


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Tulsa, OK
Issued by NWS Tulsa, OK
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494 FXUS64 KTSA 241720 AFDTSA Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tulsa OK 1220 PM CDT Sun Aug 24 2025 ...New SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 1220 PM CDT Sun Aug 24 2025 - Cold front moves through the area today, signaling the start of a weather pattern change and an active week ahead. - Medium to high rain chances (40-90%) beginning late tonight through much of the upcoming week with an increasing heavy rain threat. - Well below normal temperatures forecast for the last week of August. && .SHORT TERM... (Through tonight) Issued at 1220 PM CDT Sun Aug 24 2025 A strong cold front continues to progress southward through the forecast area early this afternoon. Latest theta-e plot from the Oklahoma Mesonet distinctively shows the cold front along or just south of Highway 412. Temperatures ahead of the front will warm up into the low-mid 90s this afternoon before its passage. Behind the surface boundary, highs today will range from the upper-80s to near 90 degrees. Surface high pressure that is currently centered over the Northern Plains will build southward over the Midwest region by this evening/overnight. Isentropic lifting on the western periphery of the surface ridge has already caused showers and thunderstorms to develop across western KS and northwest OK. Most of this activity should remain west of the forecast area through this afternoon/evening, but the best opportunity (10%) of an isolated shower/storm or two will be west of Highway 75 in northeast OK. Precipitation chances/coverage will become more widespread starting late tonight and into early Monday morning as a mid-level shortwave trough, originating over the central High Plains, begins to move over the area. Convection that develops in the central High Plains this afternoon will gradually move into the forecast area, likely after midnight tonight. Moderate to heavy rainfall will be possible at the tail-end of the short-term period, especially across northeast OK, with PWATs increasing through the overnight period. Due to expected rainfall amounts totals just below flash flood guidance for most areas, will forgo a Flood Watch at this time. However, isolated flash flooding will still remain possible in heavier rain clusters/bands and conditions for a Watch will be reevaluated this afternoon and evening. Comfortable conditions/temperatures will filter into the region tonight behind the cold front this afternoon/evening. Overnight lows will drop into the low-mid 60s north of I-40 and upper-60s to lower- 70s south of I-40. Mejia && .LONG TERM... (Tomorrow through Sunday) Issued at 1220 PM CDT Sun Aug 24 2025 Scattered to numerous showers and embedded thunderstorms will likely be ongoing at the start of the long-term period Monday as a mid- level shortwave trough continues to move across the region. PWATs will increase to near or just above the 90th percentile, or between 1.5 and 2.0 inches through the daytime Monday. This would suggest an increased threat of heavy rainfall that may lead to localized flash flood concerns. Consensus in deterministic models suggest highest totals will remain north of I-40 during the daytime Monday, with the moisture/shortwave trough axis shifting south of I-40 Monday evening/night. With some uncertainty still at hand and to be considered, general widespread rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches, with local amounts of 3+ still seems reasonable through Tuesday/Tuesday evening at this time. Again, these values are mostly still below flash flood guidance, so a Flood Watch will not be issued with this forecast package, but will be reevaluated later this afternoon and this evening. A Flood Watch will certainly be needed if trends in QPF trend higher than what they are currently. Model guidance indicates a brief lull in precipitation Tuesday night into Wednesday before another pair of shortwave troughs, embedded in the northwest flow aloft, moves across the region. One shortwave is forecast to move through Wednesday afternoon/evening and the other late Wednesday night into Thursday night. Deterministic and ensemble data have been fairly persistent producing another widespread, multiple inch rainfall from the shortwave trough Wednesday night into Thursday night. Exact details will continue to be sorted out in future forecasts. Beyond Thursday, models begin to show differences in solutions and forecast uncertainty increases. However, trends in the overall pattern continue to suggest low-moderate (20-40%) precipitation chances will persist into next weekend. Temperatures: Confidence remains high that temperatures will be unseasonably cool for late August through the long-term period. But just how cool will be highly dependent on cloud cover and rainfall that occurs through the upcoming workweek. In general, expect daytime high temperatures in the 70s and 80s and nighttime lows in the 50s and 60s. Mejia && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1220 PM CDT Sun Aug 24 2025 VFR conditions are expected through the rest of today and tonight across all terminals as scattered mid and high cloud spread over the region. Scattered showers are progged to develop late tonight/early tomorrow morning across portions of NE OK and into NW AR. A swath of more widespread showers and possibly some isolated rumbles of thunder are then forecast to spread into NE OK before sunrise Monday and spread from northwest to southeast across NE OK and NW AR terminals. Showers are expected to last most of the day. Cigs and vsbys will gradually lower from VFR to MVFR first across NE OK sites tomorrow morning, with some IFR cigs becoming possible toward the afternoon hours. Cigs will likely stay VFR for AR sites through this TAF period but could be near MVFR levels by 18Z Monday and beyond. Winds should generally remain light out of the northeast to east. Bowlan && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TUL 65 71 61 78 / 40 80 60 30 FSM 70 80 65 78 / 20 60 70 40 MLC 70 84 64 77 / 20 50 60 50 BVO 60 70 56 80 / 50 80 40 10 FYV 62 74 58 78 / 20 70 70 30 BYV 62 73 59 79 / 10 70 50 20 MKO 66 73 63 77 / 30 70 70 40 MIO 63 71 57 81 / 20 70 30 10 F10 66 76 61 75 / 30 70 70 50 HHW 71 91 68 78 / 0 10 30 40 && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. AR...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...67 LONG TERM....67 AVIATION...04