EXTREME Heat Ahead

To think that the past few months were cooler than average will probably mean nothing now. Oklahoma will be dealing with its first major heat wave of the year, with highs topping out in the 90s and 100s and high humidity levels leading to dangerous heat index values well into the 100s through Friday. For this matter, numerous EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNINGS have been issued by the National Weather Service office in Tulsa, OK across eastern Oklahoma. These remain in effect until 7 PM CDT Friday. While central and western Oklahoma may not be under any type of heat advisory or warning, daytime high temperatures and humidity values will still be high in these areas too. Remember your heat safety tips!

Today
Across western and central Oklahoma, we may be lucky enough to see some thunderstorms develop this afternoon, but they would be highly isolated. This would be due to the humid conditions and intense surface heating. If storms develop, gusty winds with locally heavy downpours are expected. Otherwise, skies will remain mainly sunny all day across the entire state. Afternoon highs will reach the low-to-mid-100s in western Oklahoma and the panhandle and the mid-to-upper-90s in central and eastern Oklahoma. With humid conditions, dangerously high heat index values in the mid-100s will stretch across eastern Oklahoma, with heat index values in the low-100s across central and parts of western Oklahoma. Strong southerly winds will persist, blowing between 15 and 25 mph in the west and 10 and 20 mph in central, eastern, and parts of northern Oklahoma. Gusts may be as high as 30 mph.








Thursday

Thursday still looks to be the hottest day of this heat wave. In the morning, we will have mainly clear skies with lows ranging between the upper-60s in the panhandle and the mid-to-upper-70s across the rest of the state. For the afternoon, we will have bright, abundant sunshine with highs reaching the upper-90s in central and eastern Oklahoma and the low-to-mid-100s in western Oklahoma and the panhandle. Heat index values will be dangerously high in eastern Oklahoma, reaching as high as 110 degrees! Across central Oklahoma, heat index values may be as high as 105 degrees. Please limit all outdoor activities on Thursday if at all possible. The wind is also expected to die down, blowing from the south to southwest at only 5 to 10 mph. A few isolated thunderstorms may develop across parts of central and western Oklahoma Thursday night, bringing gusty winds and heavy downpours.

Friday
Friday morning begins with mainly clear skies and lows in the upper-60s to mid-70s across the state. In the afternoon, we may see some isolated thunderstorms pop up in the panhandle, with the rest of the state remaining bright and sunny. With the exception of south central and southeastern Oklahoma, afternoon high temperatures on Friday will be slightly (as in a couple of degrees or so) cooler than on Thursday. We will have the upper-90s to low-100s in the panhandle and the mid-to-upper-90s in central and eastern Oklahoma. Heat index values will still be dangerously high, especially in eastern Oklahoma, reaching the upper-100s. Winds will be variable as they start to shift to a north-northeast direction in the afternoon. Sustained speeds will increase in the afternoon to 15 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph.

Sources: NWS, HOOT, Mesonet, UCR (photo)