Storms Tonight Then Snow This Weekend Across Oklahoma

By NEWS 9 Director of Meteorology, Gary England

OKLAHOMA CITY -- All signs continue to indicate a major winter storm for Oklahoma this weekend.

But, before the winter weather moves in, there will be a chance of a few severe storms in the state Friday afternoon, including in the metro.

The strong polar front will move into northwest Oklahoma Friday afternoon and into the metro by 8 p.m. Winds will increase out of the north, becoming 20 to 45 mph with even higher gusts. Temperatures will fall rapidly reaching near freezing in the metro Saturday morning and to near 26 degrees late Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Rain will quickly change over to snow and blowing snow in the northwest Friday evening and night. Heavy snow and blowing snow will develop in central Oklahoma Saturday morning and continue through the day and into the night, ending on Sunday.

Six to 12 inches of snow is possible across northern Oklahoma with highest amounts from Enid eastward. For the metro, 4 to 8 inches of snow may fall or rather blow across the area. The 4 to 8 inch zone will run along I-40 from Clinton to Oklahoma City then northeast toward Tulsa. Across southern Oklahoma, 1 to 4 inches will fall.

The combination of heavy snow and high winds will create blizzard or near blizzard conditions for most of Saturday into Sunday morning.

Travel is expected to be extremely difficult. Air traffic will most likely be shut down during the same time frame.

However, the storm is still 24 to 36 hours away so the forecast can still change.