Green Country Sees Dangerously Cold Wind Chills

Happy New Year! Wind chills are dangerously cold, ranging from –10 to –20. If you have to go outside, wear a hat and gloves. Frostbite could set in after 30 minutes with wind chills around 19 to 20 below.

This cold arctic air has settled in and with breezy winds, wind chills can really drop. Most locations will have highs in the teens Monday and that hasn't happened in Tulsa since January of 2014.  

Tuesday morning, an upper-level wave will swing by and increase cloud cover overnight. This could produce a few flurries but the air mass is very dry from the surface up to about 5000 feet (even higher too). Most snowflakes that develop wouldn't make it all the way to surface because they have fallen through that very dry layer. 

You might see some flurries that survive the fall. It will be very cold in the morning, single-digit temperatures. Wind speeds will be light and wind chills should range from 5 to –2. Winds will shift back to the south by Tuesday afternoon and that should help afternoon temperatures climb higher than Monday. The cold arctic air mass is moderating and highs should get into the mid 20s.  

The cold air should continue to moderate and slide off to the east on Wednesday, which means highs are expected to warm up even more. The Tulsa area should get above freezing for the first time since falling below that 32 degree threshold early Saturday morning.

A dry frontal passage will swing through in the afternoon and slightly cooler air will return for Thursday. That will put a short pause in the warming trend. We should have a significant drop in temperatures from Wednesday to Thursday but it could be enough to drop highs back below freezing. Morning lows will be in the teens, wind chills in the single digits.  

As we get into the weekend, more upper level waves are headed our way. Cloud cover will increase and we'll have chance for rain again. Depending on the temperature profiles, we might have another round of wintry weather to kick off our next work week. It's still too far out to tell for sure. One thing showing up consistently in our weather day: highs in the 40s for the weekend. That's something to look forward to as we slowly thaw out this week.  

With the dangerous cold this morning and bitter cold expected Tuesday morning, please check on your neighbors and do not leave pets outside without a warm shelter. There are warming stations around Tulsa, you can find the list of locations on our website. Wear your heaviest coat with extra layers, hat and gloves. Be careful, stay warm and stay safe!