Major Winter Storm Expected Tuesday

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- The spring-like temperatures are gone as the potential for a significant winter storm on Tuesday continues to take shape.

On Saturday, a 76 degree high temperature in Tulsa tied a record set in 1947. In the coming week, northeastern Oklahoma will see single digit lows as a major winter storm moves into Green Country.

"Anyway you look at, this promises to be a significant winter weather event which will be followed by the coldest weather we have had in at least 10-15 years," said News On 6 meteorologist Dick Faurot.

"It's going to be a mess."

Sunday may see a few sprinkles mostly in southern Oklahoma with a high of 40 expected.

Read Dick Faurot's Weather blog

"Monday will not see much of a warm-up and temperatures will likely be falling all day Tuesday," Faurot said.

"With temperatures only in the teens or low 20s and strong northerly winds, that will create a very dangerous wind chill with values likely in the single digits or below zero for Tuesday and quite likely much of the day Wednesday as well."

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for 17 counties in the northeast part of the state from Monday evening through Wednesday morning. Muskogee and Tulsa counties are included in the watch.

See a complete list of counties under a winter storm watch.

Total liquid amounts of precipitation are expected to be in the 1-2 inch range which if it all fell in the form of snow would be anywhere from one to two feet of snowfall.

"We are certainly not forecasting that much snow on the ground, but some of the more northern locations could end up with close to a foot," he said. "All indications up to this point strongly suggest it will rival the Christmas Eve blizzard of 2009."

Get free Mobile Weather Alerts from News On 6.

Be sure to watch The News On 6 and check back to NewsOn6.com for updates in the forecast.