It's Definitely Summer

Friday, July 20th 2007, 7:32 pm

By: News On 6

A slight chance of isolated thunderstorms will remain in the forecast through early next week. Our next best chance of rain will be around the middle of next week. Until then, hot and humid weather will continue with afternoon highs in the low to mid 90s with heat index values in the upper 90s.

A weak cool front located in eastern Kansas and Missouri will slowly move southwest towards northeastern Oklahoma tonight, but I think it will dissipate before reaching us. Usually, these fronts are not able to make it very far south into Oklahoma during the summer. However, there will be enough of a boundary to help some widely scattered thunderstorms develop across the area tonight and through the day on Saturday. I donâ€™t expect anything severe, but some storms could have some brief heavy rainfall and some gusty winds. Most areas should remain dry on Saturday.

After Saturday, an upper-level high will drift westward into the Mississippi River Valley and will become the dominant feature for our weather. This will setup a typical summer pattern for us early next week. Afternoons will be hot and humid as high temperatures rise into the low to mid 90s. Southeast winds will continue to feed us moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, which will make for muggy afternoons and drive the head index into the upper 90s. A few isolated thunderstorms will be possible during the peak heating of the day. If any of these storms develop, they will quickly fall apart with the loss of daytime heating as the sun goes down.

Our next decent chances of rain wonâ€™t be until the middle or later parts of next week. An upper-level low could drift north out of the Gulf of Mexico and through Texas. If this happens, it will bring rain back to our area.

Until then, hot and muggy will be the rule with few chances of rain. Try to stay cool, and have a good weekend.