The Oklahoma Glacier in Retreat!

The visible satellite image on the right clearly shows the extent of the Oklahoma/Missouri/Kansas glacier as there are no clouds on this particular image. OK, I have exaggerated for the point of emphasis, but there is obviously still a lot of snow on the ground. The warm temperatures, sunny skies, and southerly winds are taking their toll on the snow pack, but there will still be a good bit of snow up there again Monday. That is important because our winds will be shifting to a N to NE direction tonight behind a weak cool front. Since this is a Pacific system, the air behind it is actually not very cool at all, but since the winds will be coming across the ‘glacier' there will be some modification that will take place. Bottom line is to keep temperatures perhaps a bit cooler than first thought although we should still be at or perhaps a bit above normal for this time of year.

Since this is such a weak system, our winds will quickly return to a more southerly direction for Tue and Wed and the warming trend will resume. Additionally, there will be more moisture available by then so expect more cloud cover and possibly even some morning fog or drizzle along with a slight chance of light rain or showers. The additional cloud cover will slow down the warm up during the day somewhat but our nights will be warmer so the ‘glacier' will continue to melt away.

The warmest day of the week still looks to be Thursday when some locations could reach the 70s. Cloud cover will ultimately determine just how warm we are then, but gusty S to SW winds could also produce an enhanced fire danger. Quite a contrast to this past Thursday when some locations were in the -20 to -30 below zero temperature range to start the day.

Another cool front should be arriving on Friday with little fanfare. However, it will get our temperatures back down to near normal for the coming weekend and there are indications of at least a chance of rain or showers for the coming weekend as well.

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

Dick Faurot