A Warm and Windy Monday.

Been awhile since we have received much in the way of moisture across the state and things are starting to dry out once again. The eastern side of the state is actually in pretty good shape, at least for now. But, as the regional drought monitor map on the right shows, cannot say the same for our more western neighbors and down across Texas and even into Louisiana. As the second map on the right shows, the prospects for any meaningful rains are pretty much in the slim to none category for the coming week. There remains a very slight chance for the more Eastern counties of the state late Monday and through the overnight hours as a strong cold front will be pushing through at that time. But, the deeper, better quality moisture will have been shunted further east by a strong SW wind at the surface and aloft.

At least there will be enough moisture for higher humidity levels on Monday to mitigate the high fire danger somewhat. However, the strength of the winds will still create an enhanced fire danger for both Monday and Tuesday. The main difference will be in the direction of the winds as a gusty SW wind for Monday will be shifting around to a gusty N wind by early Tuesday as the cold front pushes on across the state.

That will also bring a significant change in temperatures with the southerly winds through the overnight hours tonight keeping temperatures well into the 40s and low 50s by early Monday morning.

That is warmer than our normal daytime highs for this time of year. We should have some stratus clouds by early morning as well and if those clouds thin out enough, then the more SW wind for the afternoon could help temperatures soar well into the 70s….the clouds are the wild card there.

The cold front will not be pushing across this part of the state till well after midnight Monday night but by Tuesday morning you will certainly notice the difference. In fact, temperatures Tuesday afternoon will be on the order of 30 degrees colder than on Monday and the gusty northerly winds will make it feel even colder. To keep things in perspective, that is actually pretty close to normal for this time of year.

Wednesday morning will be the coldest morning of the coming week and will be followed by a nice rebound that afternoon. After that, it appears that a weak boundary may make it down to around the OK/KS state line which may give us a brief break in the winds but no active weather. That should be followed by another significant temperature change with much warmer conditions expected again in time for the following weekend.

Beyond that, we are starting to see a little better consistency in a system that will have better moisture potential that following Monday. Too early to make a call on it just yet, but at least it looks promising.

In the meantime, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot