OKLAHOMA CITY ? A slow-moving weekend storm system that has soaked Oklahoma with much-needed rain might cause state officials to reassess a statewide burn ban that has been in place for more than four months.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ken Gallant, based in Norman, said that as of mid-afternoon Sunday, Oklahoma City had received 1.73 inches of rain since the storm system began moving through the state Friday night.

Gallant said the system will continue to slowly move over the state on Monday, with rain tapering off late in the day, starting in southwest portions of the state and progressing to the northeast.

Oklahoma City had not had rainfall of an inch or more since Oct. 31. Even with the rain from the current system, the state is running about two inches below normal for the year. That’s in addition to low levels of rain in 2005, when the state ended the year about nine inches below normal.

“This is just the kind of short-term thing we needed,” Gallant said. “If we can get more of this type of weather pattern it will help tremendously.”

Oklahoma has been in a drought since last year, when wildfires began occurring with regularity. Since Nov. 1, about 2,700 fires have consumed more than 555,000 acres in the state. Gov. Brad Henry issued the statewide outdoor burn ban on Nov. 11.

Casey Jones shields himself from heavy smoke as he douses the remains of a friend's garage that burned down during a grass fire last week in Oklahoma City. A slow-moving storm system is bringing much-needed rain to the state, which may cause officials to re-examine the statewide burn ban.

Dale Armstrong, a fire information officer at the state’s incident command center in Shawnee, said that starting today, state forestry officials and fire behavior analysts will assess the moisture levels for each of the state’s 77 counties.

They will make recommendations about whether to lift the burn ban on a county-by-county basis to state Agriculture Secretary Terry Peach. Henry will make the final determination.