Football Weather is Here!

Many folks will be venturing out to support their local football teams tonight and they will undoubtedly be treated to great football weather unlike last week. It still may be a little warm for some, but we can (hopefully) say good-bye to sweating in the stands… at least because of the weather! A friend of mine says that any weather that keeps our players safe is OK with her. We're glad that Mother Nature is on our side for now!

Our weekend looks mighty fine. We do have a slight chance of showers on Saturday afternoon, but many of us will gladly welcome a little rain given our drought. Temperatures will reach the 80s in the day and dip into the upper 50s at night. What's not to love about that?

September 10th is regarded as the peak of the Tropical Season. It sure is showing signs of that now with 3 named systems in the Atlantic basin. Hurricane Katia is spinning away from the U.S. after a very long life. Katia will have been an active system for nearly 2 weeks before all is set and done. Tropical Storm Nate is posing little threat to the U.S., but could still become a hurricane before slowly closing in on the central Mexican coastline. Finally, Tropical Storm Maria is barreling westward into the Caribbean. Maria is a weak storm, but could move uncomfortably close to the East Coast next week.

There is more bad news with the ongoing drought. First, all of Oklahoma now falls under at least "severe" drought. The rest of the state falls under extreme or exceptional drought… the two worst drought categories. Click on the map above to see the latest Drought Monitor. In the long-term, our foe, La Niña, is making a return. The cooler than normal water in the Eastern Pacific Ocean leads to a higher likelihood of dry and warmer than normal conditions into early next year for the Southern Plains. Needless to say, that is the last thing we want to hear for our drought, which has already caused $2 billion in damages to the state's agricultural industry. Unfortunately, this intensifying drought may be with us for some time.

It's hard to believe we are now about 10 years out from the anniversary of 9/11. It was on that sunny morning, both here in Tulsa and along the East Coast where we witnessed the unthinkable unfold. The weather should be relatively quiet for all the ceremonies ongoing to remember those events on Sunday out East. Here in Tulsa, we will have another quiet weather day with mild temperatures.