Fewer Showers/Storms for the Rest of the Week.

After another round of showers/storms overnight last night and again this afternoon, some folks may be starting to feel a little water logged. Notice the 30 day rainfall map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet. Too much rain too fast has been a problem for some locations, but obviously this has been quite a stretch of wet weather across the entire state. Believe it or not, but there are some locations that are still on the dry side and some ponds that still have not filled up, but by and large this is been quite a blessing considering the time of year.

Keep in mind, July-August are not just the hottest months of the year but are among the driest so for us to receive this much moisture at this time of year is unusual; particularly after the last couple of summers which were so hot and dry. What makes it even more unusual has been the absence of any tropical influence. From time to time, a the remnants of a tropical cyclone will make it up here during the summer to provide some relief from the heat and dryness but that has not occurred this year.

Not only that, but the longer range guidance does not suggest a late summer heat wave; at least not at this point. Since we are getting late into the summer and since we have wet soils and green, growing vegetation at this time, that makes it unlikely that we will see any more triple digit days this year. The caveat to that is that we will likely have some days that will feel like 100 or more due to the combination of heat and humidity, but actual triple digit days are looking less and less likely for the rest of this summer.

Speaking of temperatures, the forecast for the rest of this week and through the weekend calls for a gradual warm-up from the low-mid 80s to the lower 90s by early next week. However, that is below normal for this time of year and our nights will be even milder with morning lows generally in the 60s for the next few nights. In fact, could even see some lower 60s in Tulsa and upper 50s for the normally cooler outlying areas later this week. That sounds mighty good to me.

The showers/storms of this afternoon will be ending and moving on out this evening leaving us with a mostly dry forecast for the rest of the week and through the coming weekend. I say mostly dry as there is still a very slight chance of a pop-up shower/storm on Wednesday and again Thursday night into Friday, but the chances look to be much lower than recent days.

Light northerly winds will also help to hold temperatures down and with a return to at least some sunshine each day, look for temperatures to start rebounding as mentioned above, but still below normal. A return to southerly winds will help to warm things up by early next week, but as mentioned there are no current indications of an extended period of excessive heat so enjoy!

In the meantime, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot