Cold, Rain Likely Again Saturday.

Rainfall has been pretty disappointing so far today as the map on the right shows, courtesy of the OK Mesonet. There has even been some wintry precip mixed in with the rain at times with several reports of a sleet/rain/snow mix during the day. However, this unsettled period is not over just yet and the QPF map on the right still suggests the potential for up to an inch or so of rain before it all comes to an end on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, as the precipitation comes to an end Sunday morning it still looks like there will be at least some wintry stuff falling from the sky. The vertical temperature profile and surface temperatures all suggest it would mostly melt but there could be some accumulations for the more northern counties and on into KS. So, the Saturday night/Sunday morning time frame could get a little interesting as temperatures will also be near the freezing mark to start the day Sunday as well.

After that, much below normal temperatures will continue into the following week with conditions not really warming up till late in the week.

Our normal daytime highs at this time of year would be in the mid 60s, but we only made it to 42 today which is actually the normal overnight low. Certainly not very Spring-like. Friday will be a little better, but not much. Have dropped the rain chances to 20% as it looks like most of the forcing will wait till during the day Saturday. We may even see a few breaks in the clouds during the afternoon hours, particularly for the more western counties and that should at least get our daytime highs into the 50s. However, for the more eastern counties where clouds will prevail, look for daytime highs to still be in the 40s.

The next, stronger system coming through on Saturday will keep us in the 40s during the day but at least we will be above freezing for the next couple of mornings. This system will produce more widespread rainfall for much of Saturday with potentially the changeover to snow Saturday night and ending Sunday morning as mentioned above. Lingering cloud cover and gusty northerly winds will also hold the daytime highs on Sunday into the 40s. Freezing nights and chilly days will then start the work week but a return to southerly winds by the middle of the week will finally start to moderate temperatures.

So, after the weekend, the weather will stabilize and gradually warm up during the following week. Another, potentially wet system may be approaching in time for that following weekend.

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

Dick Faurot