day. A high of 86 on Christmas Eve was 38 degrees above the long-term average,

and still stands as the all-time record high temperature for December.

1975: Rain changed to snow on Christmas Eve, with heavy snow falling

that afternoon and continuing into early Christmas morning.

 Nearly 3 inches fell during the storm, but temperatures hovered

just above freezing, and much of the snow melted when it

 reached the ground.

1983: Bitter cold with wind chills as low as 27 below occurred during

 the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Day. The high of 13 was an

 improvement over the previous day, as the high on

Christmas Eve was 3 above zero. The low was zero,

 and wind chills dropped as low as minus 45 as

north winds gusted to 38 mph.

1987: Freezing rain and sleet began before sunrise, and was the start

of an infamous 2-day ice storm that left parts of Oklahoma

 without power for over a week. Sleet prevailed across

 the western and northern parts of Oklahoma City,

while freezing rain devastated southern and eastern parts

 of the metro area. Despite heavy sleet and

 ice accumulations of up to 2 inches, total snowfall was only a trace.

1989: Christmas Day was a sunny, mild day with

 temperatures in the 50s. But what made this Christmas memorable

 was the dramatic warm-up that was in progress.

Three days earlier the temperature fell to minus 4,

a new all-time record low for December.

Winds of 20 mph at the time dropped wind chills

 to near 50 below. The next night, the December

 low temperature record was broken again

when the temperature fell to minus 8.

Two days later on Christmas Day, the

 temperature reached 57, giving Oklahoma City

a 65-degree warm-up in two days.

2000: A major winter storm affected much

 of Oklahoma on December 25-26, with impacts

 similar to the storm in 1987. The storm began

 on Christmas Day across the region, with

 significant accumulations of snow and ice

 occurring Christmas night and into

December 26. Heavy snow, accumulating

 8 to 12 inches, fell across

 northwest Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a combination

of snow, sleet, and freezing rain fell

across west-central, central and north-central

 Oklahoma, with accumulations ranging from

 2 to as much as 8 inches. One of the worst

 ice storms to ever affect the state of Oklahoma

 occurred in south-central and southeast Oklahoma,

 where ice and sleet accumulations from 1 to 2 inches

 were common. Statewide, around 170,000 residents

were without electricity right after the storm,

 and power was not restored in some locations

 until almost 2 weeks later.

2009: Although no snow technically fell on

Christmas Day, the record-setting blizzard that

affected a large part of Oklahoma on

Christmas Eve was fresh on everyone’s mind.

 Snow accumulated between 5 and 7 inches

from southwest into central Oklahoma,

 with several locations reporting more than 10 inches!

The snowstorm was made worse by the near

 continuous winds that were sustained

near 40 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph.

 All major highways were shut down by

early afternoon, stranding thousands

of holiday travelers and last-minute

 Christmas shoppers. The snow

 finally moved east during the

 early evening hours, leaving

behind snow drifts as high

as five feet, and streets

littered with abandoned cars.