Dick Faurot's Weather Blog: Goodbye and Good Riddance Bill!

Finally, the remnants of what was TS Bill are moving on eastward after stalling out over south central OK earlier in the day today and dropping copious amounts of rainfall.

Notice the 24 and 48 hour totals, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, as of late this afternoon. As feared, some locations received nearly a foot of rain and widespread amounts of 6” or more have been common along with the associated flooding problems.

Now that the low-level circulation center is moving on eastward, the wrap-around rains will gradually be shifting on eastward, as well with the rains ending from W-E this evening and tonight. That will leave us with the run-off issues over the next few days and it will take a while before some of those conditions see much improvement.

However, as you can see on our forecast page, there is little or no mention of rain after tonight so things will start to slowly dry out. But, with all the moisture in place, that also means it will be hot and humid.

Friday morning will start off with overcast skies, but we should see some afternoon sunshine along with a brisk northerly wind. Temperatures will start off near 70 but should make it well into the 80s that afternoon. Better yet, there is no mention of rain.

The weekend will see even more sunshine along with brisk southerly winds and even warmer temperatures. Daytime highs will be in the 90s starting Saturday and through the coming week, but with dew point temperatures likely holding in the low 70s, the minimum relative humidity will only drop to near 50% during the heat of the day. That also means the heat index, or the combination of heat and humidity, will be near triple digits each day as well. At least we will have a brisk southerly wind to provide some ventilation but even so, advise taking it easy with the outdoor activities and drink plenty of fluids.

As mentioned, the 7-day forecast has no mention of rain, although one or two isolated showers cannot be completely ruled out. For the first time in quite a while, the 7-day QPF map has us pretty much high and dry. You can clearly see the heavy rains from the remnants of Bill as it moves along the Ohio River Valley over the next couple of days so it will continue to be a trouble maker as it moves on eastward.

Looking beyond the next week to the 6-10-day time frame also has us in a more settled pattern. Notice the 6-10-day outlook has OK generally in a more normal signal with respect to temperature and precipitation. That means low 90s during the day with only a chance of a few pop-up showers or storms during that time frame.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot