Hot & Humid; At Least A Chance of Storms.

Another hot, humid day today but at least we had a good breeze to provide some ventilation and offset the uncomfortable heat and humidity to a certain extent.  Notice the maximum heat index values across the state today and you can see that most location were close to triple digits if not actually at triple digit values.

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The actual air temperature was, for the most part, in the upper 80s and lower 90s again today here in E OK as you can see on the max/min temperature map, courtesy of the OK Mesonet.  By the way, here in Tulsa, the max/min so far today has been 92/76 which is well above the normal values of 87/67.  However, we are far short of record levels as we would have to be well into triple digit territory to threaten any temperature records.

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But, as you can see on our forecast page, the above normal temperatures will continue through the rest of this week and for the first part of the coming weekend before any relief is in sight.  Not only will we be much warmer than normal, but the heat index values will also be climbing and should be at or above triple digits each of the next several days.  Even these values are far short of record levels but will still make it feel very uncomfortable for outdoor activities in the days ahead.

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For tonight, today’s gusty winds will be subsiding somewhat and we will have fair skies for most of the night, but those dew points holding in the lower 70s will keep us from cooling much and morning temperatures will once again start off in the low-mid 70s.  Low cloud cover will likely return by early morning once again but as has been the case for the last few days will be burning off as the day wears on.  Gusty S/SE winds during the day and plenty of afternoon sunshine will once again push afternoon temperatures into the lower 90s and as mentioned above, heat index values into the upper 90s if not right at triple digits.

If anything, Thu/Fri/Sat will be even warmer with daytime highs in the mid 90s and overnight lows remaining in the mid 70s along with a brisk southerly breeze.  One thing that will be different though is that we will have at least a chance of showers and storms starting Wednesday evening/night and continuing through the weekend.  These will be on a scattered basis and given the flow aloft it is difficult to be any more specific than just to say we will have at least scattered showers/storms during that time frame.  The chances of any one location receiving measurable rainfall still looks to be on the order of 20-30% for any given day, but at least we will have that chance as we are starting to get rather dry.  However, the 7 day QPF is still not overly optimistic on our rainfall amounts.

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Father’s Day on Sunday may turn out to be out best chance for rain as the longer range guidance has at least come into better agreement on a frontal boundary moving through the state that morning.  That does not mean the day will be a complete wash-out, but there will be at least the chance for showers/storms.  The northerly breeze behind the boundary should also provide some brief relief from the heat and humidity going into early next week.

Not for long though as ridging aloft may well be spreading our way going into the rest of that week and the 8-14 day outlook suggests above normal temperatures along with a near normal pattern for scattered showers/storms.  By then, our normal daytime highs are near 90.

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So, stay tuned for updates.

Dick Faurot