Central OK spared from the brunt of storm
A winter storm that brought with it freezing precipitation is expected to bring heavy rain to central Oklahoma as temperatures rise to the upper 40s by Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported.
Despite the possibility of widespread power outages due to ice from freezing rain, much of the Oklahoma City metro area was left relatively unscathed.
Oklahoma City spokeswoman Kristy Yager said the city scaled back the number of sand and salt trucks and personnel Saturday afternoon as the National Weather Service was forecasting above-freezing temperatures overnight.
“We got very lucky in this situation. I really thought we were going to lose half of the city’s trees,” Yager said.
Representatives of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. reported to Yager that things had been “very quiet” with the storm, saying there had been few power outages.
Yager said the police and fire departments also reported fewer calls than expected from stormrelated incidents.
Yager said road crews will continue to monitor for slick spots on bridges and overpasses into Sunday. The city mobilized 30 trucks and about 70 personnel during the storm, she said.
Sporadic power outages were reported by OG&E, including one in Norman early Saturday morning that temporarily left more than 1,630 customers without power.
Icy spots in the metro area led to a number of wrecks on city streets and highways Friday and Saturday as temperatures hovered just below freezing.
Western Oklahoma
Parts of western and northern Oklahoma took the brunt of the storm, where higher ice accumulations led to dangerous conditions along streets and highways.
Interstate 40 near Weatherford was shut down for several hours Saturday morning after a fatal wreck involving three tractor-trailers and a car.
Tractor-trailer driver Gideon Gachohi, 45, of Oklahoma City, died at the scene from his injuries, and two people in the car were injured in the wreck, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
Part of I-40 westbound in Caddo County was closed for more than two hours Saturday after several tractor-trailers jackknifed on icy roads, and part of State Highway 92, west of Norge in Grady County, was temporarily shut down from a jackknifed tractortrailer where the road was described as “solid ice,” according to trooper accident reports.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation reported isolated slick spots along highways in northeastern and central Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon. Crews were out across the state applying salt and sand along roadways.
All 77 counties in the state remained under a state of emergency Saturday following Gov. Mary Fallin’s declaration Thursday in anticipation of the winter storm.
The executive order allows state agencies to make emergency purchases related to disaster relief and preparedness and lasts for 30 days, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management
Freezing rain was forecast to end Saturday night in Oklahoma City, switching over to rain Sunday with a high temperature near 48 degrees, according to the weather service.
Showers and thunderstorms are forecast for Sunday afternoon and overnight into Monday, with wind gusts as high as 24 mph after midnight.