Time Change Tonight.

We fell a degree short of tying a record daytime high temperature yesterday; today will be back to the real world. Normal daytime highs at this time of year are in the upper 60s and that is what is expected for this afternoon. The cool front that came through during the overnight hours has not been much of a weather maker, but at least it has returned temperatures to more seasonal levels. Northerly winds of 8-15 mph are bringing in the cooler air and we will also have some occasional mid and high level cloud cover. However, no active weather is expected with the possible exception of along the Red River tonight and into the day Sunday where the boundary will stall out and could set off a few showers/storms.

Don't forget to set your clock back tonight as Sunday is the time change. Sunday is also looking very pleasant with morning lows on the chilly side with temperatures in the 30s, but moderating into the 60s that afternoon. That is a cooler than normal start, but a near normal end to the day. Sunday will also have light NE winds and lots of sunshine.

Another system will be diving towards the state on Monday, but most of the energy with this particular system looks to be along the OK/ARK state line and on eastward from there. As a result, the more eastern counties will have more cloudiness than will the more western counties which will impact temperatures somewhat. Also, the extreme E counties and on into AR will have at least a slight chance of a shower/storm during the course of the day. Our surface winds will be back to a southerly direction in advance of this system, shifting back to a more northerly direction behind it. Temperatures will be close to normal for most of us with below normal temperatures further east under the clouds and warmer temperatures further west where there will be more sunshine.

After that, a warming trend will set in which will last through the rest of the week. We should be back to near 70 Wednesday afternoon under mostly sunny skies and a return to light southerly winds. Gusty southerly winds are then expected for Thu-Sat along with mostly sunny skies and temperatures that will be soaring once again. We should be near 80 again by Friday and Saturday afternoons with morning lows moderating to near 60 by Friday and Saturday mornings. The warm temperatures and gusty southerly winds will also result in another fire danger situation that will need to be closely monitored.

The longer range guidance does hold out some hope for showers/storms before the weekend is over but there are some timing and intensity differences that are creating a good deal of uncertainty at this time frame. For now, will just hold out the hope that we could see a decent chance of rain along about Sunday or perhaps into Monday. As the QPF map on the right shows, there certainly is not much hope between now and then.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot