Generous Rains, But Not A Drought Breaker.

The wet system of the last few days has certainly been a blessing, and although rainfall totals have been generous in the most drought stricken areas (notice the two day rainfall map on the right courtesy of the OK Mesonet), it was not a drought breaker. The onset of a drought is usually a gradual process and it usually takes more than one good rain to break a drought which is certainly is the case this time around.

Now that we are on the backside of this system our chances of any additional measurable rainfall are pretty much in the slim to none category. However the cloud cover will be tough to get rid of as only a few breaks are expected at times today and mostly cloudy skies will be the general rule into Sunday morning. We should see a lot more sunshine by Sunday afternoon.

Brisk NW winds and the lingering clouds will make for a short thermometer today as we are starting off in the 40s and will struggle to get above 50 this afternoon. The clouds and a NW wind of 10-15 tonight will keep temperatures from bottoming out, but it will still be near freezing to start Sunday morning. Brisk northerly winds but with some afternoon sunshine should allow temperatures to moderate into the upper 40s for Sunday afternoon.

Monday looks promising with lots of sunshine and a return to light southerly winds during the day. Tuesday will see another cool front arriving during the day with a return to brisk northerly winds, increasing cloud cover, and a 20% chance of light rain late in the day and possibly even a rain/snow mix that night. There is conflicting guidance regarding this next system with one solution suggesting some accumulating snowfall Tuesday night and the other solution only showing cloud cover with little or no precipitation. Any snow that would fall is not expected to amount to much in either event, but this system will be closely monitored in case this scenario changes.

Wednesday through the end of the week should then see temperatures close to their seasonal norms with morning lows near freezing each day and daytime highs around the 50 degree mark. Compared to what we experienced all of last week, that will be quite a bit cooler. Much colder air continues to build up in the North Country and will be surging southward periodically, but so far all indications suggest that the brunt of that will be well east of us and we will just receive glancing blows over the next week or two. Of course, the way this winter has been going that is certainly subject to change.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot