Chilly Parade Weather

Christmas parades are happening left and right in Green Country this weekend and Mother Nature should cooperate with all of the festivities! The overarching weather theme will be cold temperature, so be sure to bundle up. Temperatures will fall into the 20s tonight with a return to 40-degree readings by Saturday afternoon. Wearing layers to these events will be key to staying comfortable.

Aside from the reinforcing shot of cold air, there are some other interesting things to talk about tonight. First, there is the potential for freezing fog overnight. It may not be a widespread issue, but with temperatures well below freezing and prime fog conditions, some areas will have a few travel issues in the early morning hours up through sunrise. Assuming fog doesn't completely ruin visibility, you'll want to check out the western sky before sunrise Saturday. A lunar eclipse will be occurring with the optimal viewing time in our region in the hour or two leading up to sunrise. Just as the moon sets, we will have a view of the moon approaching a total lunar eclipse. It might just be worth waking up early for on a Saturday morning. The next shot of seeing a total lunar eclipse in Oklahoma won't be until April of 2014.

We will enjoy dry, cool, but seasonable conditions for the rest of our weekend. Enjoy it because we know all too well that December can bring us a doozy of a winter storm at times and quiet weather is often hard to come by. Despite a dry spell over the past several days, we have seen marked improvement in the drought thanks to more rainfall early in the week. The latest Drought Monitor, shown above, indicates 13% of Oklahoma is now drought-free! The worst drought category is all but gone from Oklahoma with only 2% falling in its clutches.

We'll likely see more improvement in the coming week as rain chances increase next week. In fact, we could have some true gully-washers on our hands by Wednesday as a strong storm system moves out of the Desert Southwest into Oklahoma. The severe weather potential is uncertain at this time due to a possible lack of instability. However, it might briefly feel like early spring as temperature surge to nearly 60 degrees with thunderstorms in the area midweek.

Until then, enjoy the nice weekend! I'll be at the downtown Holiday Parade of Lights Saturday evening, so be sure to stop by and say hello! In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Twitter: @GroganontheGO and "like" me on Facebook!