flush with water. Along the 100th we get both extremes. This summarizes it pretty much perfectly: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?OK http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor...
- davidw 9y ago
  I'm not well versed in that kind of thing, but doesn't "drought" just mean with respect to the average? In other words, what counts for a drought in western Oregon is different from a drought in southern Arizona, right?
  - planteen 9y ago
    Yes, drought is for a region based on its averages. One problem is droughts and wet spells can happen on periods with length of a decade.

hinkley 9y ago

During the flood of ‘93 things got so bad there were college professors making allowances for people who wanted (or needed) to leave school and go bag sand along the Mississippi. Edit: this despite the peak of the flood happening weeks before fall semesters were due to start. Wonder when the next one will be.

neuronexmachina 9y ago

From the article, it looks like precipitation has varied normally, but temperature has been increasing: > Now, the researchers say, warming climate appears to be pushing the divide east. In the northern plains, rainfall has not changed much, but temperatures are going up, increasing evaporation from the soil. Further south, concurrent shifts in wind patterns are in fact causing less rain to fall. Either way, this tends to push western aridity eastward. Data collected since about 1980 suggests that the statistical divide between humid and arid has now shifted closer to the 98th meridian, some 140 miles east. You can see the statewide temperature increase over time here: http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/climate/climate_trends/temperature_history_annual_statewide/CD00/tavg/Annual/oklahoma_climate http://climate.ok.gov/index.php/climate/climate_trends/tempe...