Finally, Feels More Like Fall.

What happened to the rain?  Was wondering the same thing myself as I was certainly anticipating a more widespread event last night.  Well, looking at the 24 hour rainfall totals, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, it is obvious that some folks picked up a good rain, but most of us missed out…..again!  In fact, most of the overnight showers/storms appeared to hit a wall as they approached hwy 75 with the exception of the far NE counties where Vinita picked up over 2” last night.

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Notice most of the rain fell where it was least needed, at least with respect to the areas where drought is rearing its ugly head.  Here is the latest version of the drought monitor which is updated each Thursday.

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Oh well, at least we have cooled off today as you can see by the 24 hour temperature change map valid late this afternoon.  Keep in mind though that temperatures were so warm yesterday that even the cool-down on the order of 10-15 degrees means temperatures today are once again well above normal.  At least we are not setting any records today as the max/min so far has been 75/65.  That is a little mis-leading though as the high for the calendar day actually took place shortly after midnight and temperatures this afternoon have topped out at 72.  Also, we will be cooler than the morning low of 65 by the midnight hour tonight.  By the way, the normal max/min for today is 67/45.

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Cooler, drier air is moving over the state this evening and tonight which will provide clearing skies from N-S with mostly fair skies by morning.  However, light northerly winds and lingering moisture may also result in a foggy start for some locations, particularly the protected valleys.  The lingering moisture should result in overnight lows in the 40s to near 50.

Friday should see more sunshine with some occasional high level cirrus clouds, a light NE breeze, and afternoon temperatures back up into the lower 70s.  In other words still warmer than normal.  That also means some beautiful weather for the Friday night football games with fair skies, light winds, and temperatures dropping into the 50s by game’s end.

The upper level system described in yesterday’s blog will provide plenty of high level cirrus clouds for Sat/Sun, but we expect to stay dry.  However, those clouds will have an impact on temperatures despite a return to light S/SE winds.  As you can see on our forecast page, we will certainly be cooler than recent days, but still above normal.

Our next chance of rain looks to be during the Mon/Tue time frame in advance of another weak frontal boundary that should arrive on Tuesday.  Right now, this does not appear to be a particularly wet system but at least there is a chance.

After that, there is still no sign of any really chilly air coming this way so above normal temperatures look to persist into the 8-14 day time period.  This would suggest daytime highs generally in the low 70s as our normal highs by then are in the low-mid 60s.  Having said that, there are some indications that we may see some much colder air finally moving this way around the Thanksgiving time frame. Will keep a close eye on that possibility in the coming days.  Unfortunately, the chances for a good, soaking rain appears to be minimal, at least through the 8-14 day time period.

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So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot