Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, December 23 to 24, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, December 23 to 24, 2002
Start: 2002-12-23T06:00
End: 2002-12-24T06:00
Location: Oklahoma

December 23 to 24, 2002 · NWS AMA · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AMA wrote it up.

A strengthening low pressure system which moved south of the Oklahoma panhandle combined with a cold Canadian air mass and low level moisture to produce heavy snow across all of the Oklahoma panhandle. Roads were reported snow packed and slick...however no official road closures were reported. Numerous minor accidents and stranded motorists were reported...however no injuries or fatalities occurred due to the heavy snow. Snowfall amounts were reported to be six inches at Beaver...six to eight inches at Boise City and Griggs...and eight to ten inches at Guymon.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 23, 5:54 AM CST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 23, 5:54 AM CST, 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
545 AM CST MON 23 DEC 2002

PRECIPITATION HAS BROKEN OUT ACROSS THE PANHANDLES THIS MORNING AS
BROAD AREA OF MID-LEVEL LIFT AND UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE SPREADS OVER
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS IN ADVANCE OF STRONG MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW TO THE
WEST. SHORT RANGE MODELS STILL APPEAR TO BE HAVING A TOUGH TIME
DEALING WITH MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW...EITHER DEPICTING A DEEP TROUGH OR
A VERY WEAKLY CLOSED MID LEVEL LOW AT BEST. HOWEVER...PER ANALYSIS
OF UPPER AIR DATA AND WV IMAGERY IT SEEMS THAT MID LEVEL CIRCULATION
MAY BE A BIT MORE CLOSED OFF THAN MODELS ARE INDICATING. ALSO...
MODELS APPEAR TO HAVE UNDERESTIMATED STRENGTH OF JET STREAK DIVING
SOUTH OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...WHICH WOULD SUGGEST
THAT THE MID-LEVEL CIRCULATION WOULD REMAIN CLOSED A LITTLE LONGER.
PRIMARY IMPACT TO THE PANHANDLES DUE TO THE ABOVE DISCREPANCIES
WOULD BE REFLECTED IN INTENSITY AND DURATION OF PRECIPITATION.
CONSIDERING THE AFOREMENTIONED OBSERVATIONS FORECAST PACKAGE WAS
BASED TOWARDS THE TREND OF A SLIGHTLY SLOWER SOLUTION. SEVERAL HOURS
OF RUC40/LAPS ANALYSIS CONTINUE TO SHOW VERY STRONG ISENTROPIC
UPGLIDE AND STRONG 700-500MB DIV-Q VALUES ACROSS THE AREA WHICH IS
STRONGER THAN WHAT LAST EVENINGS SHORT RANGE MODELS WERE INDICATING.
ANOTHER SIGN OF A SYSTEM MORE INTENSE THAN EXPRESSED BY THE MODELS.
THEREFORE...SHIFT TEAM DECIDED TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE TX/OK PANHANDLES
IN A HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR BOTH TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH UP TO 10
INCHES IN THE NE TX PANHANDLE BY TUESDAY MORNING...AND CONTINUE WITH
A CHANCE OF SNOW ON TUESDAY.

AFTER TUESDAY ONLY SOME MINOR CHANGES WERE MADE TO FORECAST. SHOULD
BE PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY AND DRY. SNOW COVER WILL LIKELY TEMPER
WARMING TREND TO A VERY GRADUAL RATE THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

FCSTID = 04

AMARILLO    30 21 31 16 / 100 100 30 10
BEAVER      30 19 32 13 / 100  90 30 10
BOISE CITY  27 18 31 11 / 100  80 30 10
BORGER      32 20 31 15 / 100 100 30 10
BOYS RANCH  31 19 31 15 / 100 100 30 10
CANYON      30 21 32 16 / 100 100 30 10
CLARENDON   35 23 33 17 / 100 100 30 10
DALHART     29 18 31 14 / 100  90 30 10
GUYMON      28 18 32 13 / 100  90 30 10
HEREFORD    30 21 32 16 / 100 100 30 10
LIPSCOMB    33 20 32 15 / 100 100 40 10
SHAMROCK    36 23 33 17 / 100 100 40 10
WELLINGTON  37 24 34 18 / 100 100 40 10

.AMA...
TX...HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT TXZ001>020.
OK...HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT OKZ001>003.

JH

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 23, 6:00 AM CST, 0 minutes before

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-231900-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
600 AM CST MON DEC 23 2002

...A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS
ALL OF THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHWEST MEXICO WILL
MOVE ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS
THE STORM APPROACHES...SNOW WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY
TODAY WITH PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW. THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH TONIGHT. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 9 INCHES ARE
EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 10 INCHES
POSSIBLE BY SUNRISE TUESDAY BEFORE DIMINISHING. TRAVEL WILL BECOME
VERY HAZARDOUS THROUGH TONIGHT AND IS THEREFORE HIGHLY DISCOURAGED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

ANDRADE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cimarron

When: December 23, 6:00 AM CST to December 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Cimarron forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.748, -102.518 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Texas

When: December 23, 6:00 AM CST to December 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Texas forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.748, -101.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Beaver

When: December 23, 6:00 AM CST to December 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Beaver forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.750, -100.477 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, December 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5325561, 5325562, 5327247.