It's Cold Outside!

The strong arctic front that moved through Oklahoma yesterday evening and early this morning has brought very cold, winter-like temperatures across the state.  Highs today have been anywhere between 20 and 30 degrees below what they were yesterday and are running about 20 degrees below average for mid-November.  The cool weather will remain for the next few days, but by the weekend, temperatures will begin to warm up again.

If you ventured outside early this morning and thought it was cold, you would be correct.  Take a look at the minimum apparent temperatures since midnight (the top map).  The brisk northerly winds created wind chill values this morning that were as low as the teens in a majority of the state.  Actual lows ranged anywhere from the low-20s in the panhandle and northwest portion of the state to the low-40s in the far southeast part of the state where the cold front was still passing through.  This wasn't even the worst of it.  We are still expecting a hard freeze tonight across the entire state of Oklahoma.  Temperatures will range anywhere from the upper-teens to low-20s on Wednesday morning across the state.  Thus, a HARD FREEZE WARNING is in effect from 8 PM this evening through 10 AM Wednesday morning for all counties in Oklahoma, except the panhandle (which is past the growing season) and Mc Curtain county in extreme southeast Oklahoma (which is under a freeze warning from 9 PM CST this evening through 9 AM CST tomorrow morning).  Please take your precautions to protect yourself, pets, and plants/vegetation from the bitter temperatures.  The second map shows the forecasted low temperatures for tonight/tomorrow morning.

For Wednesday, highs will begin to rebound.  A significant rebound of highs will occur in the panhandle, with strong south to southwest winds blowing between 20 and 25 mph, allowing afternoon temperatures to reach the mid-60s.  Across northwest Oklahoma, highs will be in the mid-50s.  For the rest of the state, highs will be in the upper-50s to low-50s.  Skies will remain mostly sunny with southerly winds.  Wednesday night into Thursday morning will bring another round of freezing and sub-freezing temperatures to most of Oklahoma.  Coldest lows will occur across northeastern Oklahoma, dipping down to the upper-20s.  Across central and southern Oklahoma, expect lows right around the freezing mark in the low-30s.  For the northwest and panhandle, lows will be in the mid-30s.

A significant warm-up is expected to come by the weekend, starting with Friday, as highs return to the 60s and even 70s for many areas on Sunday.  The warmer temperatures may come with a price, as rain is expected across parts of central and eastern Oklahoma on Saturday.  This is the result of an approaching low-pressure system that will be ahead of our next cold front.  The next round of cold air will arrive by Sunday night for the start of the work week as highs once again take a plummet to the 40s and 50s.  We will have more information on this in the days to come.

AC

Sources: NWS, Mesonet, Google Images (photo)