Light wintry precipitation developed as moist air overspread cold surface temperatures. Very light freezing rain, sleet, and snow were reported across the area, and this quickly translated into travel problems, especially in Clay county.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.
Light wintry precipitation developed as moist air overspread cold surface temperatures. Very light freezing rain, sleet, and snow were reported across the area, and this quickly translated into travel problems, especially in Clay county.
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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 15, 5:00 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
500 AM CST MON DEC 15 2008
.DISCUSSION...
WIND CHILLS ARE MARGINAL FOR CONTINUING THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY
ACROSS NORTHWEST THIRD OR SO OF FORECAST AREA...BUT WILL GO AHEAD
AND KEEP IT GOING AND LET IT DIE NATURALLY AT 1600Z. WIND FORECAST
TO COME DOWN ENOUGH TO KEEP US OUT OF ADVISORY LEVELS LATER TODAY
BUT IT WILL STILL HAVE A BITE. PERIODS OF VERY LIGHT WINTRY PRECIP
FOR AT LEAST THE FIRST PART OF THE DAY...PRIMARILY OVER LOCATIONS
NEAR AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE-44 WHICH ARE CLOSER TO DEPARTING
MID-LEVEL JET SEGMENT. PREDOMINANT PRECIP TYPE WILL BE IN THE FORM
OF SNOW FLURRIES.
FORECAST NUMBERS WILL CONTINUE TO BE BELOW GUIDANCE VALUES ALTHOUGH
WE WILL MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS UPWARD...ESPECIALLY SOUTHERN THIRD OF
OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS. MAJORITY OF FORECAST PRIMARILY BASED OFF
OF NAM AND ECMWF...WHICH APPEAR TO BE LESS AGGRESSIVE AT ERODING COLD
AIR. MAIN TIME PERIODS OF CONCERN WILL BE LATE TONIGHT/TUESDAY AND
AGAIN LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH RELATIVELY STRONG WAA.
DURING THESE TIME FRAMES...WE WILL BE LOOKING AT ENHANCED CHANCES
FOR ACCUMULATING PRECIPITATION...WHICH BASED ON FORECAST
SOUNDINGS...WILL PRIMARILY BE FREEZING DRIZZLE...FREEZING
RAIN...AND SLEET. ECMWF CONTINUES TO BE SLOWER AT EJECTING UPPER
SYSTEM FROM MEAN TROUGH INTO SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS. ECMWF
WANTS TO BRING CORE OF SYSTEM INTO THE REGION THURSDAY/THURSDAY
NIGHT...WITH THE GFS BRINGING SYSTEM WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY.
IT WILL BE CRITICAL ON HOW MUCH WARMING CAN BE REALIZED...AND WITH
THE FAVORED SLOWER SOLUTION OF THE ECMWF...WE WILL HAVE MORE TIME
FOR SOME BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPERATURE RECOVERY. AT THIS
TIME...SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST LOOK OKAY AS FAR AS A QUICK
TRANSITION TO ALL LIQUID PRECIPITATION. THE FARTHER NORTH YOU
GO... THE MORE CONCERN FOR ACCUMULATING ICE. LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS
ARE CURRENTLY FORECAST...BUT WE WILL NEED TO WATCH MID-WEEK CLOSELY.
TOWARD NEXT SATURDAY BOTH ECMWF/GFS POINT TO ANOTHER FAIRLY
SIGNIFICANT ARCTIC INTRUSION...SIMILAR TO THE ONE SEEN YESTERDAY.
AGAIN...TEMPS WILL BE FORECAST WELL BELOW CURRENT GUIDANCE.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK 26 15 31 23 / 10 10 10 10
HOBART OK 25 11 33 27 / 10 10 10 0
WICHITA FALLS TX 30 18 37 32 / 10 10 10 10
GAGE OK 19 10 28 18 / 10 10 0 0
PONCA CITY OK 21 13 26 17 / 10 10 20 10
DURANT OK 31 20 36 31 / 10 10 20 10
&&
.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM CST THIS MORNING FOR OKZ004>018-
021-022.
TX...NONE.
&&
23/11HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1220 AM CST MON DEC 15 2008
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-151300-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-
ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-
WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-
POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-
COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-
CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-
WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
1220 AM CST MON DEC 15 2008
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED.
DISCUSSION...
INSTABILITY IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE SUFFICIENT FOR THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT.
PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CST MONDAY DEC 15.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...ZERO.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS FOR PARTS OF
THE AREA. THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND COLD TEMPERATURES WILL
ALSO RESULT IN WIND CHILL READINGS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND LOWER
TEENS OVER MOST OF REGION...WITH VALUES AS LOW AS 10 BELOW ZERO
ACROSS NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA. REFER TO OUR WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.
A VERY LIGHT WINTRY MIX WILL OCCUR OVER NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
VERY COLD WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. WIND CHILLS
ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE TEENS AND SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS THE AREA
MONDAY AFTERNOON...WITH WIND CHILLS AT OR BELOW ZERO DEGREES
EXPECTED MONDAY NIGHT ACROSS APPROXIMATELY THE NORTHWEST THIRD OF
OKLAHOMA. MAINLY FREEZING DRIZZLE AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL BE
POSSIBLE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT ACROSS PARTS OF THE AREA. SOME ICE
ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE...WHICH MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR
TRAVELERS. HOWEVER... NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED AT
THIS TIME.
THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 7 AM
MONDAY.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Cars were sliding off of Highway 287 between Henrietta and Bellevue. No injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 2008
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: 147899.