In the short term, we’ve seen a decent area of showers and thunderstorms over northern and central Oklahoma this morning. These storms “defied all odds”, making it into the OKC metro. They will leave behind a boundary for a few storms to fire on later this afternoon. Highs today will be in the 90s central and east, and the 100s out west. If we can keep the cloud and rain around a bit longer, that could help keep the air temperature down. Flipside, in areas where it has rained, once the sun comes out it will feel awful humid this afternoon.
This morning’s rain is just a mere distraction on the true weather picture. A strong upper storm system will move through the Great Lakes over the next few days. This will shove a cold front through Oklahoma. As a matter of fact, this front will push through much of Texas! The front will bring a chance for thunderstorms starting in the north later this afternoon, ending in southern Oklahoma early Sunday. Of course, it won’t rain the whole time, but any storms that do develop could become severe. We’ll also have to track the potential for locally heavy rainfall. Later this weekend, behind the front, we should lose the humidity, giving us pleasant mornings and warm afternoons.
The current 7-day forecast calls for dry weather next week, but that is subject to change. The summertime high pressure ridge never really builds in. Once the Gulf moisture returns, which should be the middle part of the week, storm chances could return to the forecast. At this time, I’m not forecasting the 4th of July weekend to be a rain-out, but I’m not forecasting completely dry weather either.
Andy
Do we have any idea when the summertime high pressure ridge might build in? Does it look like we’ll have above average rainfall this summer,or is it too early to tell?