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The Ozarks got a taste of summer over the weekend. Sunday’s high was in the low 90s. KSMU’s Michele Skalicky tells us more about the record breaking-temperatures we’re experiencing and what to expect the rest of the week.
If you didn’t use sunscreen over the weekend and you spent time outdoors, you might be miserable because of sunburn right now. Saturday’s high was 81 degrees, and Sunday was even warmer.
"We got up to 91," said Jeff Raberding.
Jeff Raberding is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield. He says yesterday’s high was a record breaker.
"The previous record high was 89 for yesterday, and that was set back in 1952," he said.
And today’s high could be another record breaker. The National Weather Service was predicting the high to reach 91 degrees. Today’s record high is 89 degrees set in 1952.
Temperatures are expected to remain warm for another couple of days—highs in the mid to upper 80s are forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday. That’s way above the normal high of 73 for this time of year. Raberding explains why we’re experiencing such warm temperatures so early.
"Basically, what's happening is we have a pretty broad southerly flow that's pumping in some warm air from the south. There's an area of low pressure out to our west, and so lots of the southern Plains from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, have seen well above normal temperatures," he said.
We’ve seen some wild weather swings in early May in the Ozarks, according to the National Weather Service. May 1stlast week saw highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s. And last year the Ozarks saw an unprecedented early May snowfall. Measurable snow fell last year on May 3rdand 4thwith two to four inches between U.S. 65 and I-49.
Normal temperatures are expected to return later this week. Highs Thursday should be near 77 with showers and thunderstorms, and highs Friday will be around 73.