Quiet for a Day or Two.

Active as the weather has been for the last several days, thought a look at rainfall totals would be of interest. The map on the right shows the total rainfall over the last five days from the world class observing network maintained by the Oklahoma Mesonet. The flooding rainfall in the NE corner really stands out, but notice also the lack of rain for the extreme western counties. The drought just goes on and on for them; too bad we cannot share some of the excess from this side of the state.

However, even on this side of the state the rain has been rather spotty. In fact, the official total out at the airport shows that Tulsa is still more than an inch below normal for the month of May. Temperatures are also running nearly 2 degrees below normal for the month and that trend will continue for a couple of more days before we start warming back up.

The storm system aloft now spinning over Kansas will give us an additional slight chance of showers this afternoon and into the evening hours, but the threat of severe weather will be well to our east. This system is also responsible for the gusty westerly winds that will become more NW this afternoon and evening. This is bringing cooler, drier air over the state and will keep us in the 70s this afternoon. Look for morning lows in the 50s to start the day on Thursday followed by mid-upper 70s for the afternoon hours. We should also have lots of sunshine on Thursday.

After that, things will be warming back up in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, the warmer temperatures will also be accompanied by low level moisture surging back northward, particularly on Friday. That will bring another chance of showers and storms for Friday and possibly into the day on Saturday. Some of those may be severe, particularly during the evening and overnight hours of Friday night into Saturday morning. The low level jet responsible for this rapid return of the low level moisture will begin to weaken over the weekend which is expected to diminish the chance of any additional showers or storms. That should result in partly cloudy skies, warm and humid conditions, and brisk southerly winds for the Sun-Tue time frame.

As always, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot