Warm, dry and breezy conditions resulted in favorable conditions for fire starts and spread on the 7th.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.
Warm, dry and breezy conditions resulted in favorable conditions for fire starts and spread on the 7th.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 7, 8:46 PM CST, 44 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 846 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 ...New MESOSCALE UPDATE... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 832 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 - Rain and storm chances increase tonight into Thursday morning, with a marginal risk for severe storms. - Chance for light snow Friday afternoon and evening across northwest OK, with little accumulation or impact expected. - Near to above normal temperatures and dry conditions expected this weekend into next week. && .UPDATE AND MESOSCALE UPDATE FOR THUNDERSTORMS... Issued at 846 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 There are no significant changes to our expectations tonight. Radar echoes are increasing across the area this evening from the mid-level and high-level clouds, but low levels are still dry and the precipitation associated with these echoes are generally evaporating as virga before reaching the ground. Low level moisture will be increasing overnight through as southerly winds will bring upper 50s to lower 60s dewpoints north from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. As the low-level moisture increases and the storm system approaches from the southwest, showers and thunderstorms will develop, most likely initially in the 2 AM to 3 AM time frame in the southwest, with showers/storms spreading northeast through the morning. The increasing low- level moisture will also allow sufficient instability to develop for the potential of strong or isolated severe storms to develop. Low level wind shear will be strong with a 45 to 50 knot low-level jet developing. The potential for organized storms will increase around 5 AM as low-level instability increases to correspond with the strong low-level wind shear. But overall instability does not appear to be high enough for widespread severe weather. Quarter size hail and 60 mph winds remain the most likely forms of severe weather should severe storms develop. && .NEAR TERM... (Rest of today and tonight) Issued at 1202 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 Mild temperatures are in place once again today, with readings already in the 60s to low 70s as of early afternoon. Changes will be coming later tonight as a closed low currently along the Baja California coast translates eastward and becomes an open wave tonight, taking on a negative tilt as it ejects northeastward over the area Thursday morning. Moisture will surge northward quickly tonight, with upper 50 to low 60s dewpoints reaching central Oklahoma by sunrise Thursday ahead of a Pacific front. Warm advection showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop across the area early Thursday and move quickly northeastward through the morning. Strong deep layer shear will support some risk for severe weather, though rather weak instability and nearly saturated vertical profiles are expected to limit the overall risk. That said, given the strong wind fields aloft, hail and damaging wind gusts will be possible with the strongest storms. The tornado risk appears very low at this time, with meager surface based instability and less than ideal low-mid level hodographs, but a brief spinup or two cannot be completely ruled out, especially if greater surface instability can be realized. The greatest rainfall totals are expected across north-central OK, with amounts decreasing with south and westward extent. Unfortunately this means our far western and southern counties may not see much in the way of appreciable rainfall with this system. Ware && .SHORT TERM... (Thursday through Friday night) Issued at 1202 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 Rain and storms will quickly exit the area around midday or early afternoon Thursday, with clearing skies and gusty southwest winds expected behind a Pacific front Thursday afternoon. Temperatures will remain quite warm Thursday behind the Pacific front (60s/70s), with the lagging cold front not crossing the area until Thursday night. Cooler temperatures are expected behind the cold front Friday as a trailing shortwave quickly approaches the area from the west. Models suggest frontogenetic forcing associated with the wave could lead to a band of snow stretching from the OK/TX panhandles northeastward into Kansas by Friday afternoon. As of now, the bulk of guidance keeps the heavier snow to our north and west with much lighter amounts in our area. Latest NBM shows about a 40-50% chance of 1" of snowfall in northwest Harper county, quickly tapering to 10-20% further southeast near Woodward. With very warm ground temperatures and marginal cold air during the day Friday, do not expect much in the way of accumulation or impacts in our area, though we will continue to watch closely as a small shift south with the system could bring greater accumulations into our area. Ware && .LONG TERM... (Saturday through next Tuesday) Issued at 1202 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 Dry conditions and near-normal temperatures are expected for this weekend as surface high pressure remains over the area. The remainder of the long term period will be dominated by northwest flow aloft, keeping things dry with temperatures rebounding to about 10 degrees above seasonal averages through the middle of next week. Ware && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 540 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2026 There is a lot expected to happen over the next 24 hours. We will initially start this evening with high clouds and VFR conditions. Non-convective low-level wind shear will develop as soon as mid- evening and expand across the area overnight. Showers and thunderstorms will develop late this evening or early Thursday morning and spread from west to east across the area exiting the area late Thursday morning or very early Thursday afternoon. Low clouds will also increase with MVFR ceilings developing early Thursday morning. Winds will also increase from the south and become gusty overnight and increase more from the south and southwest after sunrise. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 56 69 38 52 / 80 80 0 10 Hobart OK 52 71 35 52 / 80 50 0 10 Wichita Falls TX 58 75 41 62 / 80 70 0 0 Gage OK 46 65 30 39 / 70 40 10 60 Ponca City OK 52 69 36 48 / 80 90 0 20 Durant OK 58 77 46 66 / 20 60 0 10 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. TX...None. && NEAR TERM...08 SHORT TERM...08 LONG TERM....08 AVIATION...26
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Midnight Fire burned 689 acres across far north-central Carter County. This fire was reported out at 1200 LST on 1 February 2026.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, January 2026
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1303074.