Chance Storms Tonight, Weekend Looking Good.

After a very warm, muggy day today, another break in the weather will be taking place for the weekend with a cool front arriving during the early morning hours bringing a chance of showers/storms and some relief from the heat and humidity.  Notice the maximum heat index values for today and some locations even made it briefly to triple digits in that regard. 

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However, the maximum air temperatures were generally in the upper 80s to lower 90s as you can see on the max/min temperature map, courtesy of the OK Mesonet.

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For tonight, expect widespread showers/storms, some of which may be locally quite strong.  The most likely time for most of us to get wet will be before sunrise with only some lingering showers and possible thunder for the morning hours over the more SE counties.  By afternoon, our skies should be clearing from W-E as drier air moves in so the balance of the day Saturday looks pretty good and Sunday looks very pleasant all day long.

The cooler, drier air will be gradually filtering in during the course of the day Saturday so look for the morning hours to be generally in the lower 70s.  However, a gusty NW wind behind the front for much of the day will counteract the mostly sunny skies expected by afternoon so daytime highs will likely be in the mid 80s.  The best part is the dew point temperatures will be dropping into the 60s during the day and into the 50s for Saturday night and Sunday.

That will allow overnight lows to drop to near 60 urban areas Sunday morning and 50s for the more rural locations and normally cooler valleys.  Sunny skies for Sunday afternoon and a light NE breeze should allow temperatures to rebound back into the mid-upper 80s.  But, those lower dew points will also make for a very comfortable day as minimum relative humidity levels will be dropping into the 30% range during the heat of the day.

By Monday, our winds will be returning to a more SE direction and clouds will be on the increase later in the day.  However, light winds and fair skies that morning should result in another very mild start with morning lows in the upper 50s to lower 60s.  Daytime highs well into the 80s and perhaps a few showers are then expected late in the day or that night as the moisture returns on the heels of the southerly winds.

After that, as you can see on our forecast page, a more unsettled pattern looks to prevail for much of the coming week with daily chances of showers/storms.  Southerly winds will also warm things back up, particularly at night as the moisture returns through mid-week.  Another, weak frontal boundary then looks to be moving into the state along about Thursday or so with a better chance of rain and a bit of a cool-down.  As you can see on the 7 day QPF, there is the potential for some locally heavy rainfall over the next week due to the system moving through tonight and then the more active pattern for next week.

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Looking further ahead, the 8-14 day outlook continues to suggest temperatures averaging below normal and precipitation chances above normal.  That would take us through the end of August and into early September and strongly suggests no additional triple digit temperatures nor heat index values through that period.

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So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot