Cold Snap Forecast for Oklahoma: The Next Arctic Blast
In Oklahoma City the coldest week is usually Jan 10 to 16, with a normal low of 27°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was −14°F on Feb 16, 2021.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Oklahoma City.
Normals and records at Oklahoma City Will Rogers Airport
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Oklahoma reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City Will Rogers Airport, USW00013967
Jan 10 to 16
27°F
−14°FFeb 16, 2021
Oct 30
−14°FFeb 16, 2021records since 1948
TulsaTulsa International Airport, USW00013968
Jan 14 to 20
28°F
−13°FFeb 16, 2021
Nov 6
−13°FFeb 16, 2021records since 1938
LawtonLawton Municipal Airport, USW00003950
Jan 2 to 8
27°F
−12°FFeb 16, 2021
Nov 5
−12°FFeb 16, 2021records since 1996
GuymonGuymon Municipal Airport, USW00003030
Dec 29 to Jan 4
22°F
−14°FFeb 15, 2021
Oct 16
−14°FFeb 15, 2021records since 1998
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Oklahoma City against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 4 Oklahoma reference stations.
At Oklahoma City it is usually Jan 10 to 16, with a normal low of 27°F. At the other reference stations: Tulsa Jan 14 to 20 (28°F), Lawton Jan 2 to 8 (27°F) and Guymon Dec 29 to Jan 4 (22°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Oklahoma City reaches 32°F around Dec 4. The first actual freeze came around Oct 30 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Oklahoma City was −14°F on Feb 16, 2021, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 2°F. Elsewhere: Tulsa −13°F on Feb 16, 2021, Lawton −12°F on Feb 16, 2021 and Guymon −14°F on Feb 15, 2021. The record at the Oklahoma City station is −14°F, on Feb 16, 2021, in daily records since 1948.
At Oklahoma City a typical recent winter brings 75 nights at 32°F or colder and 16 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Oklahoma City Will Rogers Airport (USW00013967), Tulsa International Airport (USW00013968), Lawton Municipal Airport (USW00003950) and Guymon Municipal Airport (USW00003030). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
