Southeastern Oklahoma hit with snow as rest of state digs out

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Snowy conditions hit the southeastern part of Oklahoma overnight causing school and road closures Tuesday. <br><br>A storm system moving eastward produced up to 8 inches of snow in

Tuesday, February 25th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Snowy conditions hit the southeastern part of Oklahoma overnight causing school and road closures Tuesday.

A storm system moving eastward produced up to 8 inches of snow in southeastern Oklahoma, which was spared from Sunday night's storm that caused injuries and accidents across the state.

Snow and ice in extreme southeastern Oklahoma shut down U.S. 259 from Broken Bow in McCurtain County to Big Cedar in Le Flore County.

Oklahoma Department of Transportation officials shut down the road Monday night and said it would remained closed until further notice. Several semi-trucks had slid off the snow-packed roadway.

While most Oklahomans stayed off the roads Monday night, officials worried that the Tuesday morning rush could get a little treacherous.

``It's not been that bad right now,'' said Robert Padgett with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in McAlester. ``Wait about seven hours and it's probably going to get a whole lot worse.''

No major injury accidents were reported, but there were several reports of semi-trucks sliding off the roads, Padgett said.

And with the temperatures dropping to the single digits overnight, road conditions weren't expected to improve.

Schools across Oklahoma closed Tuesday after a winter storm dumped up to a foot-and-a-half of snow over the weekend, packing streets with snow and ice.

In Tulsa, where 20.6 inches of snow has already fallen, the city has seen more snow so far than the usually blustery Chicago, said Derek Arndt, climatologist with the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.