Week Getting Off to a Cool Start.

The map on the right shows how much the temperature has changed over the last 24 hours and is just one of the many fine products that the OK Mesonet generates on a regular basis. The extreme NE corner was the cool spot yesterday so they do not show much of a change 24 hours later, but for the rest of the state it is noticeably much cooler. Those brisk northerly winds were largely responsible for that.

Although the winds were gusty during the day, they will be calming down rather quickly for tonight and with generally fair overnight skies, it will be a cool start to our Monday. Most locations will be in the 40s with the exception of the downtown urban environment where it should be near 50. That is much cooler than normal at any rate. For Monday afternoon, our winds will be pretty much light and variable with a weak surface ridge sitting just about on top of us. We will also have lots of sunshine so look for temperatures to rebound well into the 70s to near 80 by afternoon.

A secondary system will return northerly winds for Tuesday, but temperatures if anything look to be a degree or two warmer during the day as the winds will not be all that strong. After that, Wed and into Thu look quite warm with highs well into 80s and some areas may even see 90 before the next cool front arrives late Thursday.

This next front will not have much moisture to work with so at this time it looks to be another dry system. Brisk northerly winds will cool us off again going into the coming weekend, but only slightly below normal. Another weak front may arrive early the following week but present indications do not suggest it will be much of a rainmaker either.

By the way, after the record setting heat of this past summer, it is of interest to note that so far this September temperatures are running nearly 3 degrees below normal. It certainly has been a welcome break to the last several months, but the outlook for the first week of October is for above normal temperatures and for the drought to continue.

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

Dick Faurot