Warmth to transition to cold, wintry weather by midweek

(TULSA, Okla.) Monday will be the warmest day of the week, with many locations nearing 70 degrees. Significant changes will take place though beginning Tuesday. 

An arctic cold front will sag south across the area late Tuesday and Tuesday night. Increasing moisture will result in rain chances increasing Tuesday and especially Tuesday night. By late Tuesday night, wintry precipitation potential will be increasing across northeast Oklahoma, with the wintry mix expanding south and east with time Wednesday and Wednesday evening. Most of the precipitation through the day Wednesday will likely remain on the light side.

Wednesday night into early Thursday is when our area looks to feel the brunt of the impending winter storm. The latest data is stronger and slower with the upper system, and the result will be significantly higher precipitation amounts Wednesday evening into early Thursday. Much of this will fall as snow across at least the northern half of the forecast area, with significant ice accumulations most likely across parts of southeast Oklahoma into west central Arkansas. The precipitation should be tapering off and ending by Thursday afternoon.

It is still too early to focus on specific snow and ice amounts in specific locations, but the bottom line is that the potential for a major winter weather event is increasing across the entire forecast area.

Temperatures will slowly moderate by next weekend, but snow and ice cover will likely delay the warmup to some degree.