Cold Tuesday Before Warm Up Begins

Some morning clouds will be lingering for the next few hours before eroding as dry air moves across the area.  This will support a mostly sunny midday to afternoon, but cold conditions will remain.  The Tulsa metro, and surrounding areas, will start in the 20s this morning before gradually moving back into the lower to mid-40s this afternoon.  The pattern will bring another system near the state by late this week but the odds for any significant weather will remain very low.  We may experience a few showers Friday across southeastern OK but the odds for any higher chances appear rather low at this moment.  We also continue to think a warming trend will arrive with daytime highs topping out in the lower 50s Wednesday through Friday and into the upper 50s by Saturday, and into the lower 60s Sunday.  The early outlook for Christmas will mention a storm system nearing but with no threats of wintry weather or cold conditions.  Temperatures may drop some after Christmas, but the Christmas Day projections support highs in the 50s or lower 60s along with a few showers or storms.

 Yesterday’s storm system was a big one, with severe storms across the southern U.S. and winter weather on the top-end, northern side.  These types of systems are very common in fall and winter as our neighbors across the deep south experience severe weather, including tornadoes, while the central and northern plains get hammered with snow.  The Tulsa metro was right in between these areas yesterday, with just enough moisture and cold air to cause numerous traffic accidents due to light freezing precipitation and pockets of wintry weather.  We’re not expecting any additional systems such as this for at least the next 10 days. Some residual slick spots may survive early this morning in a few locations.  We’ll encourage you to remain aware during the early morning commute. 

 The main upper air flow will bring a fast-moving disturbance across the plains and should brush the state Friday.  Low level moisture will attempt another comeback northward but at this point, appears unlikely to fire up anything other than a few spotty showers or storms across southeastern or far eastern OK.  This will bring some clouds back into the area Friday with highs in the lower or mid-50s.  I’ll keep a low mention for a shower, but mostly to the south, across southeastern OK.  As the system exits, we’ll see quickly improving weather with the weekend experiencing a decent warm-up into early next week as a broad ridge of high pressure will dominate the southern plains for a few days.  The official winter solstice is Saturday evening at 10:19PM.  And right on cue, our pattern will put the temporary breaks on winter for our area and bring warmer weather back with highs Sunday in the 60s. 

Our next system will be arriving around Christmas Day, but currently appears to be a warm system with chances for showers and storms. 

Thanks for reading the Tuesday morning weather discussion and blog.

Have a super great day!

Alan Crone