Hurricane Milton is strengthening in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Milton is expected to become a major hurricane and bring significant impacts to Florida this upcoming week, including heavy rain and flooding, life-threatening storm surge, and damaging winds. Meanwhile, a late season heat wave will continue across portions of California into the Desert Southwest through Monday. Read More >
A strong cold front plowed through Oklahoma and north Texas on the February 10, 2012, dropping temperatures across the region into the teens and twenties. The frigid temperatures continued into the February 11th, as most areas did not make it above freezing on that day. Very dry air also followed the front, with surface dew point temperatures in the single digits. The several hours of below freezing temperatures allowed the ground temperatures to fall rapidly as well.
A transient storm system approached from the central Rocky Mountains, as south winds brought slightly warmer temperatures north into parts of Oklahoma. The temperatures warmed above freezing over parts of central and southern Oklahoma, as well as adjacent areas of north Texas, but remained in the 20s elsewhere.
Snowfall began over the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and quickly spread east into western Oklahoma. Saturation of the drier air occurred quickly near the Texas panhandle border. A band of moderate to heavy snow set up shop over parts of western Oklahoma, with snowfall rates approaching 1"/hour. This band did not move much during the first several hours, resulting in a quick 3 to 4 inches of snow to accumulate. But the area of snowfall was on the move, with any one area receiving light to moderate snowfall for about 3 to 4 hours.
The isolated areas of higher snowfall totals over west-central Oklahoma were not the norm, as a wide a larger area of 2 to 3 inches of accumulation was more representative. Timing of this event was almost ideal for areas of central Oklahoma. Whereas the snowfall occurred earlier in the day over western Oklahoma, resulting in several more accidents, the snowfall occurred during the mid to late evening hours over central Oklahoma. Automobile traffic was at a minimum during this period, which resulted in few accidents. Numerous accidents occurred on area roadways during the event. The event may have occurred at an ideal time, however. Had this occurred during the work week, this may have had a higher impact. What may have been worse was the freezing fog that occurred a day after the snow ended. As mentioned earlier, south winds were present during the entire snowfall event. The south winds brought relatively warm air over Oklahoma, which melted much of the snow. The skies cleared, the winds calmed, and abundant moisture near the surface resulted in widespread dense fog. What made matters much worse was the fact the the temperatures fell below freezing resulting in freezing fog. The freezing fog deposited a thin layer of ice on the roadways and elevated surfaces. The morning rush hour was treacherous, with many automobile accidents reported. Luckily no serious injuries occurred. To read more about the formation of "radiation fog" you can click on the description provided by the Oklahoma Mesonet. |
Here is the summary of the snow reports that we received at our office from this event.
NWUS54 KOUN 130911 LSROUN PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 310 AM CST MON FEB 13 2012 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0526 PM SNOW 8 S REYDON 35.53N 99.92W 02/12/2012 E3.0 INCH ROGER MILLS OK PUBLIC 0540 PM SNOW ERICK 35.21N 99.87W 02/12/2012 E1.5 INCH BECKHAM OK CO-OP OBSERVER 0615 PM SNOW ELK CITY 35.40N 99.41W 02/12/2012 E2.0 INCH BECKHAM OK BROADCAST MEDIA THE REPORT WAS RELAYED VIA TWITTER 0730 PM SNOW HOLLIS 34.69N 99.92W 02/12/2012 E2.0 INCH HARMON OK LAW ENFORCEMENT 0800 PM SNOW HELENA 36.55N 98.27W 02/12/2012 E2.0 INCH ALFALFA OK PUBLIC 0800 PM SNOW ALTUS 34.64N 99.33W 02/12/2012 M2.1 INCH JACKSON OK BROADCAST MEDIA 0815 PM SNOW HOBART 35.03N 99.09W 02/12/2012 M2.0 INCH KIOWA OK PUBLIC 0845 PM SNOW 6 SW CHEYENNE 35.55N 99.75W 02/12/2012 E4.0 INCH ROGER MILLS OK PUBLIC UPDATED FROM PREVIOUS REPORT. 0915 PM SNOW ENID 36.40N 97.88W 02/12/2012 M1.4 INCH GARFIELD OK EMERGENCY MNGR AREA ROADWAYS ARE VERY SLICK... WITH SEVERAL ACCIDENTS REPORTED. 0930 PM SNOW QUANAH 34.30N 99.74W 02/12/2012 M3.0 INCH HARDEMAN TX LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS 2 INCH REPORT. 0930 PM SNOW BENJAMIN 33.58N 99.79W 02/12/2012 E1.5 INCH KNOX TX LAW ENFORCEMENT 0930 PM SNOW KNOX CITY 33.42N 99.82W 02/12/2012 E3.0 INCH KNOX TX LAW ENFORCEMENT 1000 PM SNOW 4 N WICHITA FALLS 33.97N 98.50W 02/12/2012 E2.0 INCH WICHITA TX PUBLIC THE SNOWFALL REPORT WAS RELAYED VIA TWITTER. 1020 PM SNOW SEILING 36.15N 98.92W 02/12/2012 E2.5 INCH DEWEY OK TRAINED SPOTTER 1030 PM SNOW CORDELL 35.30N 98.98W 02/12/2012 E4.0 INCH WASHITA OK PUBLIC THE SNOW REPORT WAS RELAYED VIA TWITTER. 1030 PM SNOW CLINTON 35.51N 98.97W 02/12/2012 E3.0 INCH CUSTER OK DEPT OF HIGHWAYS UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS 1 INCH REPORT. ODOT IS REPORTING SNOW COVERING I-40 BETWEEN CLINTON AND FOSS. 1125 PM SNOW WICHITA FALLS 33.91N 98.50W 02/12/2012 E2.5 INCH WICHITA TX BROADCAST MEDIA UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS 1 INCH REPORT. THE SNOW REPORT WAS RELAYED BY KAUZ-TV. 1150 PM SNOW WILL ROGERS AIRPORT 35.39N 97.60W 02/12/2012 M0.9 INCH OKLAHOMA OK OFFICIAL NWS OBS 1150 PM SNOW NORMAN 35.22N 97.44W 02/12/2012 M1.1 INCH CLEVELAND OK OFFICIAL NWS OBS MEASURED AT NATIONAL WEATHER CENTER 1200 AM SNOW N OKARCHE 35.73N 97.98W 02/13/2012 M1.8 INCH KINGFISHER OK TRAINED SPOTTER 1200 AM SNOW PONCA CITY 36.71N 97.09W 02/13/2012 E1.5 INCH KAY OK TRAINED SPOTTER 0100 AM SNOW 2 SE NORMAN 35.20N 97.42W 02/13/2012 M1.7 INCH CLEVELAND OK PUBLIC MEASURED NEAR HWY 9/77 INTERCHANGE 0110 AM SNOW NORMAN 35.22N 97.44W 02/13/2012 M1.6 INCH CLEVELAND OK TRAINED SPOTTER AT 12TH AND LINDSEY 0115 AM SNOW ELGIN 34.78N 98.29W 02/13/2012 M3.5 INCH COMANCHE OK PUBLIC 0130 AM SNOW DUNCAN 34.52N 97.97W 02/13/2012 E3.0 INCH STEPHENS OK AMATEUR RADIO 0130 AM SNOW ELMORE CITY 34.62N 97.40W 02/13/2012 M1.8 INCH GARVIN OK PUBLIC 0140 AM SNOW 2 W ENID 36.40N 97.91W 02/13/2012 E3.0 INCH GARFIELD OK PUBLIC 0200 AM SNOW NORMAN 35.22N 97.44W 02/13/2012 M2.4 INCH CLEVELAND OK PUBLIC WEST 48TH AND MAIN ST && $$ BURKE |