A Heat Dome Will Settle Over Oklahoma This Week

Oklahomans will want to stay indoors again this week as a heat dome moves over Oklahoma. The hot air mass will send temperatures into the low 100s across the state for much of the week. Luckily, two cold fronts are expected to move through later in the weekend and into the weekend.

What is a heat dome?

Last week, Oklahoma had multiple days with heat advisories due to high heat indicies, which made the feels-like temperature much hotter than the actual temperature. This week, the humidity won't be as high, therefore the heat index won't be the source of the excessive heat.

But a heat dome is expected to move over Oklahoma and sit atop the state is what will be the cause of this week's hot temperatures. Oklahoma is a prime spot for heat domes, according to KOKH, which are "a flaming hot air mass that develops when high pressure aloft prevents warm air from rising."

Basically, Oklahoma is going to be inside a convection oven for most of the week.

Two cold fronts will move through Oklahoma before the weekend.

There is cooler temperatures on the horizon for Oklahoma. A weak cold front will move through the state on Wednesday. But the strongest cold front will come Friday and will bring high temperatures back into the low 90s for the weekend. These cold fronts will also bring back storm chances for northwest Oklahoma.

Fire danger will also be elevated this week.

Oklahoma will also have elevated fire danger this week, specifically Wednesday and Thursday, which are set to be the hottest days this week. According to the National Weather Service in Norman, vegetation across the state are drying up, which adds to the increase in fire weather conditions, especially for parts of western Oklahoma.

Oklahomans will want to practice fire weather safety this week, which means minimizing outdoor activities that cause sparks. Check out the gallery below for a full list of activities and items that can spark a wildfire.