Dick Faurot's Weather Blog: Heat Advisories Thursday

Computer issues have kept me offline since last week, but finally getting some of those problems resolved.  At any rate, will make an attempt at a blog today and see if this will work.

As you can see with the maximum heat index values for today, some locations topped out around the 105 degree mark which is at the dangerous level.  Most of us stayed below those criteria though because of a rather gusty SW breeze which kept dew point temperatures in check.  However, a more southerly breeze for Thursday should help our dew points stay in the lower 70s and with air temperatures once again reaching the mid-upper 90s, then those heat  index values will likely reach or exceed 105 at many locations.  For that reason, the good folks at the NWS Office have issued a heat advisory for Thursday afternoon. 

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For tonight, those brisk SW winds of today will settle down somewhat and fair skies are anticipated.  But, the winds are not expected to calm down so temperatures will only slowly drop and the urban environment will likely be near 80 again to start the day Thursday.  In fact, Tulsa set another record this morning when the overnight low only dropped to 81 degrees.  That is the third time this month we have set a record for a warm overnight low.  By the way, the normal max/min for this time of year is 90/70 here in Tulsa and as you can see on the statewide max/min map, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, we continue to be much warmer than normal.

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However, there is some hope for limited relief not only from the heat but also a possibility of some showers and storms.  A cool front will drop to near the OK/KS state line Thursday night and stall out.  But, that boundary should set off at least a few showers/storms which would be moving along the boundary for the evening and overnight hours, particularly for the more northern counties and into KS.  That should leave us with at times mostly cloudy skies for Friday and perhaps a few lingering showers which in turn should knock at least a few degrees off those daytime highs.  Still above normal to be sure, but at least not quite as bad.

Brisk southerly winds return for Saturday along with mostly sunny skies and afternoon highs back into the upper 90s.  Sunday will also reach the mid-upper 90s but we also expect to see an increase in cloud cover by late in the day as another boundary approaches the more N/NE counties.  That will bring another chance of showers/storms for late Sunday through the overnight hours and into the day Monday as you can see on our forecast page. 

With time the wind pattern aloft will become more favorable for that boundary to settle further southward eventually providing more widespread relief from the heat and humidity by the middle to latter part of next week.  There will also be at least a chance of additional showers/storms as we go through next week and given how dry the month has been so far, any rains will be welcome.

Looking further down the road, the 8-14 day outlook is promising as we head into July.  At least, the longer range guidance does favor some relief from the above normal temperatures we have had lately and at least a wetter than normal signal so hopefully we will pick up some decent rainfall.

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In the meantime, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot