Wednesday Morning Update

Good morning. 

The roller coaster of temperatures will continue for the next few days as a northwest flow aloft pattern brings several fronts through across the state.  Afternoon highs today will range from the mid to upper 40s with northwest to west winds in the 10 to 15 mph range.   The fire danger will remain elevated across the region due to dry vegetation. .  Another front arrives Thursday and also Friday morning.  The Friday time period will be the coldest in the next 7 days with morning lows in the lower 20s and afternoon highs in the lower40s.  The weekend appears to offer another warming trend.  

The upper air pattern continues to be dominated by a ridge in the western United States and a trough in the east.  This creates a northwest flow aloft that moves down the central plains states and allows for a series of fronts to move across our area.  The position of the trough means most of the bitterly cold air will remain to our northeast, but some colder air will backdoor its way into northeastern OK late Thursday night into Friday morning.   

The cold front that moved across the state yesterday is located southeast of the region this morning.  Our surface pressure will begin to fall in response to the next upper level disturbance approaching the inter-mountain region.  This will cause our wind speeds to increase Thursday.   The dry vegetation combined with the increasing wind speeds will enhance fire spread conditions.  Red Flag warning criteria will not be met across Eastern OK today or tomorrow, but conditions will remain supportive of erratic wild fire spread.  Please use caution to avoid starting any spark that could result in wild fires.  

High temperatures today will move into the mid or upper 40s with mostly sunny conditions.  There will be a few clouds.  Highs Thursday will reach into the mid or upper 50s before the colder air arrives Friday.  

The Friday air mass will quickly move eastward with another robust warm up possible for the weekend.  Saturday's highs will move into the mid-50s and Sunday could easily reach the mid or upper 60s with southwest winds in the 10 to 15 mph range.  I must stress we are going well above some of the computer model guidance for this weekend.   

A southern stream system will approach the North TX area Monday into Tuesday but this system may reside too far southeast to impact the state of Oklahoma.  At this point, no precipitation chances will be included in the 7 day planner.  

The official high in Tulsa yesterday was 54 recorded at 2:14pm.

The normal daily average high is 48 and the low is 27.

Daily records include a high of 70 recorded in 2006 and a low of 0 recorded in 1905. 

You'll find me on Facebook and Twitter.

 I'll be discussing the forecast on numerous Radio Oklahoma News Network affiliates across the state through the noon hour today. 

Thanks for reading the Wednesday Morning Weather discussion and blog.  

Have a super great day!

Alan Crone

KOTV