Ice Storm- OK/MO/AR/TX/KY

[David Reimer]

This coming in from Fort Worth.

EVENT TOTAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY AVERAGE
A 1/2 AN INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS REACHING AN INCH. THERE IS
DEFINITELY THE POTENTIAL FOR A SIGNIFICANT ICING EVENT ACROSS
PORTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS AND RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE THE APPROPRIATE
PRECAUTIONS.

 

[Jason Bolt]

Well it looked to me and to SGF that our area would start w/ IP around 3pm. We started w/ ZR instead. In less than an hour there is a decent glaze on all surfaces.

I guess I'm the opposite of all the people who have giddily posted regionally biased forecasts of apocalypse for their locale. You can have it. I was hoping for a couple pellets and still having my electricity to watch Jim Cantore tell me all about it. Did the two weeks w/o power thing last year, don't want to do it again. Electricity is nice!

 

[Todd Friskey]

Reports that emergency crews are working a fatal crash accident in SW Missouri (source: KOAM-TV). I do not know yet if this is a result of the freezing rain we are getting here, I would assume? For about two minutes at my house, sleet came down heavy. I was really hoping for a snow event.

 

[Andrew Francis]

Those returns in SW missouri, is that from the radar picking up sleet, or is that embedded thundershowers of FRZ?

 

[Todd Friskey]

It has been primarily light to moderate sleet in the Joplin. MO area.
FYI, reports that I-44 is closed heading westbound near the Jasper and Newton county line.

 

[filasntiels]

We have a coating of ice now. It has been a light steady freezing rain all evening. There are accidents being reported all over.

 

[Andrew Francis]

Seems like this storm is really picking up speed. It is shoving all of the precip off to the north east pretty quickly. Earlier forecasts were saying bulk of precip to hit tonight (central OK) - and per-radar it looks like the back edge of the low is already in western OK. Is this correct?

 

[Brian Hurst]

So far roads have become very slick with freezing rain lot of wreaks in the Branson Missouri area on hwy 65 several 18 wheelers jackknifed. Seems to swiched to sleet and snow pellets, as of now hopefully cold air is working in.

 

[Brendon Lindsey]

Here in Tahlequah... It moderately rained for about an hour and has been constant mist since then... Was 30 degrees now 32 hope 32 is enough for it to freeze... Ice is starting to accumulate... I hope the precip coming from OKC tends to Intensify like everything now east of here is... Arkansas will probably end up declaring Disaster zone... Looks pretty bad over there... must be nice to get all the action =/

 

[Steve Miller]

OKC is pretty much shut down now with exception of a few folks still trying to get home from work. Restaurants (fast food included) are closed all around Moore and driving is very difficult, four-wheel drive or not.

I was out sending a live stream earlier in a bank parking lot and, after stopping completely, noticed I was sliding sideways down the parking lot due to a light gust of wind. It's slick out there.

 

[Heidi Farrar]

We're working on 1/4" of sleet/freezing rain here. Thankfully most of it has been sleet, with a heavier dose of it over the last hour or so. It is beginning to turn more toward freezing rain though. I am not really looking forward to a massive power outage if we get an inch of freezing rain -- check out the email sent out by our electric co-op to its members this afternoon:

The weather forecasters seem to be in agreement that there is a good chance of a significant ice storm for North Arkansas, in particular – all the areas served by North Arkansas Electric Cooperative. They do however disagree somewhat on the amount of ice accumulations, with predictions ranging from .5 inch to 1.5 inches. The latest word we have from the National Weather Service is that the precipitation will begin late this evening, and continue through the night into tomorrow.
Engineers design our systems to withstand a .5 inch layer of ice @ winds of 40mph . At that level and beyond we begin to see widespread problems. Anything approaching an inch or more………. we will see major problems, with significant structural damage to the electric distribution system resulting in outages lasting days (or longer depending on the coverage).
This morning North Arkansas Electric Cooperative is making preparations for the worst case scenario, including contacting cooperatives in south Arkansas to have crews on standby to assist us. These crews will be underway at the first sign of a major ice event.
At this time we are hoping for the best, but planning for the worst. We urge all cooperative members and area residents to be equally as prepared, especially for lengthy, sustained power outages. ...
Again, we are in full alert mode awaiting whatever cards the weather deals us. We hope it’s only an exercise, but will be ready to respond to our members needs.
Thanks for your assistance.
Mel Coleman
CEO, North Arkansas Electric Cooperative

 

[filasntiels]

I cannot really tell what is falling here, feels like rain, yet the ground crunches like pellets. There is some traffic on 60, but not much.

 

[Jeff Richardson]

I cannot really tell what is falling here, feels like rain, yet the ground crunches like pellets. There is some traffic on 60, but not much.

It sounds like what we've been getting for about six hours here in northeastern OK...freezing rain. Just came in from the backyard and could feel liquid precipitation hitting me while the grass crunched under my feet. Even more ominous was the "creaking" sound made by ice covered tree limbs near my house. Hope they hold up because I'm not ready for another nasty mess like we had here in Dec. '07!

 

[Jason Young]

It is odd , Rain and mist all day . Oklahoma Mesonet say's we are 29 . Roads and grass are still just wet . Maybe I will be lucky this time around.

 

[Angie Norris]

Currently precip free here in Norman, but we're progged for another 0.1" or so. There's still a few cars out and about on Hwy 9, but the pavement has that nice, reflective coating (as does the parking lot here at my place). Classes have already been cancelled at OU again tomorrow , and I have no intention of going outside for anything.
Anyone who does go out, BE CAREFUL! Puddles are especially deceptive (as my posterior area discovered this morning ).