Storms, A Cool-Down and Tropical Trouble in the Gulf

A sweltering set of August days is giving way to a stormy transition to cooler, drier weather in Oklahoma. A cold front is pushing into Green Country this afternoon and evening, triggering widespread showers and storms. Following that, we’ll resume our unseasonably cool August pattern.  All the while, Tropical Storm Harvey is likely to reappear in the Gulf and cause problems for our friends to the South.

                Today’s storm activity has a small potential to be severe. High winds would be the main concern for any storms through early evening. The other risk will be flash flooding. Incredibly high levels of moisture in the air will likely result in flood-inducing rainfall rates. Given the timing of storms near rush hour in the metro area, this could be an added hassle or safety concern for drivers. Just take it easy on the roadways and beware of the risk for locally strong winds. These storms will continue to push south through the evening with heavy rain totals in some areas. Below, you see a computer model depiction of storms in the area early this evening.

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                Beyond the storms comes another refreshing cool-down. By Wednesday, temperatures and humidity will drop as this new air mass from the north seeps into the state. This will result in daytime highs in the 80s and morning lows well down into the 60s and even 50s for some locations by Thursday morning. The pattern will support the frontal boundary remaining south of us before washing out. Therefore, no big warm-up is anticipated through the weekend.

                All eyes will be turning to the Gulf of Mexico for the remainder of the week as the remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey re-form into a Tropical Storm and possibly hurricane as it moves northwestward from the Yucatan Peninsula toward the southern Texas coastline. While it looks like the jet stream pattern will suppress its movement northward shortly after landfall, there’s still a small potential we could feel the impacts of Harvey in Oklahoma by the weekend, at the very least with some rain to the south and some easterly winds.  The biggest impacts will likely be widespread flooding rainfall over southern Texas. You can see the projected rainfall below!

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                Enjoy the cool-down and let’s hope we can keep the worst of the flooding at bay. For more weather updates, be sure to follow me on Twitter: @GroganontheGO and on my Facebook page.