Heat Builds for Labor Day Weekend.

The remnants of Isaac are slowly pulling away from the state as the system moves on to the E/NE. However, the wrap around moisture will still produce a few showers/storms for the extreme NE counties and the mix of clouds and sun will hold temperatures into the 80s for those locations. Elsewhere, look for enough sunshine for daytime highs to make it back into the low-mid 90s. Speaking of Isaac, the top map on the right shows the rainfall here in OK was pretty well confined to the extreme E and NE. The second map shows the rainfall across the region from Isaac was quite generous near and east of the center which is usually the case. So, most of us just missed out on some badly needed rainfall and the result is going to be a very hot weekend for us.

Since there is not much of a rainfall footprint to mitigate the heating, and we will have nearly full sun over the next few days, and since temperatures aloft will be rising as ridging aloft becomes re-established…..this all adds up to another round of triple digit temperatures. We will have enough cloud cover today to keep daytime temperatures in the low-mid 90s except for the far NE which will likely be near 90. However, with the moisture pulling out as Isaac drifts further to the E, we will have plenty of sunshine for Sunday & Monday and just a few clouds in the sky on Tuesday. That should result in near triple digit heat for Sunday afternoon and 100+ for Monday and Tuesday.

Our winds will be from the N or NW today at around 10-15 mph at times, light and variable overnight, somewhat light and variable for much of the day Sunday and light southerly winds for Mon and Tues. Together with the heat, that could also result in air quality issues.

Ridging aloft will begin to flatten later in the week, eventually allowing a stronger cool front to arrive. The longer range guidance has not come into a consensus as yet regarding the timing nor the strength of this system, but indications are it will produce a significant cool-down in time for the coming weekend. There will also be at least a chance of showers/storms beginning on Thursday and quite possibly extending into Fri or Sat.

By the way, this past Friday marked the end of the meteorological summer. Will provide some statistics regarding how this summer stacked up during the newscasts this evening/night and will try to provide some of that data in either the afternoon blog or the one I will write tomorrow. Think you will find some interesting details in that data.

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

Dick Faurot