LATEST: Severe Weather Threat Today

The Storm Prediction Center has extended the area for a slight risk of severe thunderstorms to encompass south central and southeast Oklahoma. You can get the most up-to-date outlook from the SPC by clicking here. In the highlighted area, expect severe thunderstorms to fire up this afternoon and last through midnight. Primary risks include hail up to half-dollar size and damaging winds gusting to over 60 mph. Please be alert if you live in the affected area, and have a plan for when severe weather strikes.

For the remainder of today, the rain moves east, and our best chances for precipitation will be in central and eastern Oklahoma, beginning later this afternoon. The severe weather will impact primarily south central and southeast Oklahoma. Today’s high temperatures across Oklahoma will vary. Expect the upper-50s to low-60s in the panhandle. In central Oklahoma, expect the low-to-mid-60s. In eastern and western Oklahoma, highs may reach the mid-to-upper-60s. Some low-70s are even possible in the extreme southwestern part of the state.  

For tonight, central Oklahoma will have the best rain chances before midnight. Strong storms will still impact southeast Oklahoma through midnight. The wintry side of this system, which will bring abundant snow and blizzard conditions to the Rockies, may intrude the northern part of Oklahoma. Therefore, a few rain and snow showers may develop in extreme northern Oklahoma (but mainly further west) on Saturday night. Temperatures will either be above freezing or right at freezing, so do not expect accumulations of any kind or any major winter weather episode. Across the rest of the state, temperatures Saturday night will, again, vary quite considerably. A noticeable temperature gradient will be in place in central Oklahoma, with warm lows in the 50s to the east of the gradient and cold lows in the 20s and 30s to the west of the gradient. Central Oklahoma will then see the 40s as lows on Saturday night.

Finally, for Sunday, the rain exits most of the state, but the southeast will see showers and thunderstorms continue throughout most of the day while the rest of the east will see lingering showers and thunderstorms mainly in the morning. The main story for Sunday: a dramatic temperature drop as the cold front moves through. High temperatures for many will likely occur at midnight or in the early morning hours. During the afternoon, expect temperatures across the state that will not break out of the 30s and 40s! A thin line of 50s may stretch across extreme southeast Oklahoma, but the highs here will not be warmer than the low-50s.

The winds need to be talked about in their own paragraph, as they will become dangerously strong following the rain. As the rain moves east, so does the wind threat. Sustained speeds will be from 25 to 35 mph, with gusts near 50 mph this afternoon in far western Oklahoma and will spread east this evening and tonight. For Sunday, the strong winds have prompted WIND ADVISORIES across much of the central and western portion of the state from Sunday 7 AM to 7 PM CDT. These advisories may expand eastward.

Sources: NWS, SPC, HOOT