Summer Returns After Record-Setting Cool Spell

As I write this, the high temperature so far today has once again failed to get above the 80 degree mark and we started the morning with a record morning low of 58. Hard to believe this is the middle of July. By the way, that now makes five straight days in which the temperature did not get above 80 in July which has never happened before and six days total for the month which has never happened before either. We have also set several record morning lows as well as one record cool daytime high during this stretch; quite remarkable.

In case you were wondering, the previous record for days less than 80 during the month of July was back in 1967 with four days, and those were not consecutive. There have been several other years with three consecutive days below 80 such as 1947, 1953, and 1905, but never as many as we have had this time around. And to think, just last Sunday we topped out at 101.

The clouds were much more persistent during the day today than anticipated after clearing out during the overnight hours which allowed some fog to form this morning. A similar scenario is anticipated for tonight with the clouds thinning out but a SE breeze should keep the fog at bay and also keep temperatures from being quite so cool. Even so, low to mid 60s tonight will be 10 degrees or more below normal for this time of year.

More sunshine is then anticipated for Sunday along with a SE breeze and afternoon highs in the upper 80s to near 90. Keep in mind that 94/73 is the normal high/low for this time of year so it will still be a relatively mild day.

After that a more summer-like pattern will persist for early in the week with southerly breezes, mostly sunny skies, morning lows in the 70s and daytime highs in the low-mid 90s. In other words, more typical of mid-summer. No rain is in the forecast either although cannot completely rule out a rogue shower/storm or two over the higher terrain locations in extreme E OK.

By Wednesday into Thursday, the pattern will undergo some subtle changes aloft which should allow another weak frontal boundary to drop this way, stall out, and then dissipate. That should be enough to produce at least a few showers or storms as well as shift to a more NE to E wind by late Wednesday and into the day Thursday. That should also knock temperatures back a few degrees with lower 90s currently anticipated.

After that, a return to southerly winds and more sunshine heading into the weekend will bring temperatures back to seasonal levels. At least, this recent cool-down and the showers that accompanied the system have keep conditions from drying out and kept the ground relatively moist and mild for this time of year. It will take awhile for that rain footprint to dry out which should help hold temperatures at least below triple digits through this coming weekend.

After that, well it could get interesting again. Notice the 8-14 day outlooks on the right which show a strong signal for below normal temperatures centered over the Great Lakes. This is similar to what we saw leading up to this past week. That is not to say we can expect a repeat, just that the pattern would suggest a very low probability of any more triple digit temperatures as we head into the end of July and the first part of August.

So stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot