Storms Tonight, Cold & Wet Wednesday.

The maps on the right, courtesy of the OK Mesonet show the current temperature as of late this afternoon and the 24 hour temperature change since yesterday. Needless to say, for the month of April, those numbers are just crazy. Not only that, but there is the potential for some wintry precipitation in the form of freezing rain or sleet late tonight and early Wednesday morning for locations along the I-35 corridor and cannot remember the last time we had weather of that type this late in the year.

The cold front responsible for this dramatic change in the weather will also produce showers/storms as it passes through during the overnight hours tonight, some of which will likely be severe. The way things are shaping up, it appears that wind/hail will be the primary severe threats with any tornadic potential pretty well confined to the extreme SE if even there.

The showers/storms will also have the potential for dropping some decent rainfall putting another significant dent in the drought situation. Rainfall totals could be as much as an inch or more by the time it is all said and done. Storms tonight will give way to a cold rain for much of the day Wednesday before the rains come to an end late in the day.

And it will be much colder. After being in the 70s to near 80 for the last few days, we will likely be in the upper 30s to start the day Wednesday and will struggle to make it back into the lower 40s. Also, gusty NW winds will make it feel much colder so we are not quite through with winter yet. In fact, if the skies clear out in time we could see temperatures near the freezing mark for Thursday morning. Bright sunny skies by that afternoon will only get us back into the 50s but a gusty NW wind will make that day feel much cooler as well. Friday morning cold turn out to be the coldest with fair skies and light winds to start the day and temperatures likely closer to 30 for Tulsa and colder for outlying areas.

After that, a return to southerly winds and a warming trend will carry us through the coming weekend with daytime highs back into the 70s by then. By the way, a normal daytime high at this time of year is around the 70 degree mark to put the next couple of days in perspective.

So, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot