After a March that featured nearly every tumultous weather pattern the state has to offer, flipping the calendar page on Friday to more predictable April showers was a reassuring return to normalcy.

Rain fell across Kingfisher County and the state both Friday and Saturday.

The two-day rainfall report at the Mesonet station on the Mueggenborg farm west of Kingfisher totaled .07 inch.

Similar light moisture reports came from across the area with Watonga, Minco, Blackwell, Red Rock and Perkins, also showing .07 inch.

Other Mesonet amounts recorded included the following: El Reno, 0.21, Guthrie, 0.10; Marshall, .08; Hinton, .19; Shawnee, .20, and Norman .12 inch.

Heavier amounts were reported in southwest Oklahoma with Medicine Park recording .46 inch, Mangum .48 inch and Tipton .31 inch.

Additional light showers fell over the weekend, totaling .07 inch at the National Weather Service station gauge in Kingfisher.

However much heavier rainfall occurred in southeastern sections of the state, including 3.18 inches at Idabel, 3.04 inches at Broken Bow, and 2.46 inches at Seminole. Area 24-hour reports for the weekend, according to Mesonet readings, included .02 inch at Guthrie, .01 inch at El Reno and .01 inch at Hinton.

March’s weather ran the gamut of nearly all the hazards Oklahoma has to offer, befitting a seasonal transition month in the Southern Plains.

Winter got the first crack with a blast of arctic air during the month’s second week. Temperatures plummeted and a storm system blanketed the northern half of the state with 2-3 inches of snow.

The frozen weather resulted in numerous traffic accidents and closed many businesses and schools. Spring took its turn with at least three tornadoes rumbling out of Texas across Love, Marshall, and Johnston counties on March 21.

The twisters produced significant damage in and around the Kingston and Lake Texoma area, destroying homes and knocking out power to nearly 10,000 customers. Several injuries were reported with the storms, and one fatality occurred across the state line in Texas. One of the tornadoes was rated as an EF2 by National Weather Service personnel that surveyed the damage.

Other severe storms occurred on March 17 and 29 with scattered reports of large hail and high winds. Fire danger was a common occurrence throughout the month, a result of the continued dry conditions.

Several large fires burned out of control during the last week of March, including the Washita River fire that spread from the Texas Panhandle into Roger Mills County in Oklahoma.

The fire, which was still not contained at month’s end, burned nearly 40,000 acres and at least eight structures. The ongoing drought was a constant backdrop to the other weather hazards.

Dry conditions that began late in the summer of 2021 were somewhat alleviated by the rain and snow during March.

Coverage of the drought dropped through the month from 87 percent at the end of February to 76 percent at the end of March according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The most intense areas of drought – extreme and exceptional – dropped from 52 to 34 percent over that time.

According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average precipitation total finished at 2.45 inches for the month, 0.33 inches below normal and ranked as the 60th wettest March since records began in 1895.

Totals ranged from 6.73 inches at Broken Bow to 0.17 inches at Kenton. While deficits were not terribly large, generally ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 inches, they were still prevalent across much of the state.

Conditions were much drier in far southwestern Oklahoma and the western Panhandle, and wetter in the northern and eastern sections of the state.

Fifteen of the Mesonet’s 120 sites recorded less than an inch for the month, and another 27 had less than 2 inches.