Dick Faurot's Weather Blog: Cooler, Drier Than Normal So Far

After a cool, damp, dreary day today the forecast for the rest of the coming week is much more pleasant - even though it may take a while for the sun to return.

Notice the max/min temperature map for today, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, and the total rainfall so far today as well.

Cloudy skies and lingering showers through the night tonight will be gradually moving on eastward with the rain ending from W-E by morning and the sun gradually breaking through the cloud deck by afternoon.

Lots more sunshine is then expected for Wednesday and Thursday before another system approaches from the west along about Friday.

This next system is not particularly intense and there is some conflicting guidance regarding just how far to the west its precipitation shield will spread. Most guidance is keeping the majority of the precipitation for Friday from Arkansas on eastward, but it is a close call, and some of the other guidance is bringing at least some shower activity further west to around the highway 75 corridor. At any rate, will introduce a slight chance of showers centered on the Friday time period.

Other than that, it is pretty much a dry forecast through the coming weekend and much of the following week. Notice the 6-10 day guidance for example which suggests warmer and drier than normal conditions for that time period.

Although it seems to be wet outside, and indeed the surface and soils are wet, we are already running nearly 2” below normal in precipitation this year. That continues a trend that has been ongoing for several years now. In fact, the last time we had a calendar year that was wetter than normal was all the way back in 2009.

Temperatures will be more spring-like in the days ahead, as well with the sunshine helping to warm our days well above normal. Also, our nights will be generally at or above normal as well.

By the way, the normal temperature range at this time of year is 61/38 for the max/min. However, a very light N to NE wind for much of the week will keep temperatures somewhat in check, so it looks like very pleasant weather as a general rule for much of this week as you can see on our forecast page.

In case you are wondering, the month of March, so far, is running nearly 8 degrees cooler than normal, but the above normal temperatures expected for the next week or ten days will help to bring that number closer to normal.

All in all, no major storms are currently anticipated in the near future nor are any more arctic outbreaks foreseen. But, March can pull some surprises as one of our heaviest snows on record occurred on Mar 28 of 2009.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot