Bitterly Cold Weather Remains For Tuesday

Bitterly cold weather remains this morning across the state, but winds will diminish soon.  This will make a big difference later today compared to the blustery weather will experienced yesterday.  Cold weather will remain with afternoon highs today almost 30 degrees below normal.

 The expansive trough is positioned across the east coast this morning in the polar stream while a weakening upper low across southeast Texas is in the southern stream.  A surface ridge of high pressure will continue to build across Kansas into western OK while moving eastward later today influencing northeastern OK with clearing sky and cold weather.  Thankfully, the pressure gradient will relax bringing lighter winds later today from the south.  Another fast-moving upper trough in the northern stream will brush the state by Thursday morning and this will effectively shove another fast-moving cold front across the area late Wednesday night into Thursday morning with a reinforcement of the cold and dry air.  South winds will return Friday into Saturday before another fast-moving wave in the northwest flow arrives with another system Sunday.  This one may offer-up a few showers, but the chances will remain around 20 to 30% for this update due to the expected amounts and coverage.  If low level moisture improves across eastern OK in the incoming data, I’ll bring this chance up even more.  At this point the availability of potential moisture is the big question.  While it most definitely feels very winter-like today for the rest of the week, some longer-range pattern data support a return to milder conditions in about 7 to 10 days. 

 Cold weather is underway this morning with a few locations flirting with record lows, including the Tulsa metro.  Wind chill values this will likely bottom-out in the single digits for a few hours before becoming a non-issue later today as winds become light.  Cold weather will remain with afternoon highs slightly above freezing for a short period this afternoon.  The dry air and clear sky will allow temps to quickly drop this evening and will start in the lower to mid-20s Wednesday morning in the metro with highs in the lower 50s.  Thursday morning brings north winds and lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s with afternoon highs in the upper 40s.  Fridays highs will reach the lower 50s and Saturday into the mid-50s before the weak system arrives Sunday with a few showers and highs in the lower 50s.

Thanks for reading the Tuesday morning weather discussion and blog.

Have a super great day!

Alan Crone