Heat Advisory Issued For NE Oklahoma Counties Tuesday

A heat advisory has been issued for parts of northeastern Oklahoma from 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 16. Counties include Tulsa, Creek, McIntosh, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg and Pushmataha.

Be sure to take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside during the heat. Remember, the elderly and small children are especially hard hit by the heat - and be sure to make sure pets have shade and water.

The remnant of Barry is located to our east this morning and will have impacts today across Arkansas and locations east with rain and thunderstorms.  A few outer bands may pinwheel across eastern OK by midday to early afternoon with a few showers, but like yesterday, most locations will remain dry.  There will be a few showers but with a very low coverage. 

The old circulation continues to slowly move north and northeast and should be far enough away from the state midday Tuesday to lose any impact across Oklahoma. 

WARN Radar

Early Tuesday morning through midday, there may still be a few showers across extreme southeastern or east-central OK as the low is positioned across southern Missouri with a trailing axis located across far southeastern OK.  As the system exits the area, a mid-level ridge of high pressure to our west will expand quickly across the region with increasing heat and humidity across most, it not all of Oklahoma.  Higher surface temps will remain from I-35 to western OK where lower moisture will reside. 

Temps across the eastern third of the state will reach the mid-90s Tuesday with heat index numbers around 105.  But by Wednesday through the rest of the week, morning lows will stay in the upper 70s with highs in the mid to upper 90s along with south to southwest winds around 10 to 20 mph. 

The westerly component to the wind may mitigate the low-level moisture slightly, but most data continue to support high dew points and high heat index values through the period.  We’re anticipating some 105 to 110 readings Wednesday and Thursday with slightly lower values for the Thursday and Friday period. 

The upper air pattern could change some this weekend into early next week, yet the data is inconclusive at this point.  GFS would plunge the area into another northwest flow next week while the mid-level ridge retros to the west.  The EURO could keep the heat and increase those numbers to 100 early next week.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading the Monday morning weather discussion and blog.

Have a great day.

Alan Crone