Mild Nights, Warm Days, Chance of Weekend Rain.

Not quite as cool to start our day this morning, but still very pleasant as the statewide low temperature map on the right shows, courtesy of the OK Mesonet. With only a few of those fair weather cumulus clouds around this afternoon, temperatures will make it into the low-mid 90s before the day is over followed by a quick cool-down after sunset. The air is quite dry, so temperatures will quickly fall back into the 70s early tonight and should be back into the low-mid 60s to start the day on Wednesday.

Southerly winds will be picking up a bit over the next few days and with temperatures back into the 90s each day, that will result in an enhanced fire danger. Look for minimum relative humidity levels during the heat of the day to be dropping to near 30% Wed afternoon and perhaps a bit higher on Thu afternoon. However, with southerly winds increasing into the 10-20 mph range and occasionally stronger in gusts, fires could easily get out of hand.

What we still need is a good, widespread, soaking rain. Fortunately, another chance of showers/storms will be spreading our way in time for the coming weekend. There will be a slight chance later Friday followed by better chances on Saturday and Sunday and perhaps into the day Monday. Don't want to get your hopes up too high just yet as there are still some inconsistencies in the longer range guidance. But at least we look to have a decent shot at more rain and as is often the case, some locations will get a good soaking and many others will be left out. Would not be surprised if some lucky folks pick up an inch or more, but that will still not be the drought breaker we need. However, we are chipping away at the drought with the somewhat cooler temperatures and at least scattered showers/storms to provide localized relief.

Also, we do not see a return to triple digit heat anytime soon. Of course, this is still August and we often have triple digits well into September, so we are not completely out of the woods in that regard just yet.

So, stay cool, stay tuned, and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot