Cold Air Invades Tuesday, Wednesday

Much of the state enjoyed spring-like temperatures on Sunday and Monday. Unfortunately, those pleasantly warm highs will vanish for the next couple of days as a strong cold front has brought the return of winter-like temperatures. The cold front is currently working its way towards the southeast across Oklahoma, bringing not only colder temperatures but also strong, gusty winds from the north.

On Tuesday, high temperatures will take a dramatic dive across all of Oklahoma. Following the 70s and even some 80s further south, the southern half of Oklahoma will see highs in the low-to-mid 50s on Tuesday, some 20 to 30 degrees colder than on Monday. Central and northern Oklahoma will mainly see the mid-to-upper-40s. In far northwestern Oklahoma, which was unable to feel that spring warmth the rest of the state did these past couple of days, highs may not break the 30s on Tuesday. Winds will, of course, be strong on Tuesday, so wind chill values will be quite low and make the air feel cooler than it actually is. Expect northerly winds with sustained speeds of 15 to 25 mph and gusts up to 35 mph all across the state. Possibly the only redeeming factor for Tuesday is that skies will be mostly sunny.

For Tuesday night, chilly lows return everywhere with the low-to-mid 30s across the southern part of the state and the low-to-upper-20s across the central and northern part of the state. Skies will be clear. Winds will be relatively light in the northwest and panhandle but stronger elsewhere, mainly in central Oklahoma, continuing to blow from the north, with sustained speeds of 15 to 25 mph and gusts at up to 25 mph.

For Wednesday, the 50s swarm northward to encompass most of the state, so northern Oklahoma will enjoy a slight warm-up from Tuesday to Wednesday while southern Oklahoma does not see much of a change. High temperatures in the 40s will still penetrate down into northwest and northeast Oklahoma. Skies will be mostly sunny across Oklahoma. Winds will be strongest in the panhandle, blowing from the south at 20 to 25 mph with gusts as high as 35 mph. Elsewhere winds will be variable, blowing at 5 to 10 mph.

The good news is that once we make it past Tuesday and Wednesday, warmer spring-like temperatures return for the end of the week. Highs will become noticeably warmer in the panhandle on Thursday, reaching the low-70s. The warmth spreads across all of the state by Friday, with highs at least in the 60s, if not the 70s further south. Skies will remain mostly sunny through Friday, but come the weekend, there is a chance for showers and thunderstorms across Oklahoma as our next cold front rolls through. We will have more information on that towards the end of the week.

Sources: NWS, HOOT, Mesonet, knightnews.com (photo)