After Some Showers Tonight, Mild Week Ahead.

Not a bad day today with the milder start this morning and above normal temperatures this afternoon as shown by the map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet. Even milder temperatures are expected for the next few days until a stronger cold front arrives late Thursday or early Friday.

More about that in a moment, but first the clouds that moved in today are due to a disturbance in the upper atmosphere that will be moving across the state tonight and on eastward Monday. This system is not particularly strong and does not have much moisture to work with either. So, will maintain about a 30% chance of any one location receiving measurable rainfall for tonight and into the morning hours of Monday. Anything that does fall will be very light and will not provide any relief to our ongoing drought situation.

However, the clouds overnight together with a brisk southerly wind will keep us quite mild with overnight lows generally in the 40s to near 50 to start the day on Monday. We should see at least some sunshine by Monday afternoon and any lingering showers will have moved on eastward by then. That will result in daytime highs well into the 60s to near 70 with the warmest temperatures to the west where the clouds will thin out first.

Mostly sunny skies and light winds will make for a pleasant Tuesday as temperatures will be in the 40s to start the day and 60s or lower 70s to end it. Much the same for Wednesday although southerly winds will start kicking up a bit by that afternoon.

Thanksgiving Day will have brisk southerly winds in advance of a stronger cool front that now looks to be arriving that night or early on Friday. There remain some timing and intensity differences with the this system, but all indications suggest that Thanksgiving Day will be in the warm sector with the cooler air arriving sometime that night or on Black Friday. That is expected to produce above normal temperatures for Thanksgiving with morning lows near 50 and daytime highs near 70. We will also have mostly cloudy skies and a chance of showers, particularly that night and perhaps into Friday morning.

Northerly winds and cooler conditions for Friday will be followed by a quick turn around with the winds back to the south by Sunday. Another, stronger cold front will then be headed our way for early next week with what looks to be the coolest air of the season. This may also set the stage for a more unsettled week next week, but that is stretching the limits of the old crystal ball just a bit.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot