Weekend Looking a Little More Promising.

Been on vacation, so back in the saddle and just in time for some decent rainfall this morning, at least for some lucky folks. Notice the rainfall map over the last 24 hours, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, which shows some locations with over an inch of rain and others with barely enough to settle the dust. At least the morning rains and the clouds that lingered for most of the day gave us a break from the heat and humidity of the last few days. Even so, our daytime highs were still a bit above normal as you can see from the max/min temperature map, also courtesy of the OK Mesonet.

We expect to be between systems for Friday and to start the day Saturday so the forecast will keep us dry during that time frame. That also means more sunshine and with the recent rains, more humidity with temperatures once again well above normal for the Fri/Sat time frame. Heat index values will likely be into the 90s both days with daytime highs well into the 80s. That also means it will be warm and humid for Friday night football with evening temperatures only falling into the mid 70s by games end.

Things could get a little more interesting as we head into the Saturday night/Sunday time frame due to a frontal boundary that will be pushing across the state on Sunday and the remnants of what was Pacific hurricane Odile drifting this way from the west. Earlier in the week, it looked like we were in for a real soaking due to the remnants of Odile, but the most recent data set has scaled back on those possibilities considerably. It now appears that the remnants will be much weaker and further south reducing our rainfall chances and lowering the potential for heavy rain. Notice the QPF map for that time period which has the heavier rainfall into SW OK. However, keep in mind that this is a very fluid situation and a low confidence forecast so the next set of data could flip back to a wetter signal for us. For now though, will reduce the rain chances to no more than 50% for Saturday night into the day Sunday.

Southerly breezes through Saturday will see those winds shifting to the NE behind the front later Sunday. Temperatures will still be above normal on Sunday with highs in the mid 80s likely but we should see at least some relief both at night as well as during the day going into next week. Not a major change, but at least closer to the seasonal norms for that time period.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot