Hot & Humid; Another Chance of Showers/Storms.

The first map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, shows the rainfall totals over the last 24 hours from that MCS(Mesoscale Convective System) that blew through the state last night and this morning. Some locations received as much as 4" of rain which produced some localized drainage problems. It was badly needed rainfall though as most of us had missed out on our usual May rains and in fact, Tulsa finished the month with the 5th driest Jan-May on record. So, last night's rainfall was just a step towards making up for what has been a very dry year so far.

That rainfall footprint will also result in some hot, humid conditions for the next few days with daytime highs reaching the lower 90s both Tue and Wed and relative humidity levels only dropping into the low 50% range during the heat of the day. That will bring the heat index into the upper 90s. At least we will have a brisk southerly breeze of 10-20 mph during the day to provide some ventilation. However, our nights will not be cooling off much with morning lows in the 70s for the next couple of mornings.

After that, another unsettled pattern will be developing across the northern sections of the state bringing chances of showers/storms again, perhaps on Thursday, more likely going into Fri/Sat/Sun the way things are looking right now. The extra cloud cover and rain chances will also bring our daytime temperatures back into the 80s for daytime highs. Notice the second map on the right which is the 7 day QPF and which shows the potential will be there for some locally heavy rainfall during that period. Keep in mind, this is an areal average so not everyone will receive that much rain and also some locations may pick up even more.

The last two maps on the right also suggest this unsettled pattern along with temperatures at or a bit below normal should extend beyond this weekend and well into the coming week. So, by the time it is all said and done perhaps we will have had the opportunity to make for what we have missed out on with respect to rainfall so far this year. May is normally our wettest month of the year, but it is not uncommon for our wet season to extend through at least the middle part of June.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot