Bitterly Cold Wind Chills Tonight: Alan Crone's Weather Blog

We’re tracking yet another front moving down the plains that should quickly enter northern OK by midday and move across southern Oklahoma later this afternoon.  Temps will start in the 20s and move into the upper 30s near 40 across northern OK before starting to fall this afternoon. 

Locations south of I-40 may reach the mid or even upper 40s before falling into the 30s later this afternoon and early evening.  Wind chills will drop into the 20s this afternoon and into the teens tonight. 

Wind chill forecast map.  

Wind chill forecast for 6 p.m.  

A small disturbance in the northwest flow aloft may bring some snow showers or flurries across the area later this afternoon behind the front but the chance remains low. 

Forecast map for very light snow.  

Southwest winds this morning will be from the north this afternoon along with increasing wind speeds from 15 to 25 mph.  The clouds will attempt to thin-out some later this evening with lows dropping back into the teens Friday morning. 

Most data support another weak upper level wave brushing the state tomorrow, but the output for any precipitation remains very low.  Despite the dry air in place, we may also see a few flurries tomorrow as this disturbance moves from the west to east across the state.

The weekend should feature some mild weather with increasing temps above the seasonal average before two more fronts approach the area early next week.  Warmer weather located across the Mexican Plateau will move briefly eastward with southwest surface winds bringing some above seasonal average readings into the state this weekend. 

Of course, the models differ on the exact warm-up, but we’ve elected to lean toward the GFS with highs Saturday in the lower 50s and Sunday into the upper 50s.  A strong low-pressure area will develop across the northern reaches of the Yukon and move rapidly southeast across the northern U.S. Sunday night into Monday morning. 

As this feature moves southeast, arctic air surges southward behind the departing short wave and a ridge of high pressure will quickly develop impacting part of northern OK early next week with more cold air.  While not a perfect signature, this pattern closely resembles the McFarland signature, typically seen in the data signaling a significant surge of arctic air. 

The data this morning keeps the trajectory of the coldest air slightly east of the state early next week, but we’ll still see temps near freezing for highs Tuesday and Wednesday with lows in the teens and 20s.

Thanks for reading the Thursday morning weather discussion and blog.

Have a super great day.