Freeze Warning Tonight, Rain Early Next Week.

This last day of October has certainly been a cool one, particularly in comparison to the last few days and also how the month as a whole has been. Notice the max/min temperature map for today and the 24 hour temperature change which clearly shows we are quite a lot cooler. The cooler, drier air that has settled in this afternoon on the heels of strong, gusty northerly winds will be followed by the coldest of the season by early Saturday morning. Freeze warnings are in effect and most locations should be into the 20s, perhaps even the lower 20s for some of the colder valley locations. The immediate urban environment will likely be not quite as cold with temperatures more likely in the upper 20s to near 30. At least the winds will settle down with the setting sun, we will have a light NE breeze by early morning, and then a more SE wind by Saturday afternoon.

After the freezing start to the day, temperatures Saturday afternoon will only make it into the mid 50s, so still quite cool. Sunday will still be on the cool side with a morning low near 40 and a high in the 60s, but a strong southerly wind of 15-30 mph will make it feel even cooler. Clouds will also be in the increase followed by our next storm system which will bring widespread showers and some thunder by late Monday through the day Tuesday ending Tuesday night or early Wednesday for the far SE counties.

Temperatures through that period will be relatively mild with morning lows in the 40s to low 50s and daytime highs generally in the 60s. Wednesday and Thursday look to be dry for now, but another system may be moving our way by Friday bringing another chance of showers.

Speaking of rain, the month of October turned out to be one of the few months this year that has been wetter than normal. However, we still have a long way to go to catch up since the first part of the year was so dry and the period of Jan-Oct now stands as the 12th driest on record for Tulsa. The rainfall we are expecting for early next week looks to be widespread and generous with the potential for an inch or more for most of us. Notice the QPF map and keep in mind that just has the overall areal average and individual locations could end up with much more.

October was also warmer than normal, by nearly 4 degrees, which now makes 3 straight months of above normal temperatures and 5 of the last 6 months have been warmer than normal.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot