Chance Of Storms Tonight and Again Sunday

Ugh……another hot, humid day today but at least a few locations did pick up some rain, in fact too much too fast for some.  Notice the rains so far today, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, and as can happen with our summer time showers/storms, they will move rather slowly and eventually rain themselves out over one location as happened in Chandler with over 2” of rain in a short time.

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Since those showers/storms dissipated by around the noon hour, the abundant afternoon sunshine and the moisture produced very high heat index values once again.  Notice triple digits were more common this afternoon and some locations even reached 105+ which is into the dangerous category.  Actual air temperatures were generally in the upper 80s or lower 90s for our side of the state, but those dew points holding in the mid 70s make it very uncomfortable outside.

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We will have fair skies going into the night tonight, but a complex of storms now located in Central KS is expected to move this way overnight bringing a good chance of showers/storms, some of which may be severe.  Locally damaging winds will be the primary threat but there may also be some small hail.  The timing suggests this activity will be moving to along the OK/KS state line before midnight and then on SE and out of the area by first thing in the morning.  These storms should be moving along at a steady clip so excessive amounts of rain are not anticipated, but some lucky folks could pick up a quick inch or so.

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The rain cooled air will drop some folks into the 60s but most of us will likely still be in the low 70s to start the day Friday.  As that complex moves on away from us, we will be left with partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies by afternoon and daytime highs reaching the low-mid 90s.  Heat index values will be into triple digits and more of the same is expected on Saturday.  Also, our southerly winds will not be overly strong so not quite as much ventilation to help in the cooling process.

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We are still anticipating at least a brief break in the heat and humidity starting on Father’s Day, Sunday.  All the data runs continue to bring a cool front through the state that morning and afternoon and the brisk northerly winds behind the front will bring milder and drier air back our way.  The exact timing will make a huge difference in temperatures for any given location but by afternoon most of should have recovered into the low-mid 80s and some of the data runs even keep us in the 70s all day.  Not very hopeful that will actually verify, but at least we will have a decent break extending into early next week.  There will also be another good chance of showers/storms along and behind the cool front for Father’s Day.

The drier air will really make a difference for the morning lows early next week as you can see on our forecast page.  Temperatures in the 60s will certainly be a relief and that drier air will also keep the heat index in check going into next week.  Not for long though as our winds will quickly return to a more southerly direction and things will heat back up.  There may even be another slight chance of late night showers/storms by mid-week.

The 8-14 day outlook also suggests a return to above normal temperatures along with a near normal pattern of scattered showers/storms.  By then, our normal daytime highs are near 91 and storms are at best on a scattered basis.

So, thanks for reading the blog and stay tuned for updates.

Dick Faurot