Cold & Rainy Saturday, Possible Flurries Saturday Night.

The map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, shows the total rainfall over the last two days. Rainfall totals have been rather light and unfortunately, the system coming our way for the weekend is not looking to be as wet as earlier thought. In fact, the latest and greatest QPF map also on the right and valid through the weekend has backed off considerably on the precipitation potential. It now appears that the main storm center will track further north with the heavier precipitation also located further north.

Ahead of this system, we will have easterly winds, cloudy skies, and showers developing throughout the day Saturday. It will also be very cool with daytime highs only in the 40s again for Saturday. Then, as the main storm center moves rapidly on eastward, our winds will shift to the NW and will be strong and gusty for Saturday night through the day Sunday. That will bring even cooler air back over us with temperatures near freezing Sunday morning and only in the low 40s during the day.

Also, the colder air at the surface and aloft may support some light snow or flurries on the backside of the storm system for the Saturday night time period. As mentioned above, the heavier amounts will be further north into KS, but don't be surprised if there is a dusting to perhaps an inch or so for some locations by the time it ends Sunday morning.

After that, very chilly conditions will remain entrenched going into the coming week with morning lows in the 20s and daytime highs in the 40s to begin the week. Conditions will only slowly moderate until later in the week when our winds finally return to a more southerly direction. Even then, temperatures will likely still be just below the normal values for this time of year. Also, there are indications of another storm system developing and coming this way over the course of the Easter weekend. Way too early to get excited about that system, so it will be closely watched over the coming week.

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

Dick Faurot