Falling Rain & Temperatures

It's a transition day in Oklahoma. While we still have the wind and warmth, moisture is building in. The cloudy skies are an indication of the changes that are about to take place. An unsettled pattern for the rest of the week awaits us.

First, we'll briefly revisit Tuesday. It was a day of ferocious winds. Gusts exceeded 50 mph in many locations in northeastern Oklahoma, wreaking havoc on power lines and spreading wildfires throughout the parched Green Country landscape. Keep in mind, these winds came without thunderstorms and a low pressure center hundreds of miles away. It was the strong gradient between a large area of high pressure and a fairly deep low to our north that caused these ceaseless winds.

The wind have settled down a *little" today, but we are in better shape with the moisture now in place. As a cold front moves southward into northern Oklahoma tonight, we will see that moisture result in scattered showers and thunderstorms. Any storms that do form will likely be elevated. This means we will have a cooler, stable air mass at the surface – confining any severe threat to just hail. Still, we could have some heavy downpours and frequent lightning to go along with any hail Thursday morning. The axis of rain will gradually shift south throughout the day, bringing the threat of strong to severe storms to the far southeastern corner of Oklahoma.

The main upper-level low will meander to our west into the weekend, keeping us locked into clouds and cool conditions as we sit north of the frontal boundary. This will give, especially southeastern Oklahoma (closer to the front) a prolonged chance of rain, which could give that region a flooding threat. As you can see on the map above, 3 – 6 inches of rain may fall through Monday morning in those locations! We need the rain to quench the land and reduce the fire threat, but this could be too much of a good thing.

As far as temperatures are concern, they will be falling as well. By Thursday afternoon, many of us will be stuck with a stiff northerly breeze and temperatures in the 40s. The contrast of today's warmth will make it feel especially cool so don't put away your winter clothes just yet! Cool air remains in place until this pesky system finally lifts out of here later in the weekend. By early next week, we will see the 70s once again!

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