Mild Wednesday, Much Colder Thursday.

From the 3 hour temperature change map on the right as of early this afternoon, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, it is obvious that temperatures have not changed much SE of I-44 whereas there has been a significant warm-up NW of I-44. This sharp temperature gradient is a reflection of a sharp moisture gradient with widespread rain SE of I-44 and partly cloudy skies NW of I-44.

The system responsible for the rain will be moving on eastward this afternoon bringing an end to the showers followed by clearing skies from west to east for the overnight hours. That should allow for fair skies and light winds to start the day on Wednesday along with the potential for some patchy fog. Lots of sunshine and a light S or SW wind will produce another very mild day for Wednesday before a much stronger cold front arrives during the afternoon/evening hours.

It will be very evident when this next cold front arrives Wednesday afternoon as the winds will shift to the N and NW and rapidly increase to 20-30 mph. Temperatures will start dropping following frontal passage and we should be in the mid 20s by Thursday morning, but it will feel much colder due to the winds. Also, as the colder air moves in there will be some moisture aloft that may get wrung out by the colder air resulting in some snow flurries during the overnight hours, particularly for the more NE counties. This is a rapidly moving system though so no accumulation and no travel issues are anticipated.

Lots of sunshine during the day Thursday will try to warm things up, but those gusty NW winds and the colder air moving in should keep daytime temperatures in the 30s. Friday morning should be clear and cold with lows generally in the teens followed by a return to southerly winds for Friday afternoon. A weak boundary looks to be moving across the state on Saturday which will shift the winds briefly back to the NW, but will not cool things off much. Brisk southerly winds for Sunday and Monday will moderate temperatures to well above normal levels once again and could result in some showers by later Monday.

Another cold front will be arriving early next week, but we still do not see any real deal arctic air coming this way that would result in an extensive period of cold, wintry weather. That is certainly subject to change though, so stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot