FORECAST: More fire risk ahead following destructive outbreak in Oklahoma
A red flag warning remains in effect for northwestern Oklahoma after fires caused devastation and destruction Friday statewide.
Updated: 9:53 AM CDT Mar 15, 2025
I’M METEOROLOGIST JOSEPH NEUBAUER HERE AT KOCO FIVE TODAY. ANOTHER ALERT DAY FOR FIRE DANGER. NOT NECESSARILY FOR THE OKC METRO, BUT IN WESTERN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA. MORE WILDFIRES WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY. A RED FLAG WARNING ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OUT OF NORMAN FOR THE POTENTIAL OF WILDFIRES IN COUNTIES SHADED IN RED. CLINTON ALL THE WAY TO ELK CITY, UP TO CHEYENNE, WOODWARD, ALVA. THESE AREAS HAVE VERY DRY VEGETATION, GROWN VEGETATION, VEGETATION THAT IS DRY, THAT IS NOT GREENED UP. AND WE’RE GOING TO SEE SOME PRETTY LOW HUMIDITY VALUES OUT THAT WAY IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA, WIND GUSTS UP INTO THE 30S. THAT’S GOING TO BE A CONCERN. OUR FIRE DANGER THIS AFTERNOON. SO THAT RED FLAG WARNING RUNS FROM 1 TO 9. RIGHT. OUR FIRE DANGER IS NOT AT A FIVE LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. IT’S GOING TO BE DOWN AT A THREE. STILL COULD RUN INTO SOME TROUBLE THOUGH. WOULD NOT SURPRISE ME TO SEE SOME FIRES POP OR EVEN SOME ONGOING FIRES IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. GET A BOOST FROM THIS. WATCHING REALLY CLOSELY. OUR FIRE DANGER IS NOT QUITE AS HIGH IN OKC, BUT JUST GIVEN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT’S CURRENTLY BURNING RIGHT NOW IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA, IT’S SORT OF A CRITICAL DAY AS WELL THAT WE NEED TO WATCH CLOSELY. I MEAN, LOOK AT THE WINDS LATER THIS MORNING OUT OF THE NORTH, 20 GUSTING UP NEAR 30, A LITTLE BIT HIGHER UP IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA INTO THE AFTERNOON. THAT’S NOT GOOD. IT’S NOT 70MPH, BUT IT’S STILL NOT GOOD TEMPERATURE WISE. WE WILL HAVE SOME CLOUDS, HIGHS UPPER 50S NEAR 60. BUT IT’S BREEZY. WE GET A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK ON SUNDAY. SUN COMES OUT. WILL BE UP INTO THE 60S. LIGHT SOUTH WIND AND THEN OUR FIRE RISK COMES BACK. THE WINDS JUMP BACK UP ON MONDAY. THE WINDS ARE NOT SEVERE, BUT THEY’RE 40 TO 50 MILE PER HOUR GUSTS ON TUESDAY. TUESDAY IS AN ALERT DAY FOR FIRE DANGER, AND WE MAY EVEN SEE SOME OF THAT FIRE DANGER EXTENDED INTO WEDNESDAY. TOO BUSY EARLY WORKWEEK. IT IS WILDFIRE SEASON. IT IS WIND SEASON HERE IN OKLAHOMA, AND WE’RE GOING TO BE WATCHING. OF COURSE, TODAY, BUT ALSO NEXT WEEK VERY CLOSELY. METEOROLOGIST SABRINA BATES SHE WILL BE IN IF WE GET FIRES IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA. FULL TEAM IN CHIEF METEOROLOGIST DAMON LANE AS WELL. SO STICK WITH US FOR THE FIRST ALERT ON THE FIRE DANGER HERE ON SATURDAY. AND OF COURSE, WE’LL HAVE YOU COVERED NEXT WEEK TOO
FORECAST: More fire risk ahead following destructive outbreak in Oklahoma
A red flag warning remains in effect for northwestern Oklahoma after fires caused devastation and destruction Friday statewide.
Updated: 9:53 AM CDT Mar 15, 2025
A red flag warning remains in effect for northwestern Oklahoma after fires caused devastation and destruction Friday statewide. KOCO 5 Meteorologist Joseph Neubauer says more wildfires will be possible in western and northwestern Oklahoma as well as in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Those areas have very dry vegetation that could catch fire. The fire danger this afternoon is a 3 out of 5 in western and northwestern Oklahoma, a 2 in southwestern, northern and central Oklahoma, and a 1 in southern and eastern Oklahoma. >> Sky 5 surveyed some of the damage caused by Friday’s wildfire outbreak. Open the video player below to watch.Joseph says he wouldn’t be surprised if a fire popped up or if some ongoing fires rekindle on Saturday in central Oklahoma. Wind gusts will remain between 20 and 30 mph throughout the state. Highs will be in the upper 50s and lower 60s on Saturday and will be in the 60s on Sunday. After a break on Sunday, the fire risk returns on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Joseph says the winds won’t be severe, but there could be 40-50 mph gusts on Tuesday.
A red flag warning remains in effect for northwestern Oklahoma after fires caused devastation and destruction Friday statewide.
KOCO 5 Meteorologist Joseph Neubauer says more wildfires will be possible in western and northwestern Oklahoma as well as in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Those areas have very dry vegetation that could catch fire.
The fire danger this afternoon is a 3 out of 5 in western and northwestern Oklahoma, a 2 in southwestern, northern and central Oklahoma, and a 1 in southern and eastern Oklahoma.
>> Sky 5 surveyed some of the damage caused by Friday’s wildfire outbreak. Open the video player below to watch.
Joseph says he wouldn’t be surprised if a fire popped up or if some ongoing fires rekindle on Saturday in central Oklahoma.
Wind gusts will remain between 20 and 30 mph throughout the state. Highs will be in the upper 50s and lower 60s on Saturday and will be in the 60s on Sunday.
After a break on Sunday, the fire risk returns on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Joseph says the winds won’t be severe, but there could be 40-50 mph gusts on Tuesday.
