Happy New Year!

As mentioned in this morning's discussion, this has been a year for the record books. Rather than try to go through everything in this format, here are some links for those of you looking for more specific information: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/?n=weather-event_2011extremes and http://www.srh.noaa.gov/graphicast.php?site=oun&gc=7 .

For Tulsa proper, we ended the year on a very mild note but the year as a whole averaged out as the 14th warmest and the 18th driest with records going back over 100 years. Although the rains this fall have helped alleviate the short term drought situation on this side of the state, Tulsa will still end the year about 9" below normal in precipitation. The map on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet, shows that our neighbors in S Central and SW OK are as much as 16" or more below normal in that regard.

As for the start of 2012, a vigorous cold front is pushing through the state late this afternoon and we will have a gusty NW wind for the overnight hours and through much of New Year's Day. Those winds will not be nearly as strong as was the case today when gusts above 40 were common, but the cooler air and the gusty northerly winds will certainly make it feel cooler; particularly in view of how warm we were today. We will start off in the low-mid 30s and should reach the lower 50s during the afternoon. That is still well above normal for this time of year.

Monday looks to be the coolest day of the coming week with morning lows in the 20s and daytime highs in the 40s; which is actually near normal. Tuesday morning will also get off to a very cold start with lows in the 20s but a return to southerly winds will initiate a warming trend which will last for the rest of the week. In fact, we will be well into the 60s again by Friday. Another front should arrive on Saturday to cool things off once again.

You just know this quiet, mild pattern we are in will eventually break down and we continue to see hints along those lines about the middle of the month. Much colder air should be arriving by then, but there are still lots of questions regarding the timing, intensity, and any associated precipitation potential with that particular system.

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

Dick Faurot