A winter storm brought a wintry mix to central Oklahoma, with a narrow band of heavy snowfall across portions of northwest Oklahoma.
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 OUN wrote it up.
A winter storm brought a wintry mix to central Oklahoma, with a narrow band of heavy snowfall across portions of northwest 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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 18, 10:49 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Norman OK
1049 PM CST Mon Feb 18 2019
.AVIATION...
TAFs 1906/2006...
VFR ceilings will prevail through at least 12-14Z with a breezy
northeast wind. As precipitation overspreads Oklahoma and western
north Texas, ceilings will become MVFR at most sites (by 18Z).
With the exception of SPS, most of the precipitation will be snow
and sleet during the late morning and early/mid afternoon. As mid-
level drying occurs, freezing rain and or drizzle is expected.
Ceilings should lower to IFR by mid afternoon and may last through
6Z Wednesday. Snow may reduce visibility to below 1 mile during
the early to mid afternoon.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 538 PM CST Mon Feb 18 2019/
AVIATION...
Light returns associated with an area of mid-level clouds,
will continue northeast through the evening. Mid clouds will
again increase overnight through early Tuesday as forcing
increases ahead of a trough to the west. By mid to late morning,
precipitation will begin, mainly in the form of snow, sleet and
some freezing rain. As mid-level drying occurs and or warming at
lower levels, some light freezing rain/drizzle may become the
predominant precipitation type by late Tuesday afternoon. It's
possible that mainly freezing rain will occur at SPS through the
event.
MVFR ceilings Tuesday morning should lower to IFR Tuesday
afternoon. Snow will certainly lower visibility to at least 1 to
2 miles at times perhaps lower.
PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 347 PM CST Mon Feb 18 2019/
DISCUSSION...
Main forecast challenge this period focuses on winter weather
expected tomorrow into tomorrow night. Overall, models have been
fairly consistent in showing a quick shot of strong warm air
advection in mid levels that will move northward across the area
late tomorrow morning into tomorrow afternoon. This will likely be
when most areas receive the bulk of their precipitation totals,
but exactly what form precipitation falls in is, as usual,
somewhat uncertain at this point. Forecast soundings show the
strongest warm nose up around 750 mb, with temperatures in this
layer above freezing most areas except across northwest OK. A
deep subfreezing layer is then shown below this layer for most
areas outside of southeast OK. Altogether this would suggest
mostly snow across northwest Oklahoma with this initial wave, a
mix of sleet and freezing rain for areas near and southeast of the
I-44 corridor, with mainly rain for southeast OK and portions of
our northwest Texas counties. After this initial wave of
precipitation, models then show drying within the dendritic
growth zone later tomorrow afternoon as a dry slot works into the
area. This would suggest most locations would transition to either
drizzle or freezing drizzle tomorrow afternoon into the evening,
depending on surface temperatures.
As far as forecast totals, model QPF is generally light, with
widespread 0.10-0.25" amounts across western and central OK and 0.25-
0.50" across southeastern OK. As of now it appears the subfreezing
temperatures will avoid the area of heaviest precipitation across
southeast OK, keeping wintry precip totals light but still enough to
cause significant travel disruption, especially for areas that see
ice. We are forecasting snow totals of 1-3" for northwest Oklahoma
down to a trace of snow along the I-44 corridor. Ice amounts could
reach near a tenth of an inch along the I-44 corridor, with a trace
to close to 0.05" of ice accretion to the southeast of this zone.
Uncertainty still remains regarding exact totals as a few degrees
difference in temperatures aloft or at the surface could have
significant impacts on snow/ice amounts. Greatest uncertainty is
across the I-44 corridor where a slightly less pronounced warm
nose could result in more snow and less ice than currently
forecast. Likewise, areas across southeast Oklahoma will be right
around the freezing mark and slightly cooler surface temperatures
than forecast would mean higher ice totals. Either way, travel
impacts should be expected beginning late tomorrow morning, and
the evening commute will likely be very messy. All of the
precipitation should be clear of the region around or slightly
after midnight, with temperatures remaining in the 20s and 30s for
lows.
After this system moves out, western troughing looks to reload
bringing another system towards the area Friday into Saturday. This
system looks warmer and expect all liquid precipitation this time
around. Forecast soundings show some CAPE as well, so included a
mention of thunder during the day on Saturday. A few strong storms
may be possible but for now it looks like the greater threat for
this will be east of our area. Expect temperatures to exhibit a
warming trend as the system approaches, with many areas seeing 60s
for highs by Saturday. Temperatures don't look to cool much
behind this system, with highs remaining in the 50s and 60s.
Ware
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Oklahoma City OK 25 30 25 43 / 0 80 60 0
Hobart OK 23 30 22 47 / 0 60 40 0
Wichita Falls TX 30 34 29 54 / 10 90 20 0
Gage OK 15 26 17 40 / 0 50 60 0
Ponca City OK 22 31 25 37 / 0 80 80 10
Durant OK 32 36 31 52 / 0 90 40 0
&&
.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...Winter Weather Advisory from 6 AM Tuesday to midnight CST
Tuesday night for OKZ004>042-044>046.
TX...Winter Weather Advisory from 6 AM Tuesday to midnight CST
Tuesday night for TXZ083>090.
&&Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Norman OK 1148 AM CST Mon Feb 18 2019 OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-191800- 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- 1148 AM CST Mon Feb 18 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of northern... western...central...and southern Oklahoma...and western north Texas. .DAY ONE...Through Tonight... No hazardous weather is expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday... .Winter Weather... Snow, sleet, freezing rain, and freezing drizzle will be possible Tuesday across portions of Oklahoma and western north Texas. Snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches will be possible across portions of western and northern Oklahoma. Ice accumulations of up to a tenth of an inch are possible. The highest amounts currently are expected along and near the Interstate 44 corridor from near Lawton to Oklahoma City and Chandler. The accumulations could lead to some impacts across the parts of the area, including slick roadways. Uncertainties with locations and amounts remain, so check for the latest forecast. .Thunderstorms... A storm system will bring a chance of thunderstorms to the area Saturday. A few strong storms will be possible. Get graphics and more details at weather.gov/norman...and follow our weather forecast office on Twitter and Facebook.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Maximum of 7.5 inches reported in Burlington within narrow band of heavy snow across northwest half of the county.
Maximum of 6.0 inches reported in Chester within narrow band of heavy snow across western half of the county.
Maximum of 5.0 inches reported in Alva within narrow band of heavy snow across eastern half of the county.
Maximum of 4.0 inches reported in Seiling and Taloga within narrow band of heavy snow across eastern half of the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, February 2019
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: 805375, 805377, 805378, 805379.