View from OKC City Hall
Beautiful photo nabbed from city of Oklahoma City Twitter:
I-44 wreck snarling traffic
Staff Writer Dawn Marks reports on traffic: “There’s an accident on northbound I-44 just south of NW 10. Traffic is backed up to Interstate 40. The crash is in the middle of the road. There are many 10 police cars or more.”
You can read more about the crash here.
NewsOK is also streaming live video of the road, which closed down about an hour ago at 2:45 p.m.
OKC municipal court canceled
An announcement from the city of Oklahoma City:
“Presiding judge William Manger has canceled Wednesday’s municipal court sessions due to icy street conditions. Defendants will be notified of their new court date.
“The public counter will be open for those wanting to pay their fines in person. Payments can also be made by calling 297-2361 or logging on to www.okc.gov.”
NE OK advisory continues through 6 a.m.
More ice and sleet are on the way for eastern Oklahoma, according to an alert issued shortly after 2 p.m. by the National Weather Service.
Dangerous ice, sleet and snow are still falling throughout eastern Oklahoma. An ice storm warming remains in effect until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Affected Oklahoma counties are Adair, Choctaw, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, McIntosh, Pittsburg and Pushmataha.
Freezing rain and sleet are expected to continue through the day. Accumulations will be about 1/2 to 1 inch.
Travel is dangerous. More tree damage is expected. Thousands are without power, the National Weather Service reports.
News 9 sports caster in ICU after icy fall
N. OK District Court open tomorrow
The District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma will be open for business Wednesday, according to an announcement from office officials sent about 3 p.m. The offices were closed today.
OKC zoo closed today, tomorrow up in the air
The director of the Oklahoma City Zoo likely will announce early tomorrow morning whether the zoo will open Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.
The zoo is closed today, and non-essential staff aren’t coming to work, zoo spokeswoman Tara Henson said. However, some staff members still have to come to feed and care for the animals. Other info Henson said:
- The zoo closed early yesterday so staff had extra time to go home ahead of the winter weather.
- The ice isn’t so heavy that it’s breaking tree limbs. Broken trees and other horticulture is especially dangerous at a zoo. While the cleanup can be difficult and hazardous, broken tree limbs can provide an escape route over a fence. Damaged plants can also damage habitat fences.
- A few animals, such as sensitive bird species, are being kept inside.
- Other animals, particularly snow leopards, hoof-stock and and water fowl, are loving the cold temperatures.
- Zookeepers are spending more time with some animals who have limited outdoor time. They’re giving them more toys to play with and more mentally-stimulating activities to prevent boredom.
- Water habitats for seals, sea lions and other animals are temperature-controlled year-round.
- Backup generators guarantee power even during an outage.
OGE outages dip
The number of power outages reported by Oklahoma Gas and Electric has dropped in the past few hours. Here are the numbers as of 2:10 p.m.
- Checotah, 440
- Muskogee, 282
- Oklahoma City, 99
- Porum, 78
You can track OG&E outages on the company’s Web site.
Pet weather pictures coming in
Photos are coming in from Oklahomans’ whose pets are enjoying the winter weather. Check out some more on the NewsOK Pet Blog.
To submit your own winter photos for this blog, go to NewsOK.com.
Scroll to the bottom of the screen to the section labeled “Submit your ideas, photos, videos and stories.”
Enter your info and send it over! You could see your face, your pet, your children or your neighborhood on the weather blog!
National Weather Service – Tulsa
THE FOLLOWING WAS POSTED WITHIN THE HOUR BY
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE’S TULSA FORECAST
OFFICE
…A SIGNIFICANT ICE…SLEET…AND SNOW STORM CONTINUES ACROSS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS…
…POWER OUTAGES INCREASING ACROSS EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS…
AN ICE STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST WEDNESDAY
FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES…
IN ARKANSAS…
BENTON…CARROLL…WASHINGTON…MADISON…
CRAWFORD…FRANKLIN…
SEBASTIAN.
IN OKLAHOMA…
PUSHMATAHA…CHOCTAW…ADAIR…MCINTOSH…
SEQUOYAH…PITTSBURG…
HASKELL…LATIMER…LE FLORE.
FREEZING RAIN…OCCASIONALLY MIXED WITH SLEET…WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA…NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL ARKANSAS TODAY. TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN A HALF AND
ONE INCH ARE LIKELY THROUGH TONIGHT…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.
TEMPERATURES REMAIN BELOW FREEZING NORTH OF WILBURTON…FORT
SMITH…MOUNTAIN TOP LINE. SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY
NORTH OF THIS LINE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
ALTHOUGH
TEMPERATURES REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS…TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL
BELOW FREEZING THIS AFTERNOON WITH SOME ICE ACCUMULATIONS LIKELY
INTO THE EVENING HOURS.
THE FREEZING RAIN WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY MIXED WITH SLEET
ACROSS EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON
INTO THE EVENING HOURS. PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO TAPER FROM
NORTHWEST LATER TONIGHT…BEFORE ENDING ACROSS THE AREA BY
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED ACROSS THE
AREA.
ADDITIONAL ICE ACCUMULATION ON TREES AND UTILITY LINES IS
EXPECTED…WHICH WILL RESULT IN MORE WIDESPREAD OUTAGES. IN THE
HARDEST HIT AREAS…THE OUTAGES COULD LAST SEVERAL DAYS AND
POSSIBLY AS LONG AS A FEW WEEKS.
DO NOT GO NEAR DOWNED LINES…ASSUME THEY ARE LIVE AND REPORT ANY
DOWNED LINES OR POWER OUTAGES TO YOUR ELECTRIC COMPANY.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FOOD…WATER AND
NECESSARY MEDICATION TO LAST THROUGH THE DURATION OF THE ICE
STORM.
DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF POWER OUTAGES…FLASHLIGHTS WITH
A GOOD SUPPLY OF BATTERIES IS RECOMMENDED.
IF USING A GENERATOR…
DO NOT OPERATE IT INDOORS!
AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING.
SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS
WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY
DISCOURAGED.
