Severe storm chances will increase in the late afternoon and early evening hours on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Tulsa.

Forecasters said large hail and damaging wind threats will be present in some areas and a strong tornado is possible in northeast Oklahoma.

The highest tornado threat is expected across north-central Oklahoma, primarily west of Highway 75 and north of I-44, the National Weather Service said.

Areas west of Tulsa, including portions of Osage, Pawnee and Creek counties, will most likely see storms between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. For the Tulsa metro, that window is 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Areas east of Tulsa will most likely see storms between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Forecasters said wind gusts would make fighting existing wildfires difficult Wednesday, but increasing moisture, cooler temperatures and increasing cloud cover should help to keep overall fire weather concerns low.

NWS said the storms would bring the first measurable rainfall in more than a month to the region with anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rain possible.

That won’t bust the drought, but some parts of the state are 6 to 8 inches below average, so this amount of rain would certainly help alleviate some of the fire weather concerns.