Dick Faurot's Weather Blog: One More Warm Day, Then Turning Cooler

As you can see from the statewide precipitation map over the last 24 hours, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, the storms from last night were rather spotty but some of them dropped some very heavy rainfall with most of it falling in a relatively short time frame. Notice the almost six inches for example just east of OKC. There were also some hail reports almost to the size of baseballs with some of those storms.

Fortunately, today has been much quieter and also much warmer than normal. Notice the max/min temperature map with the NW corner making it into the 90s for this first day of April, while the eastern side of the state stayed in the 70s to lower 80s. That is still much above the normal temperature range of 68/45 for this time of year here in Tulsa.

Thursday will also be much warmer than normal as brisk southerly winds will continue all night tonight and we should have mostly cloudy skies to start the day. As a result, morning lows will be generally in the 60s, which is pretty close to what our normal daytime high would be for this time of year.

The clouds should thin out enough for afternoon temperatures to reach the upper 70s to low 80s before a cold front arrives that evening/overnight.

Another chance of showers/storms will accompany the cold front, and some of them will likely be severe with primarily a wind/hail threat. The gusty southerly winds during the day Thursday will be replaced by gusty northerly winds on Friday along with much cooler conditions.

Temperatures should start the day in the 50s and pretty much hold there for most of the day with little warming expected. Morning clouds and showers will give way to clearing skies that afternoon/evening.

Light winds, clear skies, and much drier air in place will result in a very cold start to our Saturday morning. Still looks like a frost potential, and possibly even a light freeze for the colder valley locations, to start the day. Light southerly winds by afternoon and lots of sunshine will result in daytime highs back into the 60s though.

Easter Sunday will have brisk southerly winds all day long, which will quickly bring abundant moisture back over the state resulting in mostly cloudy skies. There will also be at least a slight chance of rain or showers as the day wears on, so you may need an umbrella to go along with your Easter outfit. Temperatures will start the day in the 40s and the clouds and chances of rain will keep us in the 60s during the day.

After that, early next week will see a more unsettled pattern with gusty southerly winds returning us back to warm and humid for Mon/Tue along with at least a chance of showers or storms.

Another cold front looks to be making a run at us by mid-week with a better chance of showers/storms, some of which will likely be severe given the time of year.

As you can also see on the 8-14 day outlook graphics, temperatures should average above normal during that time period along with occasional chances of showers/storms.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot