Enjoy This Fine Fall Weather.

It was a little slower than expected in getting here, but there were some decent rains across the state over the course of the weekend.  Once again, there were some winners and some losers with a good soaking for some and barely enough to settle the dust for others as you can see on the two day rainfall map, courtesy of the OK Mesonet.

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At least the system has been followed by temperatures that are more seasonal than the summer-like conditions we endured for much of last week.  Here are the max/min temperatures for today across the state as recorded at the 100+ locations in the OK Mesonet.  For Tulsa, the official max/min has been 78/57 which compares to the normal of 80/58.

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More importantly, the air has dried out considerably as you can see on the current dew point temperature map and then the 24 hour change in dew point.  It is that drier air that will allow for a nice cool-down during the evening and overnight hours and will also keep the humidity levels low during the heat of the day.

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So, with dry air in place at the surface along with clear skies and light and variable winds, temperatures will cool off quickly tonight bottoming out in the upper 40s for the urban locations and even cooler for the rural locations.  Lots of sunshine during the day Tuesday with only a few high level cirrus clouds together with a light S/SW low level wind should push our daytime highs to near 80 and the relative humidity will only be near 30%; quite a contrast to last week.

Wednesday will be somewhat warmer with a more W wind component before another cool front arrives later in the day, shifting those winds back to northerly.  The westerly winds ahead of the front will keep any moisture from pooling and therefore this will be a dry frontal passage.  A re-enforcing shot of cooler air will then settle back over us for the latter part of the week as you can see on our forecast page.

This is not a particularly strong system though and the return to southerly winds by the first of next week will start to warm things back up. But, moisture will be slow to return so this forecast cycle looks to be dry which is what the 7 day QPF also suggests.  Bottom line is that this will be a very quiet week weather-wise with very few, if any, clouds on any given day, no mention of rain, and temperatures at or below normal for a change.

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However, the 8-14 day outlook is trending back to above normal temperatures.  Since normal daytime highs are in the mid 70s by then, the above normal temperatures should translate into perhaps lower 80s.  Does this mean we are through with 90s for the year?  Not about to go out on that limb just yet as 90s have occurred as late as the end of October.   As for additional chances of moisture, the 8-14 day period also is trending wetter than normal.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot