Alan Crone's Weather Blog: Pleasant Fall Weather

We’re in store for some fine early fall weather today and through Friday before a stout cold front brings much colder air into the state this weekend. The powerful storm system responsible for a myriad of weather across the nation is rapidly lifting northeast away from Oklahoma this morning.  Some clouds will linger for the first part of the morning, but we anticipate mostly sunny to partly cloudy conditions later today with highs in the lower 60s and upper 50s.  The potential will exist for a widespread hard freeze by Sunday morning across most of northern and eastern OK.  

We’re seeing signals in the atmosphere that a significant cold air mass will move southward out of northwestern Canada very soon and enter the northern high plains and the inter-mountain region of the Rockies during the next 48 hours.   While the majority of this air mass will remain locked across the northern half of the nation into the upper Midwest, the leading edge of the colder air will arrive sometime late Friday night into Saturday morning and continue spreading southward across the state.  This type of front usually produces clouds and some post frontal precipitation and we’ll keep this in the forecast for the first part of Saturday.   The temperatures this weekend should be rather chilly with afternoon highs staying in the mid or upper 40s.   A surface ridge of high pressure will develop behind the departing front Saturday afternoon and evening allowing Sunday morning temperatures to drop into the mid to upper 20s across a large portion of the northern OK.   Some locations across the state have received freezing temperatures earlier this fall, but Sunday will represent the first freeze for most locations across eastern OK, including the Tulsa metro, and this freeze should also be considered a hard freeze.

The chilly air mass will modify quickly early next week with a return of seasonal temperatures.   A quick look at the data for early next week supports another system nearing the state next week but the data remain highly inconsistent.

Thanks for reading the Wednesday morning weather discussion and blog.

Have a super great day!

Alan Crone
KOTV