Nice Thursday, Not So Nice Weekend.

One more pretty nice day on Thursday, then the pattern changes and we will be turning colder and wetter going into the coming weekend. In fact, I have increased the rain chances to 30% for Friday and there may even be a few showers develop before the night is over Thursday night. The cold front still looks to arrive during the overnight hours so southerly breezes and just a few high clouds should still get us into the upper 50s and lower 60s Thursday afternoon. That is well above normal for this time of year, but not for long.

Friday looks to be cloudy, cooler, and with a chance of some showers as the cold front stalls out across SE OK. That will result in quite a temperature contrast with temperatures generally in the 40s behind the front and in the 50s to near 60 ahead of the boundary. That boundary will then try to move back west for Saturday, so most of us should be back to a southerly wind by Saturday morning and relatively mild temperatures as we will not cool off much overnight. A stronger push of colder air will then arrive late in the day Saturday and rain still looks to be a good bet.

The timing of the storm system responsible for all this remains somewhat questionable. Yesterday it looked like the rain would continue well into Saturday night. The guidance that has come in so far today now suggests the system will move through more quickly so the rain could be ending from west to east by Saturday evening or early that night. Obviously, that will have significant implications for the Bedlam Football Game Saturday evening. One thing that has not changed though is the gusty NW winds and temperatures generally in the lower 40s which will make it quite chilly for the game.

Also, the latest guidance is now holding more energy aloft back to the west which will have implications for clouds and possibly a slight chance of precipitation for Sunday and into the day on Monday. Have kept a slight chance in the forecast to indicate that uncertainty. It will certainly be quite cold through the early part of next week.

By the way, the month of November turned out to be slightly warmer than normal and quite a bit wetter than normal. The moisture has also helped put a significant dent in the ongoing drought for the eastern side of the state. The system this weekend should also help our more western neighbors.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot