From Storms to a Taste of Fall

Today is the last day of meteorological summer, and fittingly, a cold front is on its way. Numerous showers and storms are impacting the region through our Wednesday evening. However, these daily bouts of rain, thunder and occasional wind will give way to drier, cooler conditions before long. And just as we are cooling down, the Tropics are really heating up.  Here’s the latest on all of this below.

                A hot, humid, and uncapped air mass is allowing for these daily storms to pop up and dump heavy rains in localized areas. In some cases, high winds due to microbursts (a storm collapsing in on itself over a small area) have been observed as well. While this is not a severe weather pattern, these storms can certainly pack a punch.  Through Thursday morning, these showers and storms will be possible in the area.  A refreshing cold front will arrive later in the day, allowing drier air to surge in from the north. Ultimately this will put an end to our rain chances from north to south. The map below shows the pattern change by Thursday evening with Tropical Storm Hermine offshore of Florida.

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                The front should clear the region by Friday morning. This will allow temperatures at night to dip to near 60°.  Many areas by Saturday morning may end up in the 50s. This is our (brief) taste of fall, and a great way to bring in the holiday weekend. However, southerly winds are going to return and start to replace our fall-like air with hotter, more humid conditions as the weekend goes along.  In fact, by Monday morning, lows are likely back into the 70s with afternoon highs in the 90s and a heat index around 100°.  Enjoy the cool-down while it lasts!

                The good news is that the Labor Day timeframe is looking dry for nearly the entire state the entire weekend. The upper-level jet stream will keep most of the passing storm systems to our north through midweek when a cold front may be forced back our direction, thus bringing a chance of more rain and storms.

                While our weather turns quiet, those along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard are bracing for a very rough bout of weather thanks to newly-formed Tropical Storm Hermine (pronounced her-MEEN). It’s a minimal Tropical Storm for now, but as it nears the Florida Panhandle Thursday evening, it could be near hurricane strength. From there, it will track along the East Coast and potentially maintain Tropical Storm strength all the way to New England depending if it happens to re-strengthen a bit over open water.  Here’s the latest path below.

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                Our friends in Hawaii are also in the mix with Tropical weather. Two hurricanes will scrape past the islands in the next week, causing at least very rough weather along the beaches and more exposed locations.  Tropical Season peaks in less than two weeks, climatologically speaking, so this is a fitting time for all of these systems.

                Back to Oklahoma, as we enter the month of September and beyond Labor Day, summer weather is likely to continue a bit longer. The first week or two will still likely feature above normal temperatures, but there are signs of a pattern change a few weeks out of a stronger push of cooler air… perhaps the inevitable descent into pleasant autumn weather.  Enjoy the summer storms and cool-down to follow.  Remember, the days of summertime heat are very much numbered by now.

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