Alan Crone's Weather Blog: Winter Storm Heads East, Temperatures Rising

Thursday, March 5th 2015, 3:51 am

By: Alan Crone

Alan Crone's Weather Blog: Winter Storm Heads East, Temperatures Rising

The main upper level trough that brought the snow-winter mix to the region yesterday is quickly moving eastward this morning. The result should be decreasing clouds, sunshine, and basically improving weather into the weekend. Temperatures this morning will start in the mid-teens and end later this afternoon in the mid or upper 30s. The hi-res data support temps nearing 40 in Tulsa this afternoon. Wind will be from the north around 5 to 10 mph range. We'll track a few minor disturbances in the split-flow pattern during the short-term, but no major impacts will occur on sensible weather conditions.

The system is finally leaving the state early this morning. A few small areas of snow remain across extreme southeastern OK and part of western Arkansas, but these areas should be precip free within the next few hours. Clouds will begin clearing from the west to east soon and temps will begin moving out of the teens into the 20s by midday and into the upper 30s this afternoon. Sunshine should help to erode the snow-ice cover quickly this afternoon, but there will be a few remaining areas of snow cover on the ground across east-central OK into Friday morning. Please use caution traveling early this morning and then again early Friday morning.

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The upper pattern will be dominated by two distinct flows. The southern flow will bring a weak disturbance across the Lone Star State Saturday into Sunday, but I don't think this will be close enough to include any clouds or precipitation for our immediate areas. The northern stream will continue to regulate some colder air across the upper Midwest and northeastern U.S. Our air-mass across the southern plains will undergo a mild transformation into warmer air with weekend temperatures moving into the upper 50s and lower 60s across eastern OK. We're seeing signals in the data for mid to upper 60s early next week, and the possibility of some lower 70s by next Wednesday. But by next Wednesday, we may also be watching another shift in the upper air pattern. The northern stream may once again force a trough southward out of Western Canada into the upper Midwest. This would allow more cold air to rush southward across the middle of the nation late next week, and possibly make another appearance into northern OK next Friday.

We'll deal with some chilly air today with highs in the upper 30s but improving weather is in the forecast and on the way!

Thanks for reading the Thursday Morning weather discussion and blog.

Have a great day!

Alan Crone