A Cool Friday

The cold front is now located south of the Tulsa area and will continue to rapidly move southeast out of the state by midmorning.  The showers and storms that formed overnight were strong to severe mainly across the southern part of the state, but we did have a few strong storms across the northern third late last night that produced some small hail.  

The air mass behind this boundary is rather cool for mid-April.  North winds in the 10 to 20 mph range today will usher in daytime highs in the lower 60s along with mostly cloudy sky for most of the day.  Later this afternoon the clouds will begin to thin from the northwest to the southeast.  Dry air in the lower levels will allow a rapid cool down tonight.  Saturday morning lows in the lower 40s will be common with some of the valley locations dropping into the upper 30s.  Saturday afternoon highs in the upper 60s will be followed with Sunday readings in the lower 70s.

A northwest flow aloft will persist Sunday and Monday across the area before it moves eastward bringing the ridge of high pressure into the region.  This northwest flow could easily bring a storm or two into the region during the late night or early morning periods.  Some of the model data suggests we could see a shower or storm Monday morning, but at this point, I have opted to keep the mention out of the 7 day planner.   

The upper air pattern will bring a ridge of high pressure over the area early next week allowing temperatures to warm above the seasonal average.  Afternoon highs in the lower 80s will be common by Wednesday and Thursday.

The extended data, and more so pattern recognition, leads me to believe another major storm system will be approaching late next week or possibly into next weekend.  The upper air flow will once again transition to a southwest flow aloft which is favorable for bringing big systems into the southern plains in mid spring.  But before this takes place, we're in great shape for the next several days.  Enjoy the weather.