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Very heavy rains fell on the last two days of the month, resulting in a wet August 2003 rank (13th wettest) for the state. However, much of the last two months (July-August) was extremely dry. July 2003 ranked as the 11th driest July in the 109-year record, and much of the state had well below normal rainfall for July 30-August 28. Satellite observations of August surface wetness and end-of-month vegetative health showed overall dry, stressed conditions, especially in the west. August 31 USDA reports indicated 74% of the state's topsoil moisture was rated "poor" to "very poor" and 43% of the state's pasture and range land was in "poor" to "very poor" condition.
As noted by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (Derek Arndt), most farm ponds in western Oklahoma were completely dry, and the rest were down.
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NCDC /
Clim. Monitoring /
Climate-2003 /
Aug /
U.S. Regional Drought /
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