Unsettled Pattern Developing This Week.

After a beautiful day today, a more unsettled pattern will be setting up for the coming week with several systems coming our way. As is often the case, timing will be everything regarding the impacts of each system so here is how it is currently expected to play out.

Gusty southerly winds will continue through the overnight hours tonight keeping temperatures from dropping much and possibly even warming some by morning after an initial cool-down early this evening. At any rate, the day will start with temperatures in the 40s to lower 50s along with cloudy skies by morning. A cool front will be pushing across the state during the day and should be arriving in the Tulsa metro area around the noon hour and quickly moving on eastward from there. Gusty S to SW winds ahead of the boundary will keep us in the 50s to near 60 and the shift to NW winds behind the boundary will not start to cool things off till that night. Also, most of the moisture will be shunted off to the east so we will only have about a 20% chance of rain with better chances further east and into Arkansas.

Skies will be quickly clearing following the wind shift and Tuesday should be sunny and cooler along with a lighter N to NE wind.

Wednesday into Thursday still look interesting as Wednesday morning will start off near freezing but clouds and rain will be moving in rather quickly during the day. With the drier air in place near the surface, the potential exists for a wintry mix; particularly for the more northern counties on Wednesday. At any rate, our surface winds will become more E and SE so temperatures will be gradually rising although upper 30s and lower 40s will make for a cold rain at many locations. Temperatures should be gradually rising as we go through Wed night due to gusty southerly winds ahead of another cool front arriving Thursday morning. Widespread rain with some embedded thunder is expected for the Wed night and Thu morning time frame. As the updated QPF map on the right shows, the state stands to receive some generous rains from this system which will put a good dent in the ongoing drought but will not end it.

The rain will be ending from W to E Thursday morning followed by a gusty W to NW wind and clearing skies. Thursday will also be mild with temperatures in the 50s followed by sunny skies and a cooler day for Friday. As of now, the weekend looks to be dry although there will be some clouds returning. Also, as our winds return to a more southerly direction temperatures will be moderating, particularly by Sunday.

As mentioned above, timing is everything and the way things stand right now it appears we will have a break for Fri-Sun with a wet period for Wed into Thu and another potentially wet system coming our way by Sunday night and Monday. Hopefully, that timing will verify for the Bassmaster Classic this week.

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

Dick Faurot