News - Blogs - So just kidding about that snow

So, just kidding about that snow
Published: 12/26/2012 3:40 PM
Last Modified: 12/26/2012 3:40 PM

Snow falls on the Mark Twain statue in Trinity Park in Fort Worth, Texas Christmas Day, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ben Noey Jr.)

We may have hoped for a white Christmas in Tulsa, but after talking to family and friends in central Arkansas, we probably dodged a bullet.

That’s me looking on the bright side of things. This storm showed just how difficult it can be to predict exactly where a band of snow will form and dump its wares until the event is actually occurring. Even up until Christmas Day, there was still a chance that some snow could fall in Tulsa.

But the low pressure system tracked a little further south than models even the day before showed. The result was snow, heavy at times, across northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma and southwest to northeast Arkansas.

It was still a significant storm, just not right here. These are those totals from the National Weather Service. Le Flore and McCurtain counties got the brunt in Oklahoma, with some places receiving 5 to 8 inches.

In Arkansas, there were blizzard warnings, a first for the Little Rock office. One friend of mine said her power was knocked out about 10 p.m. Christmas Day as wind blew the snow all over. Another friend who lives near the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock had also lost power (so I imagine she wasn’t without power for very long…). In total, more than 200,000 people were without electricity as temperatures fell across the state.

As much as I enjoy the idea of snow, especially on Christmas, I don’t enjoy it enough to spend the night trapped in a cold, dark, snow-blown residence.

Here are some photos that friends and family in Arkansas sent me.

This was in the snow in northwest Arkansas as if fell. From little brother Jake.

Snow on the ole homestead, 20 miles northeast(ish) of Fort Smith, from little brother Austin.

This is from near Mayflower, Ark., about 20 miles north of Little Rock. Rainey Gibson took the photo and said it’s about 7 inches. She was the one without power since 10. At least it’s beautiful.

This probably looks familiar to those who were here for our last blizzard. This kind of mess is for the birds. Thanks to Jacob Fluharty for the photo from Maumelle, Ark.

Snow contest update: Well, sorry Madison. It looked like your guess of snow on Christmas could have been on the right track until that low pressure track ruined your guess and Christmas. We are still waiting for our first snow and the total still sits at zero.

There are chances that could change, at least with some ice storm fun. But I think forecasters may be a little more reserved this time around before broadcasting their doomsday scenarios.

--Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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