Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Oklahoma City, OK
Issued by NWS Oklahoma City, OK
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069 FXUS64 KOUN 200409 AFDOUN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 1109 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1107 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 - A cold front arrives tonight/Sunday, bringing medium-high rain chances and more seasonable temperatures next week. - Limited areas of strong to severe thunderstorms today and Sunday. && .NEAR TERM... (Rest of today and tonight) Issued at 1240 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 At midday, the surface features are fairly well pronounced, with a surface low in central Kansas, roughly to the southwest of Salina, with a trough of low pressure extending southward into northwestern Oklahoma. Surface winds are westerly across the Oklahoma panhandle, while southwest winds are the norm across the remainder of the area. winds aloft are out of the southwest as well, and the low level jet remains strong...keeping surface winds gusting to near 30 mph from Enid to El Reno. These features are ahead of the much anticipated cold front, which is currently stretching from near Guymon to Omaha. 231 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 Also of note in the near term are the dewpoints and humidity. The same things that will keep folks a bit miserable for any outdoor activities today will also help bring some rain back to the forecast later. The cold front will have everything to do with PoPs, as the front will help trigger some showers or thunderstorms along the front, beginning as early as 8 PM. However, most of these will be west of I-35 & north of I-40. Overnight, a few storms will begin to march east, bringing a few lucky folks some rain in the early morning hours on Sunday. Chances for rain are fairly low, between 20 and 40% in the northwest. Even a fewer, unluckier folks, will see storms capable of producing some hail to near 1" in diameter...or thunderstorm winds gusting to over 60 mph. These chances are on the low side, with about a 1 in 10 chance for severe weather for areas in the slight risk area today. Fox && .SHORT TERM... (Sunday through Monday night) Issued at 1240 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 While only the northwest and then north see a few thunderstorms tonight and early Sunday, the rain begins to increase in coverage during the day. Thunderstorm chances increase as the front moves south during the daytime hours on Sunday, with the highest rain chances in the afternoon hours. PoPs increase from northwest to southeast through the day, and while not everyone is guaranteed rainfall, the chances are much higher than they have been for months. The rainfall (average rainfall expected to be less than 1") won`t be enough to remove concerns from the drought, but the pattern is favorable for the rest of the month. Also of note, tomorrow will be a normal day for Oklahoma and north Texas. Which means, of course, that there won`t be anything normal about it. The northern half of Oklahoma will see highs only reaching the 80s, while the southern half and western north Texas will once again see highs in the upper 90s to near 100. The forecast looks much better (cooler) as we head into next week. A slight risk of severe thunderstorms also exists tomorrow, generally in central and southeastern Oklahoma. CAPE values on Sunday will rise to the 1500-3000 J/kg range, which is ample energy to be tapped into by strong lift along the cold front. Wind profiles support isolated to clustered thunderstorms with primarily a damaging wind threat, with the strongest storms producing hail around 1". Severe chances on Sunday will once again be around 10 to 20%). To clarify, however, the chances for rain on Sunday will be in the 40-70% range. The chances for any of those storms to become severe will be around 10%. There`s a much higher chance for rain than for severe storms. Fox && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday through next Friday) Issued at 1240 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 Oklahoma and north Texas will remain in the more seasonable weather pattern through the remainder of the week. Through the mid-week, precipitation chances will mainly be confined to the west where upslope post-frontal air assists in the development of convection on the High Plains, but the question will be if these thunderstorms can move far enough east to reach the 100th Meridian. Storm chances increase Wednesday night and Thursday as models generally show a upper trough approaching the area, although there are differences in the models on the specific evolution of the pattern on Thursday/Friday which would potential affect timing and how high the precipitation chances will be late in the week. For mid-week (Monday-Wednesday), there`s about a 80% probability that thunderstorms remain to our west, with a 20% probability of the storms making their way into far western Oklahoma. For Wednesday through Friday, overall, the rain and thunderstorm chances increase as the upper level storm moves closer. The rain chances appear to be maximized late Wednesday into Thursday, bringing the potential for widespread showers and thunderstorms. This chance remains about 60%, with about a 40% chance of a slower, drying system moving into Oklahoma and western north Texas. 26/21 && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1107 PM CDT Sat Sep 19 2026 Multiple outflow boundaries exist in the CWA - one in western Oklahoma, and one from northwest to northern Oklahoma. Winds are gradually returning to southerly on both sides of the boundary, but a synoptic cold front will bring northerly winds as it leaks southward toward the Red River by 0Z. Thunderstorms are expected in multiple periods - one tonight primarily north of I-40, and another (more widespread) round moving south and east from near I-44 during the afternoon. Outside of these rounds of storms, aviation conditions should remain generally VFR over the next 24 hours. Meister && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 99 76 95 66 / 0 10 60 50 Hobart OK 100 76 98 67 / 0 30 40 40 Wichita Falls TX 101 76 100 68 / 0 20 50 60 Gage OK 100 69 88 61 / 20 30 10 20 Ponca City OK 98 73 91 64 / 0 30 60 40 Durant OK 100 74 100 70 / 0 0 20 60 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. TX...None. && $$ NEAR TERM...21 SHORT TERM...21 LONG TERM....21 AVIATION...04