Oklahoma Winter Storm (Ice, Sleet, Snow)

This interactive tool shows normal (1991-2020) annual and monthly snowfall, average annual number of days with snow totals at certain thresholds, average first and last snow date, and record 1-day snowfall. The map displays normal values while the graph below it shows the variable by year.

1. Position map to area of interest or choose OK in the State Selection drop-down menu on the right. 2. On the top of the screen, select a variable you’re interested in (e.g., Annual Snowfall). Some variables have options on the right side of the screen to select, such as a month to display for monthly snowfall or a snow threshold. 3. For most variables, the map displays the normal/average value for the variable you selected. For Record 1-Day Snowfall, it shows the record value at each point. The legend for the colored points is on the top-right side of the screen. 4. The graph below the map shows more details, such as the values per year instead of an average. Note: The map default shows stations with data from at least 1991-2020. If you’d like to see longer time frames, you can move the slider under the Data Available Since option on the right. When you select a different start year, it will only show stations with available data.

This interactive static map shows the 1-Day, 2-Day, and 3-Day snowfall maximums by county.

1. Select the day(s) of interest on the top right side of the map. 2. Mouse over county of interest for information on the maximum snowfall event on record. 3. A table below the map shows location (by county and station), date of event, and snowfall total details.

This page includes information about ice storms, including frequency maps of the average annual number of days and hours with freezing rain. Other resources and information, such as preparedness actions, are provided as well.

1. Under the webpage’s heading, click the Frequency tab or scroll down until you reach the section The Frequency of Freezing Rain. 2. View the top map for the average annual number of days with freezing rain from 1948-2000 or the bottom map for the annual average number of hours with freezing rain from 1932-2001. Note: These maps were derived from the journal articles Changnon and Karl (2003) and Changnon (2004). Changnon and Karl (2003) is an open access article and can be found here for further information.

This site provides climate summaries for each county in Oklahoma. Browse the county-level documents for average and extreme climate statistics for multiple climate hazards, including snowfall.

1. Click on a county of interest from the list. 2. In the Averages section under the precipitation table, view the average annual snowfall. 3. In the Records & Extremes section, view the greatest annual or daily snowfall. This section also provides the date in which the record or extreme occurred. Note: Unless noted, average/normal values are based on the 1991-2020 period. Read the footnotes to take into account other methodologies.

This is a figure within a scientific journal article. While the article includes complex scientific information about the meteorological processes behind ice storms, the analysis in Figure 1 shows a climatology of freezing rain and long-duration freezing rain events from 1979-2016 at stations across North America.

1. Scroll down to Figure 1, located in section 3. Regional climatology of long-duration freezing rain. 2. Click View full size under Figure 1 to enlarge the image. 3.  There are 4 maps, including a) median annual freezing rain hours, b) median annual LD (long-duration) freezing rain events, c) percentage of events that are LD (long-duration), and d) number of freezing rain events lasting at least 18 hours from 1979-2016. 4. Each dot on the map represents a weather station. You can view the station closest to your area or read below for a summary of the state.

Figure summary for Oklahoma: In map A, we see that Oklahoma experiences up to 20 hours of freezing rain per year. Map B indicates that some stations across central and western Oklahoma observed one long-duration freezing rain event (or an event lasting more than 6 hours) per year, while other areas of the state had none. Map C displays that up to 40% of freezing rain events in Oklahoma have a long duration. This varies by station, as seen by the range of colors. Teal and green colors represent the 20-40% range. Finally, map D indicates that Oklahoma has been a hotspot for freezing rain events lasting at least 18 hours from 1979-2016. Events of this duration are considered in the 99^th percentile, which is a rarity. Oklahoma City observed 9 events, and two other stations in central and northeast Oklahoma had 6-8 events. Overall, this figure shows that many stations in Oklahoma observe few hours of freezing rain per year; however, there are more frequent 18+ hour events than other areas of North America. This impacts travel, energy, infrastructure, and health.