An Arctic airmass became established across Oklahoma and north Texas late on the 21st. As a strong upper level storm system moved into the region, sufficient lift overspread the region to foster widespread light precipitation.
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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.
An Arctic airmass became established across Oklahoma and north Texas late on the 21st. As a strong upper level storm system moved into the region, sufficient lift overspread the region to foster widespread light precipitation. Most of the heavier snow remained north of the Red River, but a few locations across western north Texas saw a dusting to half inch of snow by the time the storm exited on the 22nd.
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 Jan 21, 11:38 PM CST, 3 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1138 PM CST WED JAN 21 2015
.DISCUSSION...
THE 06Z AVIATION DISCUSSION FOLLOWS....
&&
.AVIATION...
A NARROW STATIONARY BAND OF +SN AND RA EXTENDED FROM KELK TO KOKC
AND E LATE THIS EVENING. THIS BAND IS EXPECTED TO BECOME LESS
WELL-DEFINED AS IT DRIFTS SLOWLY S LATER TONIGHT. RA/SN IS LIKELY
OVER MOST OF OK...EXCEPT THE N-CENTRAL PART...AND N TX OVERNIGHT.
SOME OF THE RA WILL MIX WITH/CHANGE TO SN LATER TONIGHT...MAINLY
I-44 AND NW FROM THERE. THE MASS OF RA/SN IS EXPECTED TO CLEAR
GRADUALLY FROM THE N TOMORROW AS DRIER AIR ADVANCES S INTO OK. RA
SHOULD END IN THE KSPS AREA AROUND SUNSET. A GENERALLY IMPROVING
TREND IS EXPECTED TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND INTO THE NIGHT TOMORROW
NIGHT.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 851 PM CST WED JAN 21 2015/
UPDATE...
DOWNGRADED FOUR COUNTIES IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA FROM THE WINTER
STORM WARNING TO A WINTER WEATHER WEATHER ADVISORY AND LOWERED
SNOW TOTALS IN THESE LOCATIONS.
DISCUSSION...
APPEARS THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR NEAR I-40 WEST OF WEATHERFORD.
CONFIDENCE OF RAIN SWITCHING TO SNOW BEFORE PRECIPITATION ENDS
EARLY THURSDAY IS DECREASING SOUTHEAST OF AN ALTUS TO EL RENO TO
GUTHRIE LINE.
MADE THE CHANGES ABOVE THINKING THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE IN THE
FRONTOGENETIC BAND AROUND 800 MB NEARLY ALONG I-40 WEST OF
WEATHERFORD. THIS BAND CONTINUES TO HAVE THE HIGHEST
REFLECTIVITIES. STILL THINK A CORRIDOR OF 4 TO 6 INCHES MAY OCCUR
NEAR SAYRE AND ELK CITY. THINK ANY SNOWFALL NORTH OF THIS BAND
WILL BE RATHER LIGHT AND WELL BELOW WARNING CRITERIA OF 4 INCHES.
AM CONSIDERING REMOVING LOCATIONS NORTH OF A GAGE TO GUTHRIE LINE
FROM THE ADVISORY AS CONFIDENCE OF GETTING 1 INCH OR MORE OF SNOW
SEEMS TO BE QUITE LOW BASED ON LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE...
PARTICULARLY THE HRRR/RAP13.
PLAN TO KEEP THE ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR THE OKLAHOMA CITY...
LAWTON...AND WICHITA FALLS AREAS...THOUGH CONFIDENCE OF GETTING
1 INCH OR MORE MAY BE DECREASING AS LATEST RAP13/HRRR RUNS SUGGEST
WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS WILL STAY MAINLY ABOVE 1500 FT AGL WHICH
HINTS THAT A SWITCH OVER FROM RAIN TO SNOW MAY NOT OCCUR IN THESE
LOCATIONS BEFORE PRECIPITATION ENDS EARLY THURSDAY. WILL CLOSELY
MONITOR.
PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED.
MBS
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK 34 42 28 49 / 100 40 0 0
HOBART OK 32 37 24 46 / 100 50 10 0
WICHITA FALLS TX 35 39 30 49 / 100 80 30 10
GAGE OK 28 38 17 44 / 100 20 0 0
PONCA CITY OK 33 44 23 50 / 20 10 0 0
DURANT OK 36 43 33 49 / 100 90 30 10
&&
.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST THURSDAY FOR OKZ004-
009>011-015-017>019-023>025-027>030-035>040-044-045.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON CST THURSDAY FOR OKZ014-016-021-
022-033-034.
TX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST THURSDAY FOR TXZ083>090.
&&
17/23/23HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 530 PM CST WED JAN 21 2015 OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-222330- 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- 530 PM CST WED JAN 21 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN... WESTERN...CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... .WINTER WEATHER... ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL OCCUR TONIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OF 4 TO 6 INCHES...OR POSSIBLY A BIT MORE... CAN BE EXPECTED OVER FAR WESTERN OKLAHOMA NEAR THE TEXAS BORDER. LESSER AMOUNTS WILL OCCUR FARTHER EAST. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS NEAR THE OKLAHOMA CITY...LAWTON...AND WICHITA FALLS AREAS ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE AROUND AN INCH. WARM GROUND TEMPERATURES WILL ALLOW SNOW TO ACCUMULATE FOR SEVERAL HOURS ONLY ON GRASS OR ELEVATED SURFACES...BUT LATER TONIGHT...SNOW ACCUMULATION MAY OCCUR ON BARE GROUND AND ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY IN FAR WESTERN OKLAHOMA WHERE SNOW WILL BE HEAVIEST. PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN AS LIGHT RAIN ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA THIS EVENING...THEN TRANSITION TO SNOW WEST TO EAST THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... .WINTER WEATHER... SNOW WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MID-DAY THURSDAY. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS MAY OCCUR FROM CENTRAL THROUGH SOUTHERN AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA...AND NORTH TEXAS...THOUGH AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY BE LESS THAN AN INCH. GET GRAPHICS AND MORE DETAILS AT WEATHER.GOV/NORMAN...AND FOLLOW OUR WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. AUSTIN/MBS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow occurred during the morning hours of the 22nd. By the time snow had ended, up to a half inch had fallen in Quanah.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2015
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: 554311.