Temperatures Plunge Later This Week

                We continue our streak of stormy weekends. The last few I’ve been away getting married and honeymooning, but I can certainly confirm firsthand we got rocked by heavy rain and wind Saturday night! Rain totals were more than an inch in almost all Green Country locations, topping 3” in some areas of southeast Oklahoma. You can see those totals below. Several tornadoes were reported from near Lawton to Norman and Seminole as well. These last several weekends mark our secondary severe weather peak in the year.

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                There are no more thunderstorms in our immediate future, but the weather certainly isn’t settling down. A cold front arrives Monday, reinforcing the drier air already in place. This continues to allow for chilly nights and mild days with sunshine. An even more powerful upper level low and associated cold front dig south from the Arctic later this week, bringing with it by far the coldest air of the season.

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                Ahead of this early season cold blast, we’ll see daytime highs in the 70s midweek through Thursday. Behind the cold front on Friday, our temperatures may struggle to hit 50° during the day, especially if lower-level post-frontal clouds block out the sun.  There have even been indications of light precipitation behind this front in an environment aloft that could support a little wintry mix. However, it does appear a bit too warm at the surface still to see any snowflakes. That’s almost always wishful thinking before Halloween!

                In any case, the colder and even drier air will likely cause the first widespread frost and potential freeze of the fall. Saturday morning will be the first opportunity and Sunday morning could be just as cold if not colder. This only falls about a week before our average first freeze so this won’t be too far from the ordinary. However, we haven’t seen a freezing temperature in Tulsa in October in over 5 years. If you’ve got sensitive plants you’d like to maintain awhile longer, be prepared to have them covered or put indoors next weekend. This will certainly be a shock to our system since most days have been mild, if not warm in the past month. It’s nearly time for your warm clothes!

                This won’t be a long cold spell. Into early next week, temperatures recover quickly to near seasonal norms (upper 40s for lows and upper 60s for highs). That means Halloween itself looks rather pleasant this year for the trick-or-treaters. There may be another cold front arriving that day, but for now, it doesn’t look like we’ll be in the deep freeze. If you’ve got holiday festivities over the weekend however, you might want to add an extra layer to that costume!

                For more weather updates, be sure to follow me on Twitter: @GroganontheGO and on my Facebook Page.