Cool & Wet Wednesday, Warmer and Possibly Wet Thursday.

It's been awhile since we have had to deal with much in the way of severe weather across the state. In fact, for the OKC National Weather Service office, they are setting records for consecutive days since the last tornado warning was issued by their office. I mention that because as you can see from the map on the right, the possibility exists for some severe storms on Thursday, primarily for the more E and SE counties of OK.

However, before getting around to that we have a sunny and cool day today and another very cool day for Wednesday. Northerly winds today are offsetting the sunny skies keeping temperatures about 10-15 degrees below normal. Temperatures tonight will be tricky as our winds will be returning to the SE early tonight and southerly by morning and increasing to 10-15 mph. Also, some high clouds will be moving in by morning and that combination should keep us just above the freezing mark officially, but the protected valley areas could still drop briefly below the freezing mark.

Clouds will be quickly moving in Wednesday and the rain will not be far behind. The 2 day QPF map on the right suggests only about ¼" or so of rainfall, but some locally higher amounts will be possible. The rains will be coming in from the west and should be moving into the E half of the state during the afternoon hours. So, a cool but dry start to our day will end with cool, but wetter conditions. Daytime highs are expected to be in the low-mid 50s along with a strong, but cool southerly wind.

Thursday will start off near 50 due to gusty southerly winds all night long and those winds will become more S to SW later in the day. These veering winds will be in advance of another cool front which will be pushing through the state that night. Ahead of the front, temperatures are expected to reach into the 70s and with the front pushing through could set the stage for showers/storms. Again, some of those could be severe primarily in the more SE/E counties.

Northerly winds will knock temperatures back into the 60s for Friday but the frontal boundary will be hanging around in the more SE counties. Thus a slight chance of a shower or storm continues into the day Friday. The weekend looks promising with lots of sunshine, highs well into the 60s Saturday and 70s Sunday. Also, gusty southerly winds will return for Sunday.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot