Oklahoma Crews Prepare Roads For Winter Storm

Snow, sleet, and freezing rain are expected to hit Green Country later this week.

This latest storm comes nearly one year after a historic winter cold lasted more than a week, leading to rolling power outages and tumultuous road conditions over Valentine's Day 2021.

On January 31, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Watch for Tuesday night through Thursday.

"That means over the next 36 hours, [we have] the potential for some winter weather impacts," said News On 6 Meteorologist, Alan Crone, during Monday's Noon broadcast. "We'll go from freezing rain to sleet into snow in the northern areas and primarily freezing rain across far southern Oklahoma."

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority said no matter what, it's ready for what this week will bring.

"We've got all our salt and sand sheds stocked at capacity. We've also been loading reserve trucks," said T.J. Gerlach with ODOT.

On January 31, crews with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation geared up 25 trucks with plows, salt and sand treatments.

The 25 trucks are used specifically to treat the Tulsa metro.

"In the Tulsa area, we've got three major salt and sand sheds. In those three sheds, we have about 6,000 tons of material ready to be applied to our roadways," added Gerlach.

While staffing shortages are plaguing many industries, Gerlach said both ODOT and OTA are almost at full capacity.

The salt and sand sheds are also stocked at full capacity, meaning there should be no issues when treating metro roads this week.

Meanwhile, EMSA is also gearing up for the winter weather.

Adam Paluka with EMSA said he's making sure crews are taken care of in advance.

"Making sure that we have hotel rooms ready so that if team members are going to work consecutive days, they don't have to drive all the way home," said Paluka.

EMSA expects to see more weather-related crashes and slip-and-fall calls this week.

Paluka said call volume isn't too bad during this type of weather, since most people choose to stay indoors and off area roads.

"We'll have the manageable crew levels that we would have on any other Wednesday or Thursday knowing full well there won't be as many people on the streets," added Paluka.

If an EMSA vehicle happens to come across a dicey street, long bridge, or steep incline, Paluka said crews will take alternate routes that are safer and only a few minutes longer.

"There's going to be certain roads and areas that we may avoid because they're treacherous," said Paluka.

To stay up to date with your city's latest weather this week, download the free News On 6 app.