What you need to know about this weekend’s winter storm

Ahead of this weekend’s winter storm, Rick Smith, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Norman Forecast Office, chatted with readers

Thursday about the forecast and road conditions.

He said three rounds of precipitation are expected with this storm. The first should start Friday and continue into the night with mainly light rain, which will turn to freezing rain.

But the most significant freezing rain is expected on Saturday, the same day the worst ice storm conditions are expected to occur over northern Oklahoma, Smith said.

Sunday, Oklahoma will receive more rain and even some thunderstorms, he said.

Here are a few highlights from Thursday’s NewsOK.com chat:

Q: What will the roads in OKC look like for the commute Friday morning and Friday afternoon?

A: Great question. I think we could have some slick roads for the morning and afternoon rush hour. We don’t expect a lot of rain, but even a little drizzle will make a mess of things, especially bridges and overpasses.

Q: How significant will the warmer temperatures this week play in maintaining the ground temperature during the upcoming potential ice storm?

A: I don’t think the warmer temps earlier this week will do much to help us with regard to icing. It doesn’t take long for exposed objects like bridges, trees and power lines to cool off, so while the warm ground may delay the icy roads a little longer, I don’t think it’s going to make that big of a difference.

Q: Rick, how much ice accumulation is necessary to begin breaking tree branches and causing issues with power lines?

A: Our very general criteria is one quarter of an inch of ice accumulation on trees/power lines. That’s much different than .25 inch of rain. It may take one inch of rain to produce .25 inch of radial ice accumulation on trees and power lines.

Q: How does this storm compare to those in 2001 and 2002 in central west Oklahoma?

A: I never like to compare storms since every one is so completely different. For parts of northwest and north-central OK, this one has the potential to be significant, with some areas getting enough ice to cause tree damage and power outages.

Q: Do you see travel problems easing up Sunday since it will be warmer?

A: Sunday should be a much better travel day for most of the area (except maybe for far northern Oklahoma) as temperatures warm well above freezing.

Q: With the latest data, what is the current prediction of the location of the freezing line?

A: That’s the million dollar question. Right now, we think the freezing line will be somewhere from near Seminole to Lawton to Quanah, Texas, much of the day on Friday. By Saturday, it should lift to somewhere along a line from Stillwater to Anadarko to Altus.