Severe Weather Expected Across The Region
Oklahomans are being urged to prepare for another round of severe weather expected later today. National Weather Service Meteorologist Nolan Meister says storms are expected to develop along the dry line in western Oklahoma and move east as the afternoon progresses.
"Any storms basically will have the potential to become a supercell with tornadoes. We could see several strong potentially even long-tracked on the ground for a while tornadoes," said Meister. "The environment is really favorable for large to very large—and we could see hail up to the size of 4 inches."
The earliest time for storms in the metro will be around 3 p.m. with the most likely time between 6 and Midnight.
"This is not one of those days where the storms will weaken quickly after sunset either," Meister said. "We could see, as the low level jet ramps up, the tornado threat continue well into the night."
The Weather Service urges Oklahomans to have multiple ways to receive weather warnings through the night and have a plan to get to your safe spot.
Northwest Oklahoma Faces Fifth-Driest Spring in a Century
While much of Oklahoma has received rain, the northwest corner of the state hasn’t been so lucky. The Panhandle is in the midst of its fifth-driest climatological spring in over 100 years.
Much of the state has been slammed with severe storms but State Climatologist Gary McManus says far northwestern Oklahoma is often missing out on big rainfall events.
"So, it’s certainly a have vs. have not situation right now in the state of Oklahoma," said McManus.
While the Panhandle is experiencing its fifth-driest spring since 1921 - western central Oklahoma is in its 19th driest spring season since the same year.
It’s only the beginning of May and Oklahomans have seen intense wildfires and severe weather with deadly tornadoes. McManus says people need to be weather aware even if they are in a dry area and heed wildfire notices.
Lawmakers Convene With Governor To Talk About State Budget
Oklahoma lawmakers will convene with Gov. Kevin Stitt Monday afternoon to talk about the details of the state's more than $10 billion budget.
The move is unprecedented, as budget negotiations usually happen behind closed doors.Stitt says he's looking forward to it.
"This is really, really exciting. I hope everybody watches," Stitt said. "Everybody in Oklahoma. It is going to be live-streamed. There's going to be media there. This is a really, really good thing."
The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. at the State Capitol.
All sides say they look forward to the public negotiations over state budget line items.
Oklahoma Education Department Misses Deadline for National Ranking Data Submission
The leader of the State Senate is concerned over reports the Oklahoma Department of Education did not submit permission to use data to a national media company that ranks education institutions. The department claims it must have been lost in the mail.
U.S. News and World Report ranks high schools, colleges and universities, and is often used as a resource for people or companies considering a move to a certain area. KFOR reports the department missed its deadline to allow U.S. News to include AP test scores in its Best High School rankings. Those scores make up 30% of each school’s ranking. U.S. News says this is the second year this has happened.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat said Thursday he’s concerned the mass exodus of employees from the department during State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ tenure contributed to the mishap.
"With the reports of upwards of 130 or so employees gone, is that impeding their ability to get these simple things done that may harm some of our schools?," said Treat.
Most top 20 schools from the Best High Schools in Oklahoma saw their ratings plunge from 2022, when the AP data was last made available. Deer Creek, for example, dropped 122 spots.
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