Expect plenty of sunshine with above-normal temperatures during the day and below-normal temperatures at night through Memorial Day weekend.  Moisture returns next week along with a slight chance of rain late in the week.

Today’s rain threat to end:  We have seen more clouds over the ArkLaTex Wednesday with some rain that has been confined to the western half of the area.  Temperatures have climbed into the low to middle 80s.  Expect the rain to quickly end Wednesday evening and the clouds to decrease Wednesday night.  That will begin a rather extended period of dry weather in the ArkLaTex.  Thursday will begin with slightly below-normal temperatures.  Lows will mainly be in the low to middle 60s.  Daytime highs will warm into the mid to upper 80s.  We likely won’t see much change in our temperatures until the very end of the Memorial Day weekend.

Sunshine returns and sticks around:  Futurecast shows that we will see the expected decrease in clouds Wednesday night.  Thursday will begin with a mostly sunny sky.  We will likely see some clouds mixed in with the sunshine during the afternoon.  These clouds will clear out Thursday evening and we will be mostly clear Thursday night.  Expect plenty of sunshine Friday and this weekend.

Long-range outlook:  The long-range outlook that takes us through next week shows that we will likely stay dry through Tuesday.  Over the next several days we will see a northeasterly wind that will keep the air in our area relatively dry.  By Monday, the wind will shift around to the south and southeast.  This will begin to transport Gulf moisture back into our area.  By the middle of next week, we should have enough moisture in place to allow the chance for the scattered afternoon thunderstorm to return. Even though we will have several days where rain will be possible, amounts should be limited.  A blend of long-range models shows that ten-day totals will likely be below ¼”.  Temperatures will get warmer next week. Highs will eventually end up in the lower 90s.  Lows will warm into the lower 70s.  Welcome to summer!