State Officials: Be Prepared To 'Hunker Down' If Winter Storm Hits

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK --  A major winter storm is heading to Oklahoma and will most likely hit the state Thursday and into Friday with significant amounts of ice, sleet and snow.  

"Total accumulations are still subject to change, but could be on the order of 12+ inches wherever that heaviest snow band sets up," said Dick Faurot, News On 6 Meteorologist.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Thursday morning through Friday morning for almost the entire state. 

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, along with State Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood, spoke at a news conference at the state capitol Tuesday afternoon. 

Governor Henry says residents need to be prepared if forecasters are right about this winter storm. 

Albert Ashwood says the state is getting prepared if the storm hits. He says they are pre-positioning resources across the state so they will be able to address emergencies when they happen.

ODOT crews are prepping salt and sand trucks and making any necessary tune-ups to vehicles, which they report will be loaded by Wednesday. There are 500 trucks available statewide during weather event operations. 

Following the Christmas blizzard in 2009, ODOT restocked storage sheds statewide, which are at capacity with 130,000 tons of sand and salt and 121 tons of magnesium chloride, an additional ice fighter.

The News On 6 WARN team is keeping an eye on the latest data as the storm moves off the Pacific into southern California. 

As the storm moves east and cold air from Canada moves south, there is a strong likelihood of freezing rain and ice that may lead to some power issues across portions of the state on Thursday morning. 

At this time, the exact track of the freezing rain and accumulating ice forecast is still not certain, but the potential for accumulation from a quarter to possibly a half an inch is moderate. 

Freezing rain will eventually transition into sleet Thursday afternoon and then to snow Thursday afternoon and evening before ending Friday morning.

"The best piece of advice I can give right now is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  This promises to be a very wet system with total precipitation amounts on the order of 2-4 inches by the time it is all said and done, the only question is how much is liquid, ice and snow," Dick Faurot said.

Early indications are areas of northern Oklahoma could see 12+ inches of snow. Snowfall near Tulsa could be from 8 inches to more than a foot.   

Areas south and east of Tulsa will have lesser amounts of snow.

The watch applies to the following counties:

• In Oklahoma:
  • CHEROKEE.ADAIR.CREEK.OKFUSKEE.OKMULGEE. WAGONER.TULSA.ROGERS.MAYES.DELAWARE.SEQUOYAH. WASHINGTON.OSAGE.CRAIG.NOWATA.PAWNEE.OTTAWA.MCINTOSH AND MUSKOGEE
• In Arkansas:
  • WASHINGTON.MADISON.BENTON AND CARROLL

You can track weather with WARN Interactive Radar and get safety tips in our Storm Zone Section.

You can get the latest WARN Team forecast in the NewsOn6.com Weather section.

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