In this Jan. 7 file photo, snowshoers head out on a trek at the Paradise area of Mount Raininer National Park. ELAINE THOMPSON/AP File Photo
A submerged Chevy Tahoe sits submerged in high water Wednesday in Dallas. A woman was safely rescued from the vehicle. Rainstorms and strong winds across parts of Texas have left thousands of people without electricity and facing the threat of worse conditions. LM OTERO/AP Photo
In a nutshell, last week's weather was really active nationwide.
Let's start in one corner of the country and meander our way back to Tulsa:
Seattle snow
A winter storm caused more than a quarter-million Pacific Northwest region customers to be without power mostly in Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, according to a Saturday Associated Press report.
According to the Seattle National Weather Service, the Seattle-Tacoma area received more than 7 inches of snow on Jan. 18-19, with an additional 2.5 inches on Jan. 15-16.
On nearby Mount Rainer (a two-hour drive from Seattle), the Associated Press reported Monday that crews were searching for four missing people, as 60 mph winds, white-out conditions and snow depths between 10 and 15 feet made conditions dangerous.
"If you're in the mountains, you have to give these winter storms their due respect," said Paul Baugher, ski patrol director at Crystal Mountain who has been involved in about 100 search and rescues on Rainier, in an AP interview.
In all, the storm cost Seattle $1.35 million of its $2.2 million annual snow budget, which included 55,000 gallons of salt, along with labor and equipment costs, the AP reports.
NFC Championship downpour
Anyone else feel jealous when you saw those San Francisco 49er and New York Giant fans at Candlestick Park getting drenched during the NFC Championship football game Sunday?
According to the weather service, San Francisco received 1.84 inches of rain on Sunday, just two days after getting 2.77 inches of rain. So far this month, San Francisco has received nearly 7 inches of rain, more than an inch about normal.
Oklahoma's own Emmy and Tony winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth was singing the National Anthem before the rain game. To see a video of her rainy performance and more info, check out Kim Brown's Pop blog entry
here.
Tornadoes in Alabama and Texas
The AP reported that at least six different tornadoes skipped across central Alabama on Monday, causing damage across a wide area.
As of Tuesday, and keeping in mind that new information can change tornado classifications, the strongest of the six was an EF-3 that struck St. Clair, with maximum winds of 150 mph, according to the weather service. Two were killed and more than 100 injured, according to AP reports.
But even more recently, at least three tornadoes hit Wednesday in Texas, according to AP reports.
Record amounts of rain - more than 5 inches in some areas of Austin, drenched and flooded the state that's seen almost, if not more, drought problems than Oklahoma during the past year.
"Certainly, it's not a drought-buster. We have a long way to go to dig out of a big hole," said Clay Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service for the Austin and San Antonio region, as quoted by the AP.
Information is still fairly new, so it's not certain what the magnitude of these reported tornadoes were, or if there were more (or less) than three. However, as it stands now, the weather service reports these three:
- 60 miles northwest of Houston
- Somerville (just south of College Station)
- Waller County (just northwest of Houston, between College Station and Houston)
According to the AP, the weather service also sent experts near San Antonio to determine if a tornado touched down overnight.
The most rain from the storm was reportedly in Texas' Caldwell County, with 9.3 inches in Uhland, according to the weather service.
Tulsa and statewide rain
Yes, we actually got honest to goodness rain this morning and Tuesday night in Tulsa. Tulsa received 0.07 of an inch Tuesday night and 0.52 of an inch as of 9 a.m. today, still putting us below our normal monthly totals.
Here is a statewide map of our 24-hour rainfall, as of 2:40 p.m. today:
Our state's lowest rainfalls look to be Copan in north-central Oklahoma and Freedom just outside the Panhandle in northwest Oklahoma (0.02 each), while the haves in the downpour were in the southeast: Lane (4.6), Durant (4.54), Clayton (4.22), and Mt. Herman (4.38).
In a nutshell, the closer you are to the east, and especially the southeast, the more rain your area received in this state.
Alas, that means that the parched Oklahoma Panhandle, part of which is still classified D4 for exceptional drought, was left without any rainfall.
I'll provide an update on the tornadoes and drought situation Thursday.
--Althea Peterson
