Beautiful Monday Before A Winter Blast Arrives

A nice spring bounce-back is here to start the week, but warm-weather lovers beware: A taste of winter is headed our way!

Sunshine and a south breeze will send our temperatures climbing fast after a brisk start to our Monday. We’re in for our warmest afternoon in a week with highs back into the lower to mid-70s this afternoon! Southwest winds will stay reasonable as well in the 10-18 mile per hour range, making for a perfectly pleasant Monday.

But buckle up: Tuesday brings us weather whiplash. A strong cold front surges into Green Country overnight into early Tuesday morning with gusty north winds and areas near and north of Tulsa in the upper 30s by sunrise Tuesday. Behind the front, a quick-moving wave will produce a few hours of light precipitation Tuesday morning into midday north of the I-44 corridor.

In areas closer to the Oklahoma-Kansas state line, this precipitation Tuesday morning into midday looks to be in the form of a light wintry mix or even some light snow. Yes, really. Accumulation appears unlikely with warm ground temperatures and air temperatures also staying above freezing, but if you see some snowflakes flying mostly north and northeast of Tulsa on Tuesday, don’t be surprised!

All of Green Country will feel winter-like temperatures on Tuesday though. Afternoon “highs” on Tuesday look to be mostly in the 40s with wind chill values still in the 30s thanks to stiff north winds. Some areas east/northeast of Tulsa may still be in the 30s even in the afternoon Tuesday as that light precipitation passes by. Winds settle down late Tuesday, but that sets us up for freeze potential.

A light freeze looks likely for most of eastern Oklahoma late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Some areas could spend several hours below freezing in the 28-31 degree range, which will obviously be problematic for tender vegetation. Plan to bring your plants inside Tuesday, or be sure to cover up those plants that are already in the ground.

Cooler than normal conditions will continue into mid-week, and it’s not out of the question that a few areas north of Tulsa could see more frost early Thursday morning, so I’d plan to keep those tender plants inside for a few days to be safe. It may take until next week for true spring temperatures to return to Green Country!

I hope you have a great Monday, Green Country! Stay safe! You can also follow me on Twitter @StephenNehrenz as well as my Facebook page Meteorologist Stephen Nehrenz to stay up to date with the very latest.