Heavy Snow, Pushmataha
- When
- February 5, 9:00 AM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Pushmataha forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.416, -95.376 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, February 5 to 6, 2002
A cold air mass settled into eastern Oklahoma while an upper level system approached from the southwest. Snow fell across much of eastern Oklahoma on February 5th and 6th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 TSA wrote it up.
A cold air mass settled into eastern Oklahoma while an upper level system approached from the southwest. Snow fell across much of eastern Oklahoma on February 5th and 6th. With temperatures at or slightly above freezing and warm ground temperatures the snow struggled to accumulate. The snow did accumulate where it snowed hard enough. Antlers in Pushmataha county reported 6 inches of snow while Poteau in Le Flore county reported 4 inches of snow. A few other snowfall figures from around eastern Oklahoma included 2 inches at Stigler, Sallisaw, Wilburton and McAlester and 1 inch at Tulsa.
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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 5, 4:50 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 4:50 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 450 AM CST TUE FEB 5 2002 WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOW UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER SOUTHERN COLORADO WITH 00Z HEIGHT FALLS SUPPORTING ITS CONTINUED SOUTHWARD MOVEMENT. MID/UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO STREAM OVER THE AREA...HOWEVER CURRENT SURFACE DEWPOINTS REMAIN RELATIVELY LOW OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS WHEN COMPARED TO READINGS OVER REMAINDER OF OKLAHOMA. MIXED PRECIP ONGOING WEST OF THE AREA AND GRADUALLY SHIFTING EASTWARD. UPPER LOW WILL BEGIN TO MOVE EASTWARD BY LATE TODAY. EXPECT GOOD WARM ADVECTION PATTERN TO DEVELOP OVER THE AREA WITH WIDESPREAD PRECIP TO DEVELOP/ADVECT INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA. SURFACE TEMP/DEWPOINT DEPRESSIONS WILL ALLOW SURFACE TEMPS TO COOL BELOW FREEZING SOON AFTER PRECIP MOVES OVERHEAD...THUS SUPPORTING SNOW VS. RAIN. HAVE UPGRADED TO WINTER STORM WARNING OVER SOUTHERN AREAS AS THIS AREA WILL EXPERIENCE THE MORE EXTENSIVE LIFT IN ADVANCE OF UPPER LOW. ALSO EXPANDED WARNING INTO WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS WITH BEST SNOWFALL EXPECTED BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS THIS AREA. BUFFERED THE WARNING WITH A SNOW ADVISORY WITH ALL BUT EXTREME NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA EXPECTED TO RECEIVE 1-2 INCHES. TEMPS WILL MOVE ONLY SLIGHTLY TODAY WITH COOLING EXPECTED AS PRECIPITATION BECOMES MORE WIDESPREAD. ATTEMPTED TO ADJUST TEMPS FOR EFFECTS OF SNOWCOVER OVER SOUTHERN AREAS ON WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WARMING TREND EXPECTED BY THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. NO ADJUSTMENTS TO THE EXTENDED WITH CONTINUED CHANCE OF RAIN BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. FCSTID = 7 TUL 37 28 37 24 / 70 70 40 10 FSM 38 30 35 23 / 70 80 80 20 MLC 38 29 35 22 / 80 80 50 10 BVO 39 26 39 20 / 60 60 30 10 FYV 40 28 36 19 / 60 70 70 20 BYV 40 28 36 19 / 60 70 70 20 MIO 39 26 39 20 / 60 60 30 10 MKO 37 28 37 24 / 70 70 30 10 F10 37 28 37 24 / 70 70 30 10 HHW 39 30 35 21 / 90 80 50 10 .TSA... AR...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES ARZ019>020...ARZ029. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES ARZ001>002...ARZ010>011. OK...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES OKZ049...OKZ053...OKZ065...OKZ071>076. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES OKZ054...OKZ059>064...OKZ066>070.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 5, 6:00 AM CST, 3 hours before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-061200- EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 600 AM CST TUE FEB 5 2002 ...HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... A STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM OVER COLORADO THIS MORNING WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA TONIGHT AND INTO SOUTHERN ARKANSAS ON WEDNESDAY. A LARGE AREA OF PRECIPITATION WILL OVERSPREAD MOST OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS BY THIS EVENING. MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL FALL AS SNOW AS COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER SYSTEM SPREADS EAST. A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS... INCLUDING THE MCALESTER AND FORT SMITH AREAS. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE WINTER STORM WARNING AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. IN AREAS FURTHER NORTH...INCLUDING THE TULSA AND FAYETTEVILLE AREAS...SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE FORECAST THROUGH TONIGHT. THE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /OKCWSWTUL/ ISSUED AT 530 AM GIVES ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON THE WINTER WEATHER. SNOW WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY AS THE WEATHER SYSTEM MOVES EAST.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Le Flore
- When
- February 5, 9:00 AM CST to February 6, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Le Flore forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
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
- Dense Fog in California, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Cold in District of Columbia, February 5, 2002
- Winter Storm in Arkansas, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Winter Storm in Alabama, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Winter Storm in Texas, February 5, 2002
- Winter Storm in Tennessee, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Winter Storm in Texas, February 5, 2002
- Winter Storm in Arkansas, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Winter Storm in Mississippi, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Texas, February 5, 2002
- Winter Storm in Kansas, February 5 to 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Arkansas, February 5 to 6, 2002
More
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, February 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: 5282977, 5282978.