Coldest Night of the Season Tonight.

What a difference a day can make. The map on the right courtesy of the OK Mesonet shows the temperature change over the last 24 hours. Since the cold front did not reach this side of the state till later in the day, most locations topped out well into the 50s and even some low 60s on Wednesday. That is quite a contrast to today and shows up quite nicely in the 24 hour temperature change map. We really are quite fortunate to have a world class network of weather observation stations located all across our state and maintained by the OK Mesonet.

Also, the snow last night represents the first measurable snowfall recorded so far this season for Tulsa. And it did not amount to much with an official total of .5". Elsewhere, the reported snowfall totals were only up to around an inch or so for locations closer to the KS state line. To put things in perspective, we had received little or no measurable snowfall by this time last winter as well and we all know how that winter turned out.

The gusty northerly winds and cold temperatures of today will not last long though. As the sun goes down this evening, look for the skies to clear and the winds to subside. That will set the stage for what should be the coldest night so far this season with morning temperatures in the teens. Only a few high clouds are then expected for Friday so with lots of sun and a surface wind returning to a more westerly component, daytime temperatures should make it back into the mid 40s.

Even milder conditions are expected for the weekend and the first part of next week. A weak boundary on Saturday will not do much more than keep our winds in a more W component and with lots of sun we should make it back into the 50s during the day. Sunday looks to be warmer yet with brisk southerly winds returning and highs near 60.

Monday looks to be the warmest day of this forecast period with brisk southerly winds in advance of our next cold front and highs in the 60s after starting off that morning in the 40s. Moisture will try to return, but right now it appears that only a slight chance of rain showers are expected with the front when it moves through that night as the deeper, more quality moisture will likely be shunted off to our east.

Tuesday will then see another cool down, but a rather brief one with a return to moderating temperatures after that. As mentioned, we still do not see any true blue arctic air masses coming this way anytime soon. So, cold fronts will be coming our way every few days, but with little or no snow cover to the north of us, the air moderates rather quickly as these systems move through and on balance we continue to run much milder than normal.

Eventually this pattern will change but in the meantime stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot