Oklahoma Winter Storm
Published on 1 Dec 2006 at 4:58 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Olla Podrida.
Yes! We’ve had a pretty decent winter storm here in Norman which started the night before last with quite frequent thunder and very heavy wind-blown sleet ……entertaining to say the least. It was very difficult to face this while out walking as the sleet was propelled by 40mph gusts and stung worse than rain-bands in a hurricane. As the next morning broke, the sleet-snow changeover was slow but eventual and it became obvious that northern Oklahoma was in for much worse conditions …a blizzard.
 
I of course, packed up the truck and headed out under light to moderate snow around noon for points to the north …right into the jaws of the blizzard. I wanted to do some photography and experience the incredible change the area had undergone as it was 75F degrees just two days before.
  
Conditions were fine starting out….an average snowstorm as I made my way through Edmond towards Guthrie on I-35. As I approached Perry Oklahoma though, the character of the storm changed …. to the point of almost being “spooky” as the winds increased and visibility dropped to 1/8Â mile or less in heavy horizontal wind-blown snow.
 
It was 19F degrees now as I took highway 64 east of Enid ….things seemed to get worse as I drove east ….to the point where it was almost a whiteout. I decided not to press too far and decided instead to head a bit west of I-35 to near Billings. The east-west highway had been blown dry as the snow swirled across and into drifts as high as three feet on the sides of the road. I hung around this area all afternoon taking pictures and finally decided it would be prudent to leave as darkness approached.
 
The drive back to Norman in the dark was a bit of a “white-knuckle”. Blinding wind-whipped snow in the headlights made for some real entertainment but I was able to maintain a fairly good 45mph as there were hardly any other vehicles on the road at this time. Back home in Norman, we ended up with around 7 inches of accumulation ….but not quite the true bizzard conditions that areas north and northeast of OKC experienced.
 
I have heard of an unofficial report of 20 inches of snow in northeast Oklahoma with official totals of up to 15 inches. Measuring the snow was very problematic due to the wind.
 
 The 7 inches at my house makes it the strongest winter storm to hit in 5 years as I had a 9 inch storm total in 2001. Still, this pales in comparison to the storm in March of 1989 when Norman had over one foot.
I have a feeling that this winter will be a “good one” for winter weather in these parts. I never know what quite to expect in El Nino years as each episode is quite unique. Maybe I should confer with the furry catepillars.
Jason Boggs on 18 Jan 2007 at 8:25 pm: 1
Gene, I know it’s a little late but those are some great photos!!!