Following Chilly Morning, Pleasant Weekend

As clouds cleared overnight, Oklahoma was left with very chilly temperatures this morning. In much of the western part of the state, lows were well below the freezing mark. In the central and east, lows at or just slightly above freezing were recorded. These chilly lows are not common for mid-April. In fact, a RECORD LOW was set at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport this morning. The temperature dropped to 33°, which broke the old record of 35°, set back in 1953. You can scroll down to see a larger version of the above graphic, depicting the low temperatures recorded across the state Friday morning.

Thankfully, the cold weather is making its way out of the state, and we will again look forward to a pleasant weekend. On Saturday, skies will be partly cloudy across the state. The warmest high temperatures will be across the southwest and in the central part of the panhandle, reaching the low-70s. Elsewhere across the state, we will have highs reaching the mid-to-upper-60s. Winds are likely to be strong on Saturday, blowing from the south at 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

For Saturday night, you can expect partly to mostly cloudy skies, with lows in the low-40s across the panhandle and northwest, and lows in the mid-to-upper-40s elsewhere. Winds will remain strong, blowing from the south-southeast at 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

For Sunday, expect partly to mostly cloudy skies across the state with highs in the low-70s in the panhandle and west, and highs in the mid-to-upper-60s in central and eastern Oklahoma. Winds will blow from the south-southeast at 10 to 15 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph.

The next chance for showers and thunderstorms comes Monday, lasting through Tuesday. Colder weather returns on Tuesday with the passage of the latest cold front. So make sure to take advantage of and enjoy the beautiful weekend weather while it lasts.

Sources: NWS, HOOT, Mesonet