Weather and Agriculture: A Plains Perspective
An Oklahoma Mesonet Project
You’ve got a busy day ahead! If part of the day’s work is spraying, it’s tempting to kick on the sprayer as the morning sun lights up your crop and soil. If you’re spraying a herbicide, you don’t want to spray when an inversion is present.
Morning mist is a visible indicator of an inversion, but don’t assume an inversion is gone. The mist maybe gone, but inversion may still be in place. Read on for a sure way to know when an inversion has fully dissipated.
The stage was set. The players for a drama of tragic proportions assembled. Two leads waited their cue. Already on stage were fine dead fuels from previous growing seasons, low moisture in February, and super low humidities. The next player in the drama entered, high wind speeds. This article is part 3 of 3 articles exploring weather conditions that set the stage for the Northwest Oklahoma Complex Fires that broke out on Monday, March 6, 2017.
(Photo: Terena Burke Bridwell/Barby Ranch Beaver County)
At 11:00 AM March 6th winds across Beaver County were out of the southwest. Wind speed at the Oklahoma Mesonet Beaver site was 37 miles per hour. Continue reading
When we have dry, dead grass, low humidity, and strong, gusty winds, it only takes a spark to setoff a disastrous fire. That’s what we had a week ago on Tuesday, April 5th.
(Image: Oklahoma Highway Patrol/Roy Anderson)
Arcing power lines sparked fires early Tuesday afternoon approximately six miles north of Woodward. Four fires merged into one fire. Firefighters from across the state responded to the call, yet even with the assistance of five aerial tankers by Thursday morning the fire had burned 54,200 acres and was only 10% contained. For this fire, named the 350 Complex, it would be take until the morning of April 11 to reach 80% containment. Continue reading
