ALERT: Another WINTER STORM Ahead!

Enjoy the mild weather while it lasts, because Oklahoma is about to experience the wrath of another winter storm. While there were some fairly cold days in Oklahoma this past week, most of the state will see its coldest temperatures of the month Sunday and Monday. So, if you're in a part of the state experiencing pleasant weather today or tomorrow, enjoy it while it lasts.







Right now, the majority of the state is seeing mild and pleasant weather, the only exception being the Eastern part of the state, which is seeing much colder temperatures than the rest of the state. The central and western part of the state are feeling the effects of a small warm front that is moving through, causing mostly sunny skies, high winds, and temperatures in the low to mid 60's, with mid to upper 70's in the southwest portion of the state. These conditions bring very to extremely high fire danger warnings, so that is something to keep and eye out for. Unfortunately, the eastern part of the state is not feeling the effects of this front yet, as they are currently experiencing temperatures in the mid 40's to low 50's.

This winter storm is expected to reach Oklahoma Saturday, so when it does the state will see a dramatic shift in temperatures and sky cover. The Northwest portion of the state will see the effects of the storm much sooner than the rest of the state, and they will only have high temperatures in the upper 30's tomorrow with increasingly cloudy skies as the storm moves through. Fortunately the rest of the state will not see the effects until overnight, so much of the state will have mild temperatures in the upper 50's to low 60's in regions near I40. The East and especially the southeast part of the state will see the effects of the warm front that most of the state experienced today, with highs in the upper 60's to low 70's.

As the storm pushes through, it will put most of the state under partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies. Late Saturday the front will move over the entire state and will bring massive drops in temperature, and some precipitation over the state. The storm will drop temperatures to the teens in the north, 20's in the center, and 30's in the south parts of the state and will bring different types of precipitation based off these temperatures. The north will see chances for sleet and freezing rain, the central part of the state could see freezing rain, and the south will see a possibility of rain, and in some areas, thunderstorms. Moving into Sunday, temperatures will continue to decrease and cause some snow and sleet in the north, freezing rain and sleet in the central part of the state, and it will cause rain to turn into freezing rain for most of the south part of the state, with the southeast seeing rain with some possible thunderstorms. Most of the state has fairly high precipitation chances, around 60% in the central and south parts of the state, with even higher percentages in the eastern part of the state. Winter Precipitation is difficult to predict, so expect this forecast to change in the next 48 hours, and keep checking your local weather.

The winter storm will bring some hazards to keep an eye out for. All day Sunday and into Monday morning, temperatures will be bitterly cold, with wind chills below zero for much of the state, especially in the early mornings. There will also be some ice accumulation on Sunday, which will cause dangerous driving conditions for parts of the state on Sunday and Monday morning. Make sure to stay warm, and try to keep of the roads if at all possible. After the weekend, there is not expected to be any kind of major precipitation for next week.

Into next week, expect temperatures to warm up, but not until brutal winter conditions on Monday. The low temperatures on Monday are expected to be right around 10 degrees for most of the state, with some areas seeing lows around 5 in the north. Unfortunately this is the temperature and not the wind chill, which will be well below zero throughout the state. The high's won't be much better on Monday, close to 30 for the majority of the state. Tuesday morning will see slightly warmer low temperatures in the teens, but after the morning, expect the state to start slowly warming up as the week moves on. The week will see high's in the 40's on Tuesday, 50's on Wednesday, and 60's on Thursday. There are some very small chances of rain late Tuesday and Wednesday, but nothing major is expected.  Stay safe and warm Oklahoma, and keep checking forecasts for the latest on this next winter storm.
- CO



Sources: NWS, Mesonet, Denver Post, OWL