Summer-like Pattern Settling In

This was the first morning I've walked outside and felt that true, soupy, hard-to-breathe humid air that often greets us on the tail-end of spring into summer. The dry spell in May at least gave us a break from oppressive humidity. However, with a frontal boundary in the area, moisture has pooled in the area, causing the hazy, sticky scenario to play out.

The heat and moisture may set off a few thunderstorms this afternoon and evening in eastern Oklahoma. The coverage may not be great, but any storms that get going will have plenty of energy to work with! With all of this humidity, you would hope some of it would translate to rain, especially in areas from Tulsa to the south that are really starting to need it!

This frontal boundary will sink south over the next day before lifting northward to bring us another round or two of rain and thunder by midweek. No widespread severe weather is expected, but storms can get pretty rowdy this time of year as the temperatures and dewpoints continue to climb.

Beyond this stretch of somewhat unsettled weather, we will find ourselves truly in a summer-like pattern. This usually means we have weak flow in the upper atmosphere that prevents any substantial storm systems from affecting us. It also means afternoon heat and moisture can set off widely scattered thunderstorms on any given day. Temperatures will only drop off to around 70º at night and top 90º during the day. That is our outlook for this weekend into next week. In fact, the Climate Prediction Center is calling for above-normal temperatures for quite some time, as shown in the map above. We seem to be several weeks ahead of schedule with this sort of thing, but I guess it's right on track with the way the rest of the year has been!

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