Warming Trend.

As seen on the visible satellite image on the right, the snow pack is still very evident from NE Ok into E Ks and Missouri. Further west, wispy cirrus clouds are also showing up, but the snow for the more western counties is long gone. The NE winds coming off the snow cover today is also helping to hold temperatures down somewhat with 40s to lower 50s for the extreme NE counties this afternoon. Much warmer conditions further south will start to spread northward over the next few days as our winds return to a more southerly direction.

Moisture will also be returning with those southerly winds and vertical profiles of temperature and moisture suggest a low stratus deck and possible fog to start the day on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. A few light showers or drizzle will also be possible. Temperatures will be affected by the cloud cover with our overnight lows staying above freezing tonight and much warmer for the next few nights. Our days should still see some sunshine, enough to reach the lower 60s on Tue, the upper 60s on Wed, and quite likely the 70s for most locations on Thursday. Pretty remarkable considering how cold we were just a week ago. Thursday may also see an enhanced fire danger due to strong S to SW surface winds.

Another cool front will be arriving by early Friday shifting our winds back to northerly, but the snow will be long gone by then. Thus, cooler but not cold should be the general rule for Friday and Saturday. The front itself will primarily just be a wind shift with no current mention of precipitation. However, a series of systems aloft are poised to come our way and will provide opportunities for showers and possible thunder over the weekend and into the early part of next week. The longer range guidance has yet to lock in on a more definite solution so will just leave it at that for the time being. In fact, it appears that after the quiet conditions of this week, next week will be more unsettled with several chances of rain, showers, and possible thunder; but at least current indications also suggest anything that falls from the sky will be liquid.

As always, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot