Sunny Skies Ahead.

The rains this past weekend were certainly generous for many locations, but pretty much absent from others as you can see from the rainfall map as of late yesterday afternoon.  Tulsa county basically ended up in a donut hole with heavier rains all around.  And, since the system responsible for those showers/storms is now moving slowly away from us then the pattern for the rest of the week will be much more stable.

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In fact, as you can see on the 7 day QPF, there is little or no rain anticipated over that time frame.  Notice the more western counties will have at least a chance of showers/storms, but the possibility that one of those will drift this far east are in the slim to none category.

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For tonight, any clouds will be dissipating with the setting sun leaving us with clear skies for much of the overnight hours.  Together with a light northerly breeze, temperatures should drop into the mid-upper 60s by morning.  There may also be some patches of fog in the river valleys to start the day due to the clear skies and light winds.  If so, that will quickly burn off and we expect to have little or no cloud cover for the rest of the day as northerly winds at the surface and aloft will be bringing drier air over the state.  Drier, but not necessarily cooler air; at least not for Tuesday as afternoon temperatures should still reach the upper 80s and some locations may make it to 90.

The drier air will make a bigger difference in temperatures for the morning hours of Wed-Fri as 50s to near 60 should be the general rule for that time frame.  Somewhat cooler air will also be in place by then due to the northerly winds, particularly for Wed/Thu when our daytime highs look to be at or a bit below normal.  By the way, here is a link to the normal and extreme values for this time of year.

Not for long though, as those winds will be returning to a more southerly direction and becoming rather gusty heading into the coming weekend.  That means warmer nights and warmer, more humid days with overnight lows only dropping to near 70 and daytime highs in the upper 80s if not some low 90s for the weekend going into early next week. 

Warmer than normal temperatures now look to extend into the 8-14 day time frame along with a better than normal chance of showers/storms through the middle of the month.  Since the coming week looks to be dry, we will most likely be needing some rain by then.

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So, stay tuned for updates.

Dick Faurot