A strong upper level low pressure system moved from Baja California into the Southern Rockies on the 28th and into the Southern Plains on the 29th. Rain changed to freezing rain and sleet during the morning and early afternoon of the 28th.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 TSA wrote it up.
A strong upper level low pressure system moved from Baja California into the Southern Rockies on the 28th and into the Southern Plains on the 29th. Rain changed to freezing rain and sleet during the morning and early afternoon of the 28th. The freezing rain resulted in 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch of glaze across much of northwest Arkansas. As the upper low neared the region on the 29th, the precipitation changed to snow with more than 4 inches falling generally north of a McAlester to Fort Smith line. Up to 8 inches of snow fell across portions of northwest Arkansas by the evening of the 29th. Many automobile accidents occurred across the area as a result of the icy conditions, which resulted in numerous indirect injuries.
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 Jan 28, 12:06 PM CST, 54 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
515 AM CST THU JAN 28 2010
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-282315-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
515 AM CST THU JAN 28 2010
...DANGEROUS ICE AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS
NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...
THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
FLASH FLOOD.
RISK...LIMITED.
AREA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
ONSET...THIS EVENING.
HEAVY RAIN.
RISK...LIMITED.
AREA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
ONSET...THIS EVENING.
THUNDERSTORMS WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
RISK...LIMITED.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...THIS EVENING.
WINTER WEATHER.
SNOW ACCUMULATION.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...NORTHWEST OF INTERSTATE 44.
ONSET...TONIGHT.
ADDITIONAL LIGHTER ACCUMULATIONS TOMORROW EVENING.
ICE ACCUMULATION.
RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
ONSET...MID TO LATE MORNING.
DISCUSSION...
LIGHT RAIN CONTINUES TO DEVELOP ACROSS MAINLY SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...
JUST BEHIND A COLD FRONT WHICH HAS MOVED THROUGH THE ENTIRE REGION
THIS MORNING. PRECIPITATION THAT CONTINUES ACROSS THESE AREAS
WILL REMAIN LIQUID AS THE COLDER AIR WILL LAG SOME AND WILL NOT
LOWER SURFACE TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING.
FURTHER NORTH...TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO FALL DURING THE
DAY ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...AND AS THE
SYSTEM DRAWS CLOSER AND THE FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH IT
INTENSIFY... PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO OVERSPREAD THE REMAINDER
OF THE AREA IN THE FORM OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET BY THIS
AFTERNOON. BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES WILL BE THE FIRST TO FREEZE AS
CONDITIONS DETERIORATE. SIGNIFICANT ICE AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS
ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS ARE
LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS CAN BE
EXPECTED WITH ICE ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH
ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS. THE HEAVIEST ICING
CONDITIONS REMAINS EXPECTED IN A BAND ROUGHLY FROM THE INTERSTATE
44 CORRIDOR IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA TO ROUGHLY 30 TO 40 MILES TO THE
SOUTHEAST....CATCHING NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WITH AMOUNTS CLOSER TO A
HALF INCH. TRAVEL WILL BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS...IF NOT
IMPOSSIBLE.
ADDITIONALLY... HEAVIER SNOW TOTALS SNOW ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT
ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF INTERSTATE 44. 4 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH
THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ALONG THE KANSAS BORDER.
ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...WHERE LIQUID PRECIPITATION IS
EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT...A LIMITED HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING
POTENTIAL WILL EXIST WITH RAINFALL THAT ACCOMPANIES
THUNDERSTORMS.
ACTION STATEMENT...
PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE COMPLETED FOR THE IMPACTS OF A SEVERE
WINTER STORM... INCLUDING THE POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD POWER
OUTAGES AND DAMAGE TO UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
FRIDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL.
SATURDAY...DANGEROUS WIND CHILL POTENTIAL.
SUNDAY...DANGEROUS WIND CHILL POTENTIAL.
MONDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL.
TUESDAY...NO HAZARDS.
WEDNESDAY...NO HAZARDS.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
MOST OF THE AREA WILL SEE ALL SNOW ON FRIDAY AS THE COLDER AIR ON
THE BACKSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM DEEPENS. THE NOTABLE EXCEPTION BEING FAR
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...WHERE JUST ENOUGH WARM AIR AT THE SURFACE AND
ALOFT WILL PROMOTE A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW. ADDITIONAL LIGHTER SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...WITH THE PRECIPITATION ENDING ACROSS NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS FRIDAY EVENING.
ADDITIONALLY...VERY COLD TEMPERATURES IN THE WAKE OF THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL
AGGRAVATE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THIS STORM. TRAVEL ACROSS NORTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WILL BE TREACHEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE
DESPITE THE PRECIPITATION HAVING ENDED.
A WEAK SYSTEM QUICKLY MOVING THROUGH MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT MAY
OFFER A RAIN AND SNOW MIX. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER ANTICIPATED TUESDAY
AND WEDNESDAY.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING STATEMENT...
ANTICIPATE RESPONSES TO THIS WINTER STORM TO CONTINUE...AND WILL BE
ONLY EXACERBATED BY THE SEVERITY OF DAMAGE DONE TO POWER GRIDS.
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.<!doctype html>
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
One quarter to three quarters of an inch of glaze occurred along with six to eight inches of snow.
One quarter to three quarters of an inch of glaze occurred along with six to eight inches of snow.
One quarter to three quarters of an inch of glaze occurred along with six to eight inches of snow.
One quarter to three quarters of an inch of glaze occurred across the northern portion of the county. Four to seven inches of snow fell across the county.
One quarter to three quarters of an inch of glaze occurred along with six to eight inches of snow.
One quarter to three quarters of an inch of glaze occurred across the northern portion of the county. Four to seven inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, January 2010
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: 213139, 213140, 213141, 213144, 213142, 213143, 213145.