Winter Storm in Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Four to six inches of snow fell across the county.

A strong upper level disturbance moved from the northwestern United States southeastward into the Southern Plains on the 8th and 9th. Snow developed across the region during the evening hours of the 8th and continued through the 9th. Widespread light to moderate snow fell across eastern Oklahoma and bands of very heavy snow developed.

Much of northeastern Oklahoma received more than a foot of snow while portions of far northeastern Oklahoma picked up about two feet of snow. The NWS Cooperative Observer measured 27 inches of snow in about nineteen hours from this storm. This measurement breaks the state 24-hour snowfall record. Many roads were impassable as blowing and drifting snow resulted in two to four foot snow drifts.

Record cold followed this storm with temperatures falling well below zero degrees Fahrenheit on the morning of the 10th. The Oklahoma Mesonet station near Nowata measured -31 degrees Fahrenheit, a reading that breaks the all-time state minimum temperature record. A 56-year-old died of hypothermia near Beggs in Okmulgee County when his vehicle became stranded in a snow bank on a rural road.