One More Day, Then a Break!

What a way to start the month of May! Afternoon temperatures have held in the 40s all day long and the calendar day high temperature of 56 occurred shortly after midnight. The rain, clouds, and northerly winds all contributed to the chilly start. Speaking of rain, notice the map on the right, courtesy of the Ok Mesonet, which shows the total rainfall as of late this afternoon for this first day of May. Notice in particular that our neighbors to the west have once again missed out on an opportunity to get some badly needed rainfall and the drought just continues out there. Notice also that the rain today has fallen in areas that could least use it as flooding continues to be a problem for our more eastern counties and on into Arkansas.

Unfortunately, Monday will see more of the same with the best chance of rain for the more eastern counties and lesser chances for the more western counties. A stronger disturbance aloft will be moving across the state Monday bringing another round of showers or storms, primarily for the more eastern counties. Although we are getting a break for the night tonight, look for showers and possibly some embedded thunder to redevelop during the morning hours of Monday and then end from west to east by late afternoon as that system moves on past the state.

That will be followed by clearing skies Monday night with a clear cool start to the day on Tuesday. Partly cloudy afternoon skies and light winds will make for a very pleasant Tuesday followed by lots of sunshine, gusty southerly winds, and warmer weather by Wednesday and for the rest of the week.

The cloudy skies, northerly winds, and periods of rain will also keep temperatures quite cool on Monday with 40s to start the day and low-mid 50s about the best we can expect by late afternoon. As mentioned, Tuesday will start clear and cool with morning lows in the upper 30s and lower 40s. The winds will also be very light at that time so fog may be an issue. After that, what now looks to be a rather weak system will be approaching the OK/KS state line late Thursday and could set off a few isolated showers or storms. Another front also looks to make a run at us by Sunday and could set off some showers or storms over the course of the weekend.

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

Dick Faurot