Tulsa, Oklahoma
weather for tulsa.
Tulsa sits at the northeastern edge of Oklahoma along the Arkansas River, where the central Plains transition into the Ozark foothills. The geography puts it inside Tornado Alley but slightly east of the most active dryline corridor, giving the city a meteorological identity caught between Oklahoma City to the southwest and Springfield, Missouri to the northeast. The seasons are sharp, the spring severe weather is real, and the summer heat dome events are some of the most extreme in the southern Plains.
- Humidity
- 59%
- Wind
- 8mph
- UV Index
- 0
- Visibility
- 6.2mi
- Today80°55°
- Fri79°57°100%
- Sat80°62°44%
- Sun75°66°100%
- Mon76°68°71%
- Tue72°68°100%
- Wed79°57°100%
- Thu83°59°
Today’s brief
what vesper sounds like in tulsa.
“Cap weakening over the Arkansas River basin by three and the dewpoint past sixty-eight — the kind of northeast Oklahoma afternoon where the atmosphere has been loading energy since noon and is about to cash it in. PDS tornado watch through nine. Have a place to go.”
— Vesper, Tulsa · Tuesday
Local weather
what makes tulsa weather unique.
The same sunset model runs in the Vesper iOS app. The app adds personal calibration that learns from every sunset you rate.
Editorial note
sunsets in tulsa.
Tulsa sunsets are best from the elevated areas south of downtown — the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness, the Oxley Nature Center overlook, the western edge of Woodward Park. The combination of the wide Arkansas River basin to the west and the Ozark foothill silhouette to the east produces consistently dramatic plains sunsets, especially in the post-storm windows of late spring after a severe weather system has cleared.
Unlike Apple Weather, Vesper writes the Tulsa sky as the embodied experience it actually is, not a temperature number with a generic icon.
What is the best weather app for Tulsa?
Vesper is the best weather app for Tulsa because it reads northeastern Oklahoma as the meeting point of the Plains and the Ozarks rather than a generic Tornado Alley forecast. The brief tracks the dryline severe weather that activates each spring, the Arkansas River valley moderation, the heat dome stagnation that defines July and August, and the winter ice storms that arrive when warm Gulf air overruns shallow cold air at the surface.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Tulsa’s severe weather risk compare to Oklahoma City?
Tulsa sits at the eastern edge of Tornado Alley, slightly east of the most active dryline corridor that runs through Oklahoma City and Norman. The result: Tulsa sees fewer tornado-warned days per year than Oklahoma City but is still well within the severe weather risk zone. The 2017 May 18 outbreak produced multiple tornadoes across the Tulsa metro. Severe thunderstorms with hail and damaging winds are routine from April through June.
How do the Ozark Mountains affect Tulsa weather?
The Ozark Highlands rise immediately east of Tulsa, providing slight orographic lift on the windward (western) side and modest rain shadow effects on the leeward (eastern) side. The Ozarks moderate the worst extremes of summer heat and winter cold for the eastern Tulsa suburbs, and the foothills produce occasional convective enhancement during spring severe weather episodes when air mass interactions intensify over the elevated terrain.
Why does Tulsa experience such hot summers?
In summer, the upper-level subtropical high pressure system shifts north over the southern Plains, creating a heat dome of sinking air that traps heat at the surface and suppresses rain-cooled convection. Coupled with persistent southerly flow drawing Gulf moisture into the region, the result is sustained daytime highs in the upper 90s°F with dewpoints in the 70s. The combination produces heat index values over 105°F for days at a time during the worst stretches of July and August.
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