Cold Air to Continue.

Notice the max/min temperature map for today across the state, courtesy of the OK Mesonet. Obviously, a very chilly day particularly in view of how warm we were just yesterday. That is clearly illustrated by the 24 hour temperature change map, also courtesy of the OK Mesonet. Now that this cold air is in place, it will take a while for it to be dislodged and temperatures will remain below normal for the rest of this week, through the coming weekend, and well into the following week the way things look now.

As for a cause of this cold air outbreak, one factor that I mentioned in the blog several times last week comes from what would appear to be a very unlikely source. Super typhoon Nuri came out of the W Pacific, moved into the N Pacific where it lost its tropical characteristics and merged with a strong low pressure system that was already in the Bering Sea. That, in turn, caused explosive deepening with the final result the most intense storm to ever impact that region; which by the way is saying quite a lot. What does that have to do with our weather you ask? Well, one of the best explanations of the sequence of events comes from the NWS office in Chicago at the following link: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=105107&source=0 As you can see, events taking place half a world away can and sometimes do have an impact on our local weather as well. Hope that helps to provide a little better context of this cold outbreak.

Now that the cold air is in place at the surface, a generally N to NW flow pattern aloft will continue to bring additional shots of cold air our way in the coming days. Also, the cyclonic flow pattern aloft will bring some additional cloud cover our way from time to time which will make it more difficult for our days to moderate much. In fact, we may be looking at record cold daytime highs before this is all said and done.

Another issue is the potential for enough energy aloft to produce more than just some clouds and may wring some moisture out of the sky in the form of a wintry mix. That possibility still remains for this coming weekend, but the chances of anythingmeasurablee remain small and if it does happen, amounts look to be very light so no major impacts are currently anticipated. However, these NW flow situations are notorious for springing surprises from time to time so it is something we will be watching closely with the additional data runs over the next few days.

In the meantime, the cold air looks to remain largely in place with below normal temperatures likely through next week as well. So, stay warm, stay tuned, and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot