Dick Faurot's Weather Blog: Set Another Record Today

Well, we have set another record - one of those obscure ones that are not often referred to.

As has been mentioned in previous blogs, up until a couple of days ago this has been the warmest December on record; and despite this recent cold snap, we still have not had a killing freeze for the fall/winter season - a killing freeze is defined as 24 degrees and, so far for Tulsa, the coldest we have been is 25 degrees.

The normal killing freeze date is Nov 25 and the previous record latest is Dec 28, 1971. As you can see on our forecast page, it looks like we will not have our first killing freeze till New Year’s Eve for this year.

Notice the max/min temperature map, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, which shows we had a very short thermometer today. This has easily been the coldest day of the season so far with many locations failing to get above the freezing mark for a daytime high. The thick cloud deck and snow/ice in place kept things from warming up any.

Another disturbance in the upper atmosphere will be passing overhead tonight and quickly moving on eastward during the day Wednesday. This system is not particularly strong but should wring out some brief snow flurries by early morning with little or no accumulation anticipated in Green Country - far NW OK could see an inch or two.

At least the backside of this system should finally scour out the moisture a little better giving us at least some hope for some breaks in the clouds during the afternoon hours. Even so, after starting off in the 20s again, we will be confined to the 30s for daytime highs.

For the rest of the week, right on through the weekend, drier air aloft is expected to provide more daytime sunshine and generally fair overnight skies. Together with light northerly winds, that combination will result in the coldest nights of the season and a gradual warming trend during the day.

By early next week, our winds will be returning to a more SE direction Monday and a more southerly direction Tuesday which will warm things up further. That will also bring at least some moisture back with a chance of showers by later Tuesday or into the day Wednesday.

However, as you can see on the 7-day QPF map, which is valid through next Tuesday, we will be, for the most part, high and dry and anything that does fall during that time frame would be very light.

Looking beyond that into the 8-14-day time frame supports temperatures averaging at or below normal and a more active pattern returning with an increased chance of precipitation.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot