A potentially record-breaking snow storm is forecast to hammer parts of central and southern Oklahoma into the Ozark Mountain region tomorrow through Friday, with up to a foot of snow likely, especially over southern OK into northern AR/southern MO. The 12z WRF from this morning is predicting .75-1 inch of water equivalent precip from southern OK into northern AR, but higher amounts will likely fall within persistent mesoscale bands. The 12 hr precip forecast valid 00z tomorrow is shown below:


This is definitely a classic, TEXTBOOK winter storm pattern for southern/central OK into the ozarks, with a nice, nearly cut-off upper trough pivoting across the Southern Plains, with the track of the 500 mb vorticity maximum just south of the Red River. A tight baroclinic zone will also be in place across OK, with bigtime warm advection ahead of this system before the deformation zone snow arrives. The WRF forecast surface and 500 mb patterns valid tomorrow evening are shown below:


Of course, winter storm warnings are now in effect across central OK for this system tomorrow, including the OKC Metro area, with winter storm watches further northeast. These watches will likely be upgraded to warnings by tonight. We'll be covering this system extensively from Norman, OK, so stay tuned for continuous video/news updates throughout the event!