For the first time in nearly six years, the state of Oklahoma is drought-free.
The U.S. Drought Monitor reported zero areas of drought across the state for the first time since July 2019. Over the past seven months, widespread and heavy rains have replenished soil moisture and restored water levels in local lakes, state climatologist Gary McManus said on the June 5 Oklahoma Mesonet ticker.
First, November 2024 was the wettest November on state record. Then, in April 2025, Oklahoma experienced a statewide average rainfall of 8.74 inches, surpassing the previous April record of 8.32 inches set in 1942.
Phil Ware, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman, said rainfall was above normal in May, as well, and so far in June.
“We just had kind of repeated rounds of showers and storms over the Southern Plains,” Ware said. “So that basically meant that we had several low pressure systems that moved across the plains, and we had a lot of moisture that was brought up from the Gulf of Mexico. And that provided the fuel for, in general, a lot of rain in April … So the three consecutive months of above normal rainfalls is what put a big dent in the drought.”
How the drought impacted Oklahoma
The most recent drought episode really began in August of 2021, McManus said. During the two years before that, there were small areas of drought throughout the state.
It was a year later, August 2022, when the city of Oklahoma City drew water from Canton Lake to replenish its drinking water source at Lake Hefner — the first time since 2013, which devastated the lake and the surrounding community, which relied on the tourism income the lake brought.
Not only did Oklahoma communities struggle with drinking water, but the agricultural industry was impacted heavily, McManus said. Crops were lost or not able to thrive to begin with, bringing down financial losses on Oklahoma farmers.
Drought status in Oklahoma in June 2022. Heavy rainfall in late May and early June 2025 ended a nearly 6-year drought in the state.
“When you look back at the impacts, it was really probably a multi-billion-dollar disaster for the state of Oklahoma,” McManus said. “When you’re looking at agriculture alone, you’re well over a billion dollars through (the second half of 2021 through 2024).”
There are other impacts, too, McManus said. Tourism took a hit, as well as homeowners who dealt with damage to foundations from contracting soils. And, he added, Oklahomans “can’t forget the fire seasons that we had during that time frame, too.”
Will the drought stay away in Oklahoma this summer?
Conditions are favorable to hold the drought at bay, at least for the next few weeks, McManus said.
But especially in an Oklahoma summer, what’s called a “flash drought” can happen very quickly. McManus added that during the summer, while we may tire of the heat, too much rainfall can be a bad thing.
“If we continue to get too much rainfall, you’re putting Oklahoma’s winter wheat crop in jeopardy,” McManus said. “This time of year, you really want to rainfall to start slacking off and the heat to come back and cure that wheat crop.”
Summer outlooks suggest potential challenges ahead. The Climate Prediction Center predicts that Oklahoma may experience above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation throughout June, July and August. But that’s not “set in stone,” Ware clarified.
“These seasonal outlooks, they’re kind of an educated guess,” Ware said. “It’s based on the data that we have, but there’s definitely all these examples of times where it kind of goes the opposite direction of what you’d expect.”
What are Oklahoma’s drought levels?
This Oklahoma Mesonet map displays drought severity levels across Oklahoma, and here’s where Oklahoma stands for each level:
D0 (Abnormally Dry): 9.83%
D1 (Moderate Drought): Zero
D2 (Severe Drought): Zero
D3 (Extreme Drought): Zero
D4 (Exceptional Drought): Zero
These classifications are based on various data, including precipitation, soil moisture, streamflow, and vegetation health.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma is finally drought free after almost 6 years: Will it last?