Another Record Set Today

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we set a record cool daytime high in Tulsa Tuesday with a maximum of only 64 degrees.  Today, we set another record as it has now been 5 straight days with a maximum temperature below 70 which has never happened before on those dates.  The high today of 69 is not a daily record but was certainly cool as was the case around the rest of the state as you can see on the max/min temperature map, courtesy of the OK Mesonet.  By the way, the normal for this time of year is 80/60 for the max/min.

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And, we may extend that record for another day as Thursday will also be very cool as you can see on our forecast page.  Daytime highs in the 60s are once again expected after starting the day in the 50s.  The brief sunshine some locations enjoyed today will be replaced by overcast skies and along with the clouds comes a chance of some light rain or showers, emphasis on light.  The most recent data runs continue to keep the heavier rains and any threat of storms well south of the state as you can see on the 2 day QPF map.  At least the winds will be light and generally from an easterly direction.

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Any lingering showers will be moving on eastward by Friday morning and we expect to see at least some afternoon sunshine.  However, temperatures will still be cooler than normal with daytime highs only expected to reach the mid 70s after starting the day in the 50s once again.  Our winds will be returning to a more SE direction and still rather light through the day, but stronger S/SE winds will kick in on Saturday and gusty southerly winds are then expected going into next week.

So, hope you have enjoyed this rare cool spell as those southerly winds will return us to more typical May weather with warmer days, much warmer nights, and dew point temperatures climbing back into the 60s after being in the 40s and 50s for much of this week.  What that means is the mug factor will also be on the rise over the course of the weekend and next week making those 80+ degree daytime highs seem warmer and our nights only dropping into the 60s.

We will also be entering a very unsettled pattern next week as the wind flow aloft will generally favor a chance of storms on just about any given day and that would include the threat of severe weather.  Far too early to get too excited about the specifics for any given day or time period but as you can see on this chart showing the upper level flow at around the 18,000’ level, a storm system will be located generally over the Rockies putting the state in at SW flow pattern aloft.  Along with that will come some embedded disturbances which will have plenty of low level moisture to work with.

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In other words, it could get interesting next week and as you can see on the 8-14 day guidance, an active pattern is expected to continue through the end of the month.  Temperatures are also expected to average warmer than normal during that time frame and that combination would certainly be favorable for severe weather. 

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So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot