Hot & Humid Again, But for How Much Longer?

As mentioned yesterday, a late summer heat wave will dominate our weather for the rest of this week and into the following week as well. As you can see from the first map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, temperatures today reached triple digits in some locations across W OK whereas a few more clouds in the sky helped keep temperatures somewhat in control on this side of the state.

Even more sunshine and continued southerly breezes are expected through the weekend and the forecast for E OK is calling for mid-upper 90s most locations with a few triple digits thrown in for good measure. Even if the air temperature stays below the triple digit mark, it will certainly feel like it as the heat index is expected to be at or above triple digit values each day. That will be due to a dew point temperature that should be hanging in the upper 60s to perhaps the lower 70s. That in turn means the minimum relative humidity during the heat of the day will only be dropping into the 40% range; in other words, hot and humid. At least we will have a brisk southerly breeze of 10-20 mph with some higher gusts to provide some decent ventilation each of the next few days.

There is no mention of rain anytime soon either although one or two isolated late afternoon showers in the higher terrain of far E OK cannot be completely ruled out. Nothing organized is foreseen until perhaps late next week when a weak frontal boundary should be drawing near. At least the longer range guidance does provide some hope for at least a chance of showers/storms by then.

Speaking of the longer range guidance, notice the 6 -10 day and 8-14 day outlooks on the right. The 6-10 day guidance keeps temperatures pretty much above normal through that time period which basically takes us to the end of the month. But, the 8-14 day guidance is showing some hope for a cool-down during that time period. Keep in mind, these products are showing the average temperature over that range of days and not for any one specific day. I point this out as these products taken together strongly suggest that this late summer heat wave will more than likely persist through the end of the month with above normal temperatures through that time frame. We do expect some brief relief and possibly some showers later next week, but a more extensive break in the heat and humidity will likely hold off till September rolls around.

Referring to those same time frames, but this time looking at the outlook for precipitation provides at least some hope in that regard. As you can see, the outlooks do suggest the potential for above normal precipitation. But, keep in mind this is normally a rather dry time anyway so it would not take much for that to verify.

So, stay cool, stay tuned, and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot