EXTREME COLD BLAST!

 

Now is the time to say “so long” to unseasonably warm, summer-like temperatures for at least the next several days. A very strong cold front as the result of a trough is currently pushing eastward across the state of Oklahoma. Behind the front, we have unseasonably cold arctic air, being fueled by strong northerly winds. Rain, with wintry precipitation farther north, is also expected across much of the core of the state from tonight through Thursday night and Friday morning. Therefore, to be blunt, Thursday will be a downright miserable day. On Friday, skies will start to clear for the central and west, but temperatures will still remain well below normal. In fact, from the looks of the current forecast, we may have to wait an entire week before we see temperatures return to near-normal. So unfortunately, a new month has not brought a change in the frequent cold blasts we had to endure through March and April.

LATEST: Track the Cold Front
Current National Temperatures
Current Oklahoma Temperatures
Current Oklahoma Winds
Current Oklahoma Radar

Tonight and Thursday
Here is what to expect. By about 6 PM, the cold front will be positioned in central Oklahoma, stretching from Bartlesville back down to just south and east of Lawton. By about 2 AM, the cold front will be positioned in eastern Oklahoma, stretching from Miami to Durant. As the cold front passes through your area, expect temperatures to drop very quickly into the 40s and 50s and winds to not only shift direction from southerly to northerly but also increase in speed to 25 to 35 mph. Therefore, we discourage you from taking part in any outdoor activities tonight. If you must be outdoors, please dress appropriately. Again, these temperature drops will occur very quickly. For those of you east of the cold front, temperatures will be in the low-to-mid-60s tonight. For those of you to the west of the cold front, the situation is a little more complicated to describe, but here is what you can anticipate. In the panhandle and northwest, expect lows in the upper-20s to mid-30s to occur Thursday morning. (The upper-20s will occur only in the western part of the panhandle.) For central Oklahoma, the “true” low for Thursday will not occur tonight or during the morning tomorrow. Temperatures will still be in the 40s in the morning but continue to drop to the mid-30s throughout the day and remain stagnant for many hours.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What is this SNOW I keep hearing about?” Well, we are not kidding around. Wintry precipitation is highly likely in the panhandle and northwest Oklahoma tonight. Right now, the type of precipitation looks to be a snow/sleet mix in the panhandle and a rain/sleet mix in northwest Oklahoma. Now, do not expect big accumulation totals, or any accumulation totals in most places for that matter, as the previously warm temperatures have made the ground far too warm to support significant accumulations. Should accumulation occur, the best chance would be in the panhandle, and we are expecting less than an inch.

For the rest of the state, we do not have to deal with wintry weather – tonight, anyway. We will, however, see showers and thunderstorms, becoming mainly showers after midnight. A chance of rain exists across the entire state, but the best chance for rain is in central and western Oklahoma tonight.

Thursday
In the previous paragraph, we have hinted at what the temperatures will be like in parts of the state on Thursday, but here we will give you the full details of Thursday’s afternoon temperatures. At this time, the cold front looks to slow once it reaches far eastern Oklahoma, so if you live in the extreme southeastern part of the state, such as Broken Bow, you may very well not start to see much cooler temperatures until Thursday afternoon. For the rest of the state, this is far from true. In northwest and panhandle, you should actually see a warming trend on Thursday, as those 20s and 30s in the morning become 40s in the afternoon. This will not be the case for central Oklahoma. Temperatures still in the 40s in the early morning will drop to the mid-to-upper-30s by the mid-to-late morning and remain stagnant for the remainder of the day. In north central Oklahoma, temperatures may remain in the low-30s throughout the day. In eastern Oklahoma, with the exception of the far southeast, temperatures will drop all day. Expect the 40s in the morning to become low-to-mid-30s by the evening.

This situation cannot get any worse, right? Think again. Precipitation is expected to fall all across the state. In northwest Oklahoma and the panhandle, wintry precipitation continues through the morning, with snow showers expected through noon. Then the snow will become all rain by the afternoon until the precipitation finally comes to an end by late afternoon or evening. For the rest of the state, expect rain showers all day on Thursday. Oh, and should we mention the winds? You can expect a strong, northerly wind to persist. Sustained speeds will be anywhere from 20 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. In fact, WIND ADVISORIES have been issued for parts of western Oklahoma, in effect through 7 PM Thursday.

Thursday Night
The rain is expected to continue across central and eastern Oklahoma all night Thursday, with the best chances in eastern Oklahoma. North central Oklahoma is expected to get a little taste of wintry weather as well, with a chance for rain and snow showers. The west will start to dry out as skies begin to clear. For this matter, temperatures will fall and pose a very late-season freeze for the west and central Oklahoma Thursday night into Friday morning. FREEZE WATCHES are in effect for many counties, so please take action in protecting sensitive plants and vegetation from the cold. Right now, we are expecting lows in the low-to-mid-30s for the state Friday morning, but some computer models are showing lows as cold as the mid-to-upper-20s across the state, so be prepared and make sure to bundle up as you head to work or school on Friday. In any case, RECORD LOWS are posed to be easily set for a great deal of the state Friday morning.

Friday
Speaking of Friday, do conditions get any better? Yes and no – vague, I know. For eastern Oklahoma, the answer is unfortunately “no.” Showers will continue through Friday, ending by noon in southeastern Oklahoma, with temperatures remaining in the 40s and 50s. For the central and west, the answer is “yes” and “no.” The good news is that the rain should move out; in fact, abundant sunshine is expected in central and western Oklahoma on Friday. However, high temperatures will still remain well below normal, topping out only in the mid-50s to mid-60s further south. (Just as a reference, our normal high for this time of year should be around 77 degrees.)

The Weekend
For the past several weekends, we seem to have gotten beautiful conditions. Will that trend continue this weekend? In most of Oklahoma, it should, but in the northeast, probably not. In any case, temperatures will still remain cooler than normal across the entire state. In central and western Oklahoma, you can expect plenty of sunshine for Saturday and Sunday, while in the east, you can expect partly to mostly cloudy skies, with slight chances for rain showers. On Saturday, high temperatures will warm to the 60s in the panhandle, northwest, southwest, south central, and southeast. They will remain in the 50s for the northeast. On Sunday, the 70s return to southwest, with 60s elsewhere.

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For graphics and summaries provided by The National Weather Service Office in Norman, OK, please refer HERE.

Souces: NWS, HOOT, Mesonet, quicknewsnow.com (image)