Upcoming chase factor? looking for experienced help...

[Brendon Lindsey]

So I was doing some thinking the other day and came to the assumption that we have had alot of precipitation this winter in Oklahoma. The ground has been thoroughly saturated plenty of times. I think regardless of how cold the temperature above ground is the water is still stored in the soil. So say when it warms up, this would mean more evaporation. Now when all the moisture is now in the atmosphere free floating, would the moisture from the GOM return quicker? I think the moisture would return quicker and in greater amounts... just seeing if anyone knows of anything about this?

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Groundwater Seeping?

I'm not a Geology major (but I slept in a Holiday Inn Express! ). I would surmise that NOT all of the moisture left in the ground from winter would evaporate entirely into the atmosphere comes spring time and warmer weather.

Some would be used up by the plants (grass, trees, flowers). Some would be utlilized by the bugs. worms and microbes in the ground. I think a significant amount of moisture would seep down thru the ground into layers that feed the groundwater aquifiers.

It has been noted both by farmers and soil experts that groundwater levels tends to rise and fall by seasonal rain and drought conditions. Back when NE was in a drought situation, the irrigators were put under restrictions. And cities like Lincoln and Omaha NE underwent water usage restrictions when the lowering water table threatened to expose the well heads, where the pumps were located at the bottom of the wells.

I would think OK would be in better shape for the coming spring/summer season for farmers and irrigators alike!

 

[Skip Talbot]

I'm not sure if you mean return quicker as in the warm weather returning more quickly or which is a faster process, warm air advection or evaporation. if the latter, I think that can vary greatly depending on the surface heating you get and the strength of passing storm systems. You're going to need the solar heating on the surface to get evaporation, and your going to need southerly winds (preferrably a strong low level jet) to advect moisture off the Gulf into the Plains. I do know that evaporation usually enhances only the lower levels of the atmosphere (especially initially until it mixes) and that you typically get a deeper moisture layer from advection off the Gulf so this is generally the preferred method of moisture return when forecasting thunderstorms.