Favorable conditions for wildfires; frost advisories in eastern OK

By Michael Kimball

Published: March 23, 2008

Oklahoma will warm up over the next couple of days, with only slight chances of rain and temperatures well into the 70s by midweek.

But high temperatures and low humidity brings a familiar risk for state residents: grass fires.

“Especially during the first few days of the week, there will be favorable conditions for wildfires,” said Daryl Williams, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Norman.

The chance for rain in the metro doesn’t rise above 20 percent all week, and that slight chance doesn’t arrive until Thursday night.

A trace amount of rain fell overnight Saturday and this morning along Oklahoma’s southern border with Texas and in southwestern parts of the state, but most of the precipitation isn’t reaching the ground, Williams said. More of the same is expected this afternoon.

“It’s a glorified sprinkle,” Williams said.

Temperatures are expected to fall in the middle and low 30s overnight in eastern Oklahoma, prompting the weather service to issue weather advisories in those areas. A freeze warning is in effect from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. in Osage, Washington, Nowata, Craig, Ottawa, Mayes, Delaware, Cherokee, Adair and Sequoyah counties. A frost warning is in effect during the same time period for Pushmataha, Choctaw, Pawnee, Tulsa, Rogers, Creek, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Wagoner, Muskogee, McIntosh, Pittsburg, Haskell, Latimer and Le Flore counties.

Williams said the advisories do not indicate severe weather, but the weather service issues those alerts in late spring when an overnight freeze isn’t obvious or common.

“It’s just an alert for people who might have plants that need to be protected in the cold,” he said.

A flood warning is also in effect in Le Flore County, as the Poteau River remains more than 3 ½ feet above flood stage near Panama. The water level was falling this morning, and the weather service forecasts it will fall below flood stage by Monday evening when the warning expires.

Metro forecast

Today: Sunny with a high about 54. Winds 10-15 mph gusting to 21 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy with a low around 34 and breezy. Monday: Mostly sunny, high near 64. Winds 9-12 mph increasing to 20-23 mph, gusts up to 32 mph.

Statewide forecast

Today: Sunny with highs in the 50s. Light winds.

Tonight: Partly cloudy with lows in the 30s. Lows near, at or below freezing in eastern Oklahoma.

Monday: Mostly sunny with highs in the 60s. Winds light early, stiff and gusty late.

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