Cold Air Today

We're back to winter time today as the cold front is now pushing south of the state and strong north winds are bringing cold air back to the region. The good news: it's another short term glancing blow, but it will be very cold today compared to yesterday's readings in the lower 70s. We did see a few isolated showers and storms overnight across extreme northeastern OK but about 99% of us missed out.

The air mass is a modified arctic air mass which is very shallow in nature. As the air mass moves southward it will encounter terrain that can actually slow down the southward movement of the colder air. If the air mass is extremely shallow, some residents of far southeastern OK and north Texas will be about 10 degrees warmer than neighbors to the northeast. I'll check the balloon soundings later this morning when they arrive in the weather office.

The Tulsa area will expect highs in the upper 30s and lower 40s today with gusty north winds and plenty of sunshine.The dry air will allow for a very cold evening with Wednesday afternoon highs in the mid and upper 40s.

The models indicate a weak boundary that could meander across the southern Kansas and Northern OK area for the Thursday and Friday periods. This boundary may get a shove Thursday and Friday and move southward for the day and knock our highs back down a few degrees. The extended portion of the forecast remains highly uncertain, but shouldn't be a big weather maker regarding precipitation chances, but could have some ramifications in the temperature category for both highs and lows.

The early part of next week may also feature another cold air mass moving southward into the nation, but the bulk of this air mass will also stay north. A southern stream system could be sliding across our area early next week and could combine with the colder air to produce some wintry precipitation across the central plains. We'll be watching closely, but at this time, there's no reason to beat a winter drum or sound the alarms. A higher chance scenario will involve a chance of isolated thunderstorms Monday and increased storm chances Tuesday and Wednesday. The GFS and EURO ensembles have been hinting at a wave moving across the southern plains during this time period.

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