Oklahoma Severe Weather Discussion - March 2012

[venture]

Several fires out there right now. Wind shift coming through now will redirect them.

[sacolton]

I can't believe we made it out of winter with nary a ice/blizzard storm. Just a fine dusting of snow that didn't last more than a day.

Hope I didn't just jinx it.

[OKCisOK4me]

The chances of a blizzard do go into March. My freshman year of high school (March of 94) we had 10" or so. It was much warmer the following day and it didn't take long for it to melt.

[Jim Kyle]

And Stillwater had a blizzard around March 17 of 1931. The worst snowstorm I can personally recall was around 1937; drifts covered automobiles. It happened in mid-May!

[OKCisOK4me]

And Stillwater had a blizzard around March 17 of 1931.

Alright! Exactly 47 years before I was born...

[ou48A]

I remember this snow storm with 20ft snow drifts all to well. It covered up buildings and homes.
More than a few people had to ride horse’s for 2 to 3 weeks to get around. A lucky few had helicopters.

If this storm was a tornado or hurricane it would get a 5 on the cat or EF scale.
This 1971 extreme blizzard makes anything OKC has ever seen in many decades (perhaps ever) look like small child’s play.
Gary England even wrote a short book on this blizzard and I read it.

http://newsok.com/journal-entries-re...rticle/3346008

[venture]

Showers and storms will increase overnight. Slight risk of severe weather on Thursday, mainly south. Hail main threat. Be careful on the morning and PM commutes with a chance for heavy rain. Should make it fun. /sigh

[Roadhawg]

Luckily I have a 5 minute commute

[crimsoncrazy]

Just had about 5 to 10 minutes of really heavy sleet in far southwest okc. Enough to cover my deck.

[Jim Kyle]

Had the same near NW 122 and Council...

[adaniel]

Good to know I wasn't seeing things this morning.

Right now I'm in midtown and it is sleeting like crazy yet again.

[bandnerd]

Yeah, that was the big debate at school today: sleet or hail? It was between 10-10:30am near the Paseo. What say you, weather gurus? It was dang cold, I know that.

[swilki]

I drove through that and had the same thought this morning...my guess is sleet. Doesn't it have something to do with where (proximity to the ground) the water actually freezes??? Doesn't freezing rain technically exist too?

[venture]

The only way to really tell when it is that small is to take a piece and cut it in half. If it is has layers where it is has been circulated in the clouds, it is hail. If it is just an ice pellet then it is sleet. Yesterday around 10-11 was definitely just sleet. It was pretty big for sleet, but the water content was very high yesterday.

[bandnerd]

HA! I was right! Take that, administrators!!! Can you believe a parent actually called in while it was sleeting and told us we should call off school?

[venture]

That parent deserves to be kicked in the head.

[Roadhawg]

That parent deserves to be kicked in the head.

More than once

[MDot]

More than once

More than twice as well.

[OKCisOK4me]

HA! I was right! Take that, administrators!!! Can you believe a parent actually called in while it was sleeting and told us we should call off school?

They must be from Austin.

[bandnerd]

lol This is what parents are like these days. Over-reactive to say the least.

[BG918]

I haven't looked at the long-range models, any indication the pattern is changing to bring more unsettled weather to the Plains? I'm in Colorado and they are waiting for the pattern to shift that brings the mountains and front range most of their spring snowfall totals which often means severe weather for OK ahead of those systems.

[venture]

Waiting on the 12Z GFS to come in, but yes...severe weather does appear to start kicking up into full drive next week. March could definitely turn out to be a pretty rough over the next 2 weeks.

[venture]

Yes it was a warm one...4th overall. http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/art...r-than-average

[Snowman]

I haven't looked at the long-range models, any indication the pattern is changing to bring more unsettled weather to the Plains? I'm in Colorado and they are waiting for the pattern to shift that brings the mountains and front range most of their spring snowfall totals which often means severe weather for OK ahead of those systems.

I believe the national climate center said that multiple La Nina years like we are coming off generally will go either El Nino or another La Nina, not strait to a normal year. At this point I would rather have the extra rain from El Nino than another drought from a La Nina pattern.

[adaniel]

What's this about a potential gulley washer expected over the state next week?