Arctic Blast of January 2024
An arctic air intrusion affected much of the U.S. during the middle of January 2024, and resulted in multiple days of sub-freezing temperatures. Due to cold temperatures and breezy north winds, Wind Chill Warnings were issued for the Norman forecast area given forecast wind chill values as low as -25°F expected.
6-10 Day Temperature Outlook from NWS Climate Prediction Center
Arctic blast was advertised widely as also seen here in a tweet from the NWS Weather Prediction Center
Infographic posted by NWS Norman Office on Jan. 9
7 Day Temperature Outlook and Key Points
Most people remember the arctic outbreak of February 2021. In fact, February 15, 2021 was the coldest day in Oklahoma History.
Courtesy of the Oklahoma Mesonet
While meteorologists suspected this arctic air mass would not be as cold (nor last as long) as the arctic outbreak of February 2021, they knew this would be a notable event and compared forecast temperature anomalies to analogs from February 2021.
Comparison of surface temperature anomalies from February 15, 2021 to January 14, 2024
And, if you zoom in to Oklahoma and north Texas:
Surface temperature anomaly dropped to a minimum of roughly -19 to -21 degrees Kelvin in February 2021 (left) and -14 to -16 degrees Kelvin in January 2024.
Meteorologist-in-Charge, Mark Fox, provides temperature comparisons for partners in NWSChat on January 10, 2024.
January 11, 2024 (Thursday)
The first cold front of the event moved through the late evening of January 11 th .
Strong temperature gradient evident across the frontal boundary
Wind chill values fell below zero night of the 11 th and morning of the 12 th .
January 12, 2024 (Friday)
Friday was relatively uneventful. Oklahoma and western north Texas had just had the first cold front and were anxiously waiting for strongest front to arrive on Saturday.
January 13, 2024 (Saturday)
The reinforcing arctic front moved through early Saturday morning with gusty north winds following the front.
January 14, 2024 (Sunday)
Sunday was the coldest day of the event and began with morning low temperatures near zero for many areas.
Meteorologist Dr. Vivek Mahale launched the weather balloon during the early morning hours of January 14th.
With ongoing strong cold air advection, however, air temperatures rose only into the single digits and teens.
Record Cold High Temperatures
Daytime high temperatures were very cold and did not rise above the single digits and teens across our forecast area.
All three of our climate sites (Oklahoma City, Lawton, and Wichita Falls) broke the coldest high temperature record for this day.
Record Low Temperature
A morning low temperature of 7°F was observed at Wichita Falls. This also broke the record low temperature at this site for this date (10° in 1979).
Legend: Observed high temperatures (blue) Observed low temperature (pink) Record temperatures (black)
Breezy north winds continued with widespread wind gusts peaking between 20 and 30 mph.
The lowest observed wind chill values of this event occurred on Sunday, January 14 th , with the lowest wind chill values dropping to -20°F to -25°F.
A Wind Chill Warning was in effect for much of the forecast area.
The lowest wind chill values observed at the three primary NWS Norman climate sites (for this event) occurred on January 14 th : Oklahoma City: -19.7°F Lawton: -16.0°F Wichita Falls: -12.2°F
Snow
In addition to the arctic blast, some areas received snowfall on January 14 th . The highest snow accumulations were centered just east of Stillwater with 3 to 4 inches.
A Winter Weather Advisory was issued for parts of northern and central Oklahoma for slick road conditions
January 15, 2024 (Monday)
The deep freeze continued into Monday, January 15th, and daytime high temperatures only rose into the teens and low 20's.
Record Cold High Temperatures
Lawton and Wichita Falls had record cold high temperatures for a second day in a row.
Record Low Temperatures
Morning low temperatures at Lawton and Wichita Falls tied the record low temperatures for this date.
Legend: Observed high temperatures (blue) Observed low temperature (pink) Record temperatures (black)
Breezy north winds, with gusts of 25 to 35 mph, occurred which made it feel even colder outside.
The cold temperatures and gusty north winds resulted in wind chills that bottomed out between -15°F and -20°F on January 15.
January 16, 2024 (Tuesday)
Finally, here are the low temperatures from morning of January 16th. Beginning the next day (Jan. 17), we began to thaw with highs in the 40's and lows in the teens.
As it turned out, central Oklahoma remained below freezing for about 4.5 days (110 hours). The deep freeze lasted even longer for parts of northern Oklahoma, though, with about 5.5 days (131 hours).
Duration of sub-freezing temperatures for January 2024 event
This sub-freezing temperatures did not last nearly as long as the February 2021 arctic event (see below), which endured for 13 days (northern Oklahoma).
Duration of consecutive hours below freezing in February 2021.
Ensemble guidance was close with regard to the magnitude of the temperature anomalies with this arctic blast. Below shows the state-wide average temperature with this event dropped to less than -30 degrees F from average for that date.
Departure from average temperature state-wide (Oklahoma).
