Colder Next Few Days.

The rainfall from yesterday proved to be rather generous as the map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, shows. For many of those locations, particularly in N Central OK, it has been nearly 3 months since they received as much as ¼" of precipitation, so this was truly a blessing. Also, for those of us who got the rains, this was by no means a drought buster, but at least it did put a nice little dent in the ongoing drought situation. We now have some decent moisture in the surface layer of the ground, but down deep it is still dry and we also need some run off rains to replenish the ponds, streams, and lakes before we can consider the drought to have been broken. Unfortunately, our more western neighbors missed out on this event and the prospects for any additional precipitation any time soon are rather bleak.

Also, after the Spring-like conditions of yesterday, we are now back to the real world with more seasonal temperatures expected for the next few days. Gusty NW winds will make it difficult for temperatures to make it much past 40 this afternoon, but at least the skies will be gradually clearing and we should see some afternoon sunshine. A clear, cold night is in store for tonight as the winds will be quickly subsiding and will be generally light and variable. That should get us back into the mid-20s to start the day on Thursday.

A light S to SW wind Thursday morning will be quickly shifting back to a northerly direction at around 15 mph. Although not as strong as the winds today, that will help keep us in the 40s to near 50 for a daytime high which is actually pretty close to normal for this time of year. We will also have clear morning skies going back to partly cloudy for the afternoon, then back to clear tomorrow night.

Friday morning will start off clear and cold as well with morning lows near 20; the afternoon hours will have mostly sunny skies, a light E to SE wind, and temperatures running in the 40s.

The winds will be shifting back to the N again on Saturday but temperatures will be somewhat milder with morning lows near 30 and daytime highs back into the 50s. These changes in the winds are due to a series of weak frontal boundaries that will be moving quickly through the state on the heels of a NW flow pattern aloft. These systems are moving through so quickly there is not enough time for much moisture to return so only some clouds and perhaps a sprinkle or two is about all that can be expected. In other words, it looks a dry forecast going into the coming weekend.

Look for temperatures to be moderating even more this weekend and into the early part of next week as our flow pattern aloft becomes more zonal in nature. The lack of amplitude aloft also suggests there are no additional rainmakers of any consequence coming our way anytime soon.

So, be grateful for the rain we have received and stay tuned for updates.

Dick Faurot