Dick Faurot's Weather Blog: Nice Fall Weekend

Beautiful day today and more of the same is expected for the weekend.

The NE winds all day have brought in drier air, and ridging aloft will keep any rainmakers confined to the far western counties. There will be chances of rain W of I-35 overnight and into the day Saturday, but the only impact on our weather is expected to be some occasional high-level cirrus clouds.

As you can see on the rainfall map for today, the only showers were confined to the extreme western counties, and that will be the general rule through the weekend. Earlier in the week this looked to be a more significant rainmaker for us, but current trends now push our next decent shot at rain to the latter part of next week.

So, with a continued N to NE wind right on through Sunday keeping us dry and stable, this weekend will be on the cool side of the normal curve. Our normal temperature range for this time of year is 77/55 for Tulsa and the numbers for today were 72/46. The max/min temperature map has the numbers for the rest of the state for today. Saturday and Sunday will be very similar with morning lows in the 40s and daytime highs near 70 here in E OK.

Things will be moderating going into next week as our winds gradually veer around to a more southerly direction, as you can see on our forecast page. By the middle of the week, temperatures will be above normal and we will start seeing more clouds in the sky; but am reluctant to get too carried away with our rain chances for the latter part of the week as the longer range guidance is not in agreement with regard to timing, location, and areal coverage of showers.

At any rate, look for at least a slight chance of rain starting on Thursday, and quite possibly continuing into the Friday and Saturday time frame. Model runs in the days ahead will help to better define the timing and amounts. That system should then be followed by a return to normal or below normal temperatures by next weekend.

Looking further down the road, the outlook continues to support above normal temperatures and below normal chances of precipitation during the 8-14-day time frame, as you can see on the next two maps.

Bottom line is that we have been in a rather stable pattern, and although there will be some systems passing through the state from time to time, no major storm systems are currently on the horizon for our neck of the woods. That should translate into relatively pleasant, early fall conditions for most of the forecast period.

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

Dick Faurot