Warm, Windy, and Possibly Wet

These are the three adjectives to describe the upcoming days. The first two are clearly with us now. Temperatures will remain 5 to 10° above normal into the weekend with winds gusting up to 35 mph. This, combined with the prevailing dry conditions, gives us an elevated fire danger that will be with us for several days.

Crossing our fingers and toes, the storm system currently sitting in the intermountain west, will put an end to that fire danger throughout the state with substantial rainfall. It still appears the western half of the state will be the big winners for rain (for once) this weekend. However, some models still indicate rain sliding eastward into Green Country by Sunday. Some of these computer models suggest as much as half a foot of rain could fall over the weekend in the panhandle regions! Wow, that could do wonders! This will hopefully put some sort of dent in the ever-worsening drought.

The map above shows the latest drought monitor. 70% of the state is now in the worst drought category. That is up 3% from last week, but hopefully our next report of the drought will show widespread improvement. We aren't alone in the drought though. About half of the country is dealing with at least abnormally dry conditions.

If your plans take you to the Tulsa State Fair this weekend, the outlook is better for Saturday than Sunday. However, Sunday could turn out to be a nice, mild day at the fair as well. Overall, the weather could not have cooperated more with this event, which is highly dependent upon nice conditions!

One other thing of note: this week is the anniversary of the 1986 Arkansas River flood in the Tulsa metro area. 25 years later, we can't seem to buy a raindrop! Be sure to tune in tonight for a report on this event and on how far the city of Tulsa has come in flood prevention since then!

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