Pattern Change Ahead!

We hope you survived what is the last round of wintry precipitation for at least the next couple of weeks and what is likely the last round of widespread wintry precipitation until next season.  Of course, anyone who travelled into the state today may question if Oklahoma received any snow at all as most if not all the snow that fell Wednesday has already melted due to sunny skies and temperatures that were well-above freezing this afternoon.  Even if some spots on the ground still have snow on them after today, you won't have to wait too long in the future until all the snow is completely gone and winter becomes a distant memory.  A pattern shift will occur in the coming days that brings an upper-level high from the Pacific and allows it to set up over the western and central United States.  This will lead to precipitation-free, above-average temperatures beginning next week. 

 

Temperatures Thursday Morning

Skies cleared quickly after the snow ended last night.  This, along with winds that calmed considerably and fresh snow pack, caused temperatures to plummet this morning.  Oklahoma City tied a record low temperature from 1960 of 10 degrees.  In areas with the lightest winds and most snow, temperatures fell into the single-digits and even the sub-zero mark in Kingfisher and Tipton!

 

Snow Melt from Thursday Afternoon

Despite the exceptionally cold temperatures Thursday morning, brilliant sunshine caused temperatures to warm rapidly and melt most of the snow across the state during the afternoon.  The visible satellite image below looped over a 12-hour time period shows the snow melt over the southern Plains this afternoon.

 

Friday and Saturday

Expect mainly sunny skies with winds from the south to southwest.  Some slightly stronger winds may occur across central and western Oklahoma on Friday, sustained at 10 to 15 mph and gusting to 20 mph.  Otherwise, sustained wind speeds will be between 5 and 10 mph for the next couple of days.

 

Lows Friday morning will be in the upper-teens and 20s across the state, with the chilliest lows in southwest Oklahoma and far eastern Oklahoma.  Please note that these sub-freezing temperatures may cause wet roadways to re-freeze overnight such that patchy black ice forms.  Take caution when driving overnight and Friday morning before temperatures rise above freezing.  Friday's high temperatures will range from the mid-to-upper-40s across eastern Oklahoma, to the low-to-mid-50s across central and southwestern Oklahoma, and the mid-to-upper-50s across northwestern Oklahoma and the panhandle.  Lows Saturday morning will fall to the mid-20s to low-30s across the state , with Saturday's afternoon highs rising to the mid-50s to lower-60s.

 

Sunday

Partly to mostly cloudy skies can be expected Sunday, with a very slim chance for rain across southeastern Oklahoma.  Otherwise, expect morning lows in the upper-20s across the panhandle, the low-30s across far northern and eastern Oklahoma, and the mid-to-upper-30s elsewhere.  Afternoon highs will generally rise to the upper-50s to lower-60s across the state, although slightly cooler highs in the low-to-mid-50s can be expected across southeastern Oklahoma.

 

Next Week

To sum everything up, which will not be too difficult, expect mainly sunny skies Monday through Thursday with high and low temperatures on a steady warming trend.  Lows Monday morning will range from the mid-to-upper-30s across the state (upper-20s in the panhandle), while lows Thursday morning fall to the 40s.  Highs Monday afternoon will range from the low-to-mid-60s across the state, with highs Thursday afternoon range from the upper-60s to low-70s across the state.

 

Winter in Review

A few days ago we published a nice blog post about the Meteorological Winter, which gave the climatology for Oklahoma City and Tulsa from December 1 through February 28.  Well, winter teased us again and brought more snowfall to both cities and a tied record low in Oklahoma City.  Therefore, we have decided to update the information slightly.  The climatology below ranges from November 16 to March 5.  These dates may seem rather arbitrary, but they were chosen for a reason.  November 16 was the first measured snowfall of the "season:" that is, after summer.  March 5 (as of right now) was the last measured snowfall of the season.  You can view the climatology below, as well as look at archived maps of all the snowfall this season for central and western Oklahoma, provided by the National Weather Service in Norman, OK.

Oklahoma City (OKC)
Temperature
Extremes:
Highest                 80° on February 14
Lowest                  10° on March 5
Range                   70°

Total Records:
Highs                   4 (77° on 1/26, 78° on 1/27, 79° on 1/28, 78° on 2/8)
High Minimums           1 (47° on 12/13)
Lows                    1 (10° tied on 3/5)
Low Maximums            1 (23° on 2/27)

Precipitation
Total:
November (16th-30th)    1.08"
December                0.84"
January                 1.80"
February                0.41"
March (1st-5th)         0.09"
Overall                 4.22"

Snowfall
Total:
November (16th-30th)    2.5"
December                3.5"
January                  T
February                4.6"
March (1st-5th)         3.0"
Overall                13.6"

Tulsa (TUL)
Temperature
Extremes:
Highest                 80° on January 28
Lowest                   7° on January 7 & 8
Range                   73°

Total Records:
Highs                   3 (72° on 1/19, 71° on 1/27, 79° on 2/8)
High Minimums           0
Lows                    0
Low Maximums            0

Precipitation
Total:
November (16th-30th)    0.50"
December                1.97"
January                 0.75"
February                1.57"
March (1st-5th)         0.06"
Overall                 4.85"

Snowfall
Total:
November (16th-30th)    0.4"
December                2.0"
January                  T
February                5.8"
March (1st-5th)         0.3"
Overall                 8.5"

SNOWFALL RECAPS:
November 16
December 27
January 14
January 21-22
February 15-16
February 23
February 27-28
March 4


AC

Sources: NWS Norman, NWS Tulsa, HOOT, Mesonet