Tornado Watch issued until 6 pm Friday

(TULSA, Okla.) An active weather day is on tap for eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas as a strong cold front is poised to move through region Friday afternoon and evening. Thunderstorms are expected to become widespread across the region by Friday afternoon with a line of thunderstorms eventually forming near the cold front and moving through the region late this afternoon and evening. Severe weather is expected with the thunderstorms with the potential for 70 mph wind gusts, a few tornadoes, and large hail to the size of quarters. TORNADO WATCH 2 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM CST FOR THE FOLLOWING OKLAHOMA COUNTIES: ADAIR, ATOKA, BRYAN, CARTER, CHEROKEE, CHOCTAW, CLEVELAND, COAL, CRAIG, CREEK, DELAWARE, GARVIN, HASKELL, HUGHES, JOHNSTON, LATIMER, LE FLORE, LINCOLN, LOGAN, LOVE, MARSHALL, MAYES, MCCLAIN, MCINTOSH, MURRAY, MUSKOGEE, NOWATA, OKFUSKEE, OKLAHOMA, OKMULGEE, OSAGE, OTTAWA, PAWNEE, PAYNE, PITTSBURG, PONTOTOC, POTTAWATOMIE, PUSHMATAHA, ROGERS, SEMINOLE, SEQUOYAH, TULSA, WAGONER AND WASHINGTON. The severe weather threat is expected to end around midnight. Heavy rainfall is also anticipated across the region and into this evening with most of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas seeing 1 to 3 inches of rain. Some locations could see upwards of 6 inches of rain through this evening which could lead to flash flooding. The river flood threat will also be on the increase Friday. As cold air spills into the region behind the cold front, a transition to wintry precipitation will take place with freezing rain, sleet and snow all possible late Friday night across northeast Oklahoma. This could lead to slick spots on area roadways. SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT: Activation of the Regional Spotter Network Expected. DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN: Saturday through Thursday. SATURDAY: Winter Weather Potential...High Wind Potential. SUNDAY through TUESDAY: No Hazards. WEDNESDAY: Thunderstorm Potential. THURSDAY: No Hazards. EXTENDED DISCUSSION: The wintry precipitation will continue into Saturday across much of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas as cold air continues to invade the region and an upper level disturbance moves across the region. Snowfall forecasts currently call for 1 to 4 inches of snow north and west of Interstate 44 across northeast Oklahoma with 1 to 2 inches of snow across northwest Arkansas and the remainder of northeast Oklahoma. Lighter snow amounts will be possible across southeast Oklahoma into west-central Arkansas. There will also be a light accumulation of ice across the area as well. This will likely lead to hazardous driving conditions across the region. The wintry precipitation is expected to end late Saturday afternoon. Temperatures on Sunday will be warm enough that any wintry travel impacts will be relatively short lived. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING STATEMENT: Continue to monitor the latest forecasts of severe weather, heavy rain, flash flooding and winter weather. Consider readying plans to respond to impacts from severe thunderstorms, flooding, and wintry weather.