Round Three Ending, Round Four Coming Up.

Round 3 of a series of winter storms impacting the state is coming to an end today, but round 4 is still on track for early next week. Snowfall today has generally been a dusting to an inch or two with most of the measurable snowfall along the I-40 corridor. An estimated 3" near Henryetta is the heaviest that has been reported so far. A few flurries will are still possible going into the night tonight and into the day Friday, but little or no additional accumulation is anticipated.

The frigid weather will also give way to some moderation over the next few days although temperatures will continue to be well below normal. Speaking of frigid weather, it appears we will set a record for the high temperature today. The record lowest high temperature for this date is 21 set back in 1989 and as of this writing, the warmest temperature for the day is only 20.

We have also seen a few breaks in the clouds this afternoon, should see a few stars mixed in with the clouds tonight and at least a little sunshine on Friday and Saturday. With the winds diminishing tonight, snow on the ground, and very cold, dry air in place, temperatures to start the day Friday will be in the single digits once again. We should be well into the 20s during the day Friday and even above freezing on Saturday so at least a brief thaw is in our immediate future. The graph on the right shows the normal temperature profile as compared to what has actually occurred so far this year. Notice that our normal daytime high at this time of year is in the low 50s and we have been struggling to get above freezing for several days now.

Light southerly winds for Friday and into the day Saturday will help to warm things up at least somewhat, but with snow on the ground to our south, it will still be much colder than would otherwise be the case. And the thaw will be short lived anyway as another cold front will be arriving late Saturday with a return to northerly winds for Sunday into early next week. With an extensive snow pack just north of us as shown on the second map to the right, temperatures will be colder than would otherwise be the case. As a result, daytime highs will once again struggle to get above the freezing mark for Sun-Tue.

Also, with cold air in place and another in a series of disturbances aloft moving across the state, round 4 of wintry precipitation is expected for late Monday into the day Tuesday. A few flurries will be possible again on Sunday and into the day Monday, but the more significant system will be early next week. The longer range guidance is offering varying solutions at this point in time which is not too surprising. That makes the specifics regarding timing, placement, and amounts very difficult until we get better data sampling which will not occur till the system moves onto the West coast over the course of the weekend.

So, for now just be aware that additional wintry precipitation looks to be a good bet for at least portions of E OK for the Mon-Tue time frame. This system should be on east of us by Wed and with a return to southerly winds for the latter part of the week, look for temperatures to finally begin to moderate. However, it will take awhile for temperatures to even make it back to normal.

Notice the last two maps on the right which show the anticipated trends for temperature and precipitation for the 8-14 day time period. Temperatures during that period are expected to average close to normal and the active period we are currently in should also quiet down with little or no precipitation during the that time frame.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot