Cool Tonight, Heating Up for the Weekend.

Mighty nice start to our day today as you can see from the morning lows as recorded by the OK Mesonet on the map to the right. We have not had many mornings like this for the summer; in fact you could pretty well count them on one hand since the excessive heat started back on Jun 24. Since then, there have only been 5 days in which the overnight temperature dropped into the 60s so the official reading of 67 this morning certainly was a breath of fresh air. And the best part is that we are expecting even cooler conditions for Saturday with morning lows in the lower 60s for the Tulsa urban environment and the normally cooler rural areas could even make it into the 50s.

The milder start to our day today along with a brisk northerly wind will also result in afternoon temperatures below triple digits for today. In fact, this afternoon should see daytime highs generally running in the low-mid 90s and Saturday afternoon will see daytime highs in the mid-upper 90s. But, the winds will be much lighter on Saturday with a more E to SE wind on the order of 10 mph or less. By the way, those brisk northerly winds of today along with a relative humidity level dropping into the 20% range also results in an enhanced fire danger situation.

Fortunately, the lighter winds on Saturday will mitigate the fire danger somewhat, but it will still be hot and dry with relative humidity levels again dropping into the 20% range during the heat of the day. Sunday will likely see another enhanced fire danger situation though as southerly winds will be increasing to 10-20 mph or more and temperatures should soar back into triple digit territory along with relative humidity levels dropping to near 30%.

Another weak frontal boundary should arrive by Sunday evening/overnight, but with only about a 20% chance of showers/storms the way things are looking now. Light northerly winds behind this boundary should hold afternoon temperatures into the upper 90s, but as dry as we are and as warm as the soils are, some locations could see triple digits again that afternoon. Temperatures will like stay close to triple digits through the middle of next week before a more significant boundary arrives along about Thursday. Too early to get too excited about that system as lots can happen between now and then, but there is at least one set of guidance that suggests this may bring a fairly significant change to our hot, dry conditions. Lets hope so.

By the way, the Perseid meteor shower is on schedule for tonight and with the clear skies and relatively cooler conditions, it should be a pleasant night for viewing. Best time is after midnight and just look up into the night time sky.

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

Dick Faurot