A strong upper level disturbance moved from southwest Texas to northern Texas into northern Arkansas on the 4th. Snow developed into the area during the morning hours and continued into the evening hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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 disturbance moved from southwest Texas to northern Texas into northern Arkansas on the 4th. Snow developed into the area during the morning hours and continued into the evening hours. Some of this snow was moderate to heavy and resulted in bands of locally heavy accumulations of up to five inches across eastern Oklahoma.
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 3, 11:14 PM CST, 4 hours 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1114 PM CST THU FEB 3 2011 .AVIATION... CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KBVO/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM. CIGS BCMG MVFR AFT 12Z AS UPPER LOW OVER SWRN TX TRANSLATES NEWRD INTO NRN TX BY 18Z AND NRN AR BY 06Z. ALL TAF SITES SHOULD EXPERIENCE MVFR VSBYS IN SNOW 15Z-22Z...WITH OCCASIONAL IFR. PRECIP ENDS BY 00Z BUT MOST SITES WILL SEE MVFR CIGS PERSIST THROUGH END OF FORECAST. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 920 PM CST THU FEB 3 2011/ DISCUSSION... THE MID-LEVEL CLOUDS THAT HAVE INVADED THE AREA ARE WRECKING HAVOC ON THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TONIGHT. THE CLOUDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN PLACE OVERNIGHT. SO...I HAVE RAISED THE OVERNIGHT LOWS CONSIDERABLY IN SOME LOCATIONS. THE 00Z MET GUIDANCE SUPPORTS THIS MOVE. HAVE ALSO INCREASED POPS SLIGHTLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA FOR LATE TONIGHT AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER SOUTHWEST TEXAS IS BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED. THE NEW 00Z NAM ALSO SUGGESTS THAT SNOW AMOUNTS MAY BE HIGHER ON FRIDAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS THAN WE HAVE PREDICTED AT THIS TIME. WILL NOT MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...IF THE OTHER NEW GUIDANCE SUPPORTS THE NAM OUTPUT...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF THE AREA FOR FRIDAY. && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. AR...NONE. && SHORT TERM...10 LONG TERM....21 AVIATION...69
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 501 PM CST THU FEB 3 2011 ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-041100- 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- 501 PM CST THU FEB 3 2011 ...LIGHT SNOW LIKELY ON FRIDAY... THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. WINTER WEATHER. SNOW ACCUMULATION. RISK...LIMITED. AREA...FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. ONSET...LATE TONIGHT. WIND CHILL. RISK...ELEVATED. AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...TONIGHT. DISCUSSION... ANOTHER COLD NIGHT IS IN STORE...WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING OFF TO AROUND 0 TO -10 DEGREES ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. WHILE WINDS WILL BE LIGHT...WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DROP OFF TO AROUND -5 TO -10 ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW MAY MOVE INTO FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA LATE TONIGHT...AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING UPPER LOW. ANY ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING WILL BE LIGHT...GENERALLY LESS THAN A HALF INCH. SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. FRIDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL. SATURDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL...DANGEROUS WIND CHILL POTENTIAL. SUNDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL. MONDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL...DANGEROUS WIND CHILL POTENTIAL. TUESDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL...DANGEROUS WIND CHILL POTENTIAL. WEDNESDAY...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL...HIGH WIND POTENTIAL. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS ON FRIDAY...AND END FRIDAY EVENING AS THE UPPER LOW SHIFTS INTO SOUTHERN MISSOURI. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN LIGHT...GENERALLY AROUND AN INCH OR LESS. THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT...BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES MAY WARM ENOUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON TO ALLOW FOR A MIX WITH RAIN. YET ANOTHER UPPER DISTURBANCE IS FORECAST TO DROP INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. LATEST GUIDANCE HAS BEEN VARYING ON THE TRACK AND STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM...BUT THERE IS A REASONABLE CHANCE OF ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATING SNOW BY MID-WEEK. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING STATEMENT... STAY TUNED TO THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA. WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five inches of snow fell across the county.
Four to five 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 Oklahoma in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, February 2011
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: 286848, 286849, 286850, 286854, 286855, 286841, 286852, 286856, 286842, 286851, 286853, 286839, 286840, 286843, 286844, 286845, 286846, 286847.