Active Watches & Warnings:

1. Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Osage, Pawnee, Washington counties until 1 a.m.

Strong to severe weather is likely Wednesday night in Northeast Oklahoma.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for Kay, Noble, Osage, Pawnee, Payne and Washington counties until 1 a.m. on Thursday.

Chief Meteorologist Travis Meyer says that large hail, damaging winds and flooding are the biggest concerns, but the tornado threat will still be monitored.

News On 6 will have the latest updates on the storm timeline throughout the night.

What are the chances for severe weather in Oklahoma on Wednesday, May 15?

A period of unsettled weather is likely to produce periodic showers and storms across a large portion of the area Wednesday night through Friday morning.

This will bring increasing rain and thunder chances, including severe weather threats, to parts of the area beginning later Wednesday night across the western half of the state before storms begin migrating eastward into parts of northeastern and eastern Oklahoma.

All modes of severe weather will be possible, with the primary threats of damaging winds and hail. A tornado threat is possible with this system, mostly along and northwest of the I-44 corridor.

Due to antecedent conditions, and the possibility of pockets of moderate to locally heavy downpours, the potential for some low-land and street level flooding will be possible before ending as the last wave in this current series moves out of the area Thursday night late into early Friday morning.

Based on the current timing, most of Friday afternoon and evening should be precip free with mostly pleasant conditions.

What will the weather be like this weekend in Oklahoma?

This weekend some midlevel ridging should nudge northward from part of Texas into most of Oklahoma bringing dry weather, some sunshine, and highs into the mid and upper 80s both days.

South winds will continue to transport low-level moisture into the state resulting in increasing humidity values. Some minor heat index values should occur allowing values into the lower 90s.

The top-edge of the ridge positioned across far northern OK and southern Kansas may still allow a weak boundary to slide southward and stall Sunday into Monday where a complex of storms will be possible during this period.

Early next week, most data support the return of a stronger developing upper-level trough arriving from the southwest. This pattern coupled with climatology supports mentions of more spring severe weather opportunities nearing the region. As we draw closer to next week, we’ll offer more specifics regarding timing and locations.

Outages Across Oklahoma:

Northeast Oklahoma has various power companies and electric co-operatives, many with overlapping areas of coverage. Below is a link to various outage maps.

PSO Outage Map

OG&E Outage Map

VVEC Outage Map

Indian Electric Cooperative (IEC) Outage Map

Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives Outage Map – (Note Several Smaller Co-ops Included)

The Alan Crone morning weather podcast link from Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5j0ovActG8BZCOTqZQzrfU

The Alan Crone morning weather podcast link from Apple:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/weather-out-the-door/id1499556141?i=1000646589555

Follow the News On 6 Meteorologists on Facebook!

Meteorologist Travis Meyer

Meteorologist Stacia Knight

Meteorologist Alan Crone

Meteorologist Stephen Nehrenz

Meteorologist Aaron Reeves

Meteorologist Megan Gold

The Oklahoma Tax Commission is still working through thousands of applications for the state’s new parental choice tax credits, five months after the high-demand program launched.

About $25 million is left to disburse from the program’s $150 million budget, according to the state agency. The Tax Commission reported $100 million went to 16,800 priority applicants whose households earn no more than $150,000 a year.

The refundable credits offer between $5,000 and $7,500 per student, depending on family income, to offset private-school costs.

Families in the priority group had extra time to apply, and their applications were considered first. The remaining applicants from higher-earning households are considered on a first-come-first-served basis.

About 36,000 people total applied for the tax credits, most of whom did so in the first 90 minutes of the program’s launch.

More: New education secretary vows to be a voice for parents, teachers and children fighting to learn

With the priority families approved, the Tax Commission is now reviewing non-priority applicants, 4,300 of whom already have been accepted, agency spokesperson Emily Haxton said. The commission relies on its internal records to verify the total income of each family.

The total budget for the private-school program will increase to $200 million in 2025 and $250 million in 2026.

A separate $5 million program offers $1,000 per student for homeschooling costs.

How the parental tax credit program has changed since it was first implemented

The Oklahoma Legislature tweaked the program during its session this year, most notably to prevent the credits from being used to offset delinquent tax liabilities or unpaid debts. Under the program’s current rules, the Tax Commission could deduct a family’s tax credits to cover unpaid obligations.

The credits are now approved by school year rather than calendar year, and they are exempt from taxable income.

Lawmakers also added a provision to offer students the maximum $7,500 credit if they attend an accredited private school that exclusively serves children experiencing homelessness. There is only one such school in the state, Positive Tomorrows in Oklahoma City.

More: K-12 education freedom is expanding, but even more can be done for Oklahoma families | Opinion

Students also could qualify for the maximum credit amount if they attend a private school that has 90% enrollment from financially disadvantaged families, defined as earning 250% of the federal poverty line or below. 

The Legislature’s top two leaders, House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, were the primary authors of the changes, which Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed into law.

“It gives more clarity on some things that we thought were pretty common sense, but they weren’t written as specifically as they needed to (in the original legislation),” Treat said. “It also opens up new opportunities for the poorest among us to be able to take advantage of that tax credit.”

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter.