Rain clears out later this morning as temperatures continue to climb | 3/21 AM

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) -

Good morning! There are some light rain showers and sprinkles spread across Southwest Oklahoma this morning, nothing that can’t be combated with a rain coat or umbrella. The rain will gradually dissipate over the next few hours, followed by the clouds soon after that will re-introduce sunshine to the area this afternoon. Winds will continue to be breezy out of the south at 10-20 mph, with wind gusts up to 25-30 mph. Daytime highs today will eventually top out in the mid/upper 70s and low 80s, above average for this time of year.

Clouds will build back in during the overnight hours as we will start off the day on Wednesday with mostly cloudy skies. Winds will only decrease slightly out of the south at 10-15 mph. If you thought that this morning’s temperatures were on the warm side, then you’ll be greeted to “sweltering” lows tomorrow as we will only bottom out in the upper 50s and low 60s Wednesday morning.

Mostly cloudy skies will stick around through much of the day on Wednesday, though with still-evident winds out of the south at 10-20 mph, temperatures will soar once again as we are expected to top out everywhere in the low/mid 80s. With the warm temperatures, low relative humidity and strong south winds - fire danger will become a concern due to the favorable environment.

Rain returns to Texoma as early as the late morning on Thursday, expected to transition into scattered-to-numerous showers and storms after noontime. From there, we will see a strong and severe threat of storms develop throughout the afternoon and evening. Hazards include damaging winds, large hail, a couple brief spin-ups, and heavy rainfall that could lead to localized flooding. The reason for the flooding concern will not only be because of some heavy pockets of downpours, but also because rainfall will be in the forecast from Thursday at midday through daybreak on Friday, allowing ample time for rain to pile up. Some longer-range precipitation models are showing multiple inches of accumulation east of I-44.

The rain will clear out after sunrise on Friday, setting us up for a mostly sunny end to the work/school-week. Temperatures will drop down to the upper 60s on Friday and Saturday, though this is considered near-average for this time of year, so it should be a pretty enjoyable start to the weekend.

The rest of this weekend looks fantastic as Sunday will continue the trend of mostly sunny skies with temperatures topping out in the low/mid 70s. A light chance for a few showers is possible on Sunday ahead of our next cold front that will cool us back down to the 60s on Monday, but otherwise we look to stay dry for most heading into early next week.

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