Storm To Bring Rain, Sleet, Snow To Oklahoma

A powerful storm located over California will impact the Central and Southern Plains with a variety of precipitation including rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow.

The timing of this system will be from early Wednesday through Thursday. The greatest impacts with respect to freezing rain, sleet, and snow will be across Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and northern Arkansas. However, travel conditions across portions of northern Oklahoma may also be impacted as well.

Initially, the precipitation will likely begin as a rain, sleet, and snow mixture early Wednesday morning. Then, a transition to rain will occur during the day on Wednesday as southeast winds help temperatures warm slightly above freezing. Northern Oklahoma (north of a line from Woodward to Stillwater) would be the most likely area to remain close to or slightly below freezing during the day. As a result, this area would be the most likely to see significant travel issues.

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As for central Oklahoma, the warm ground temperatures and lack of any cold air moving in until late Thursday will help keep roads mainly wet throughout the event. Any accumulation in the OKC metro would be limited to grassy areas.

Temperatures will remain in the 30s through most of Wednesday with strong southeast winds at 20-30 mph. Thunderstorms will also be possible Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. I am not expecting these storms to be severe, but they will have lightning, heavy rain, and perhaps small hail.

On a positive note, generous rainfall amounts in the 0.5 inch to 1 inch range are likely over nearly the entire state with a few areas possibly receiving 2 inches.

This storm will be a close call for Oklahoma with very significant impacts just to our north and east. Kansas could receive 12 to 24 inches of snow. As with all winter storms, subtle changes can have dramatic impacts, so I encourage you to check News9.com for updates.

As always, stay with News 9, we'll keep you advised.