January 2005 Winter Weather Event

01/06/2005

A powerful upper system moved toward Oklahoma Tuesday. As this system approached the state, warm and moist air was lifted over surface Arctic air that was in place across much of the state. In northwest Oklahoma this Arctic air resulted in temperatures below freezing. With the warm air about 1,000 feet above the surface, precipitation fell in the form of freezing rain threat.

Late Tuesday into Wednesday another Arctic air mass pushed southward from Kansas resulting in sub-freezing temperatures reaching central Oklahoma. With the continued warm and moist air above the sub-freezing surface air, freezing rain occurred north of a line from Altus to Norman to Tulsa. In the southeast part of the state, excessive rainfall is a concern as storm total precipitation is 4 to 5 inches. The upper system should move east of the state late Wednesday resulting in very cold conditions but ending the freezing rain threat.

In the hardest hit areas of the state as much as 2 inches of ice has caused downed tree limbs and power lines. At 11 a.m., approximately 8,400 Oklahomans were without electric service. Power outages were reported by OG&E as well as some electric cooperatives in Alva, Ardmore, Arnett, Avard, Buffalo, Capron, Cleo Springs, Dacoma, El Reno, Enid, Fargo, Fort Supply, Freedom, Gage, Garber, Helena, Meno, Oklahoma City, Seiling, Shattuck, Vici, Taloga, Wakita, Watonga, Woodward. OG&E reports that torches are being used in some cases to thaw frozen switches.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reports that nine crews have been dispatched to the Woodward area and one crew to the Cherokee area for the Alfalfa Electric Cooperative (Cherokee). Cimarron Electric (Kingfisher) has one pole down with 4 outages. In the January 2002 ice storm, the cooperative lost more than 15,000 poles. Tri-County Cooperative (Panhandle area) has no outages.

The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives reports that Alfalfa Electric sustained the worst damage with approximately 300 poles down so far. About 40 percent of their customers (roughly 3,200) are without power. Northwestern Electric (Woodward) reports more than 100 poles downed by the ice storm. They estimate 1,300 outages. AEP/PSO reports 22 outages in their western region.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission also reports that Pioneer Telephone offices in Drummond, Helena, Mooreland and Waynoka are running on generator power but telephone service is still up. The exchanges of Fort Supply, Harmon, Mutual, Sharon and Shattuck are isolated for toll calling due to a commercial power outage in Sharon.

One electric crew member was injured during the night in Blaine County. He is being treated at a hospital, according to Blaine County Emergency Management. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper was injured in a collision this morning on the Belle Isle Bridge in Oklahoma City.

Travel is discouraged in the west, northwest, north, north central areas of the state as well as in the Oklahoma City metro area. Many areas are reporting black ice conditions.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has more than 250 vehicles out providing improvements on state roads. In addition to plowing many of the state maintained roadways, ODOT has trucks out applying sand, salt and magnesium chloride to the worst impacted roads in northwest, western and southwestern areas of the state. Oklahoma drivers are reminded to stay back 100 feet from these ODOT trucks and plows as they do their work.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for the northeast counties of Delaware, Osage, Pawnee and Washington. Some waterways are near flood stage, including Clear Boggy Creek and the Elk, Illinois, Neosho and Spring rivers. No reports of flooding damage have been received.

Tuesday afternoon the American Red Cross opened a shelter in Woodward due to power outages. It was closed late Tuesday night after some power was restored. There are no shelters open at this time.

Numerous schools and businesses across the state were closed due to the inclement weather conditions.

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01/07/2005

Many portions of the state continue to feel the effects of the winter storms that moved across Oklahoma yesterday and today. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) remains in contact with affected areas and coordinating resource agencies. The following reports were received at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

In the hardest hit areas of the state as much as 2 inches of ice has caused downed tree limbs, power lines and power poles. At 4:30 p.m., approximately 5,200 Oklahomans were without electric service. Power outages were reported by OG&E as well as some electric cooperatives in Alva, Avard, Capron, Cleo Springs, Dacoma, Enid, Seiling, Taloga, Wakita and Woodward. OG&E reports that torches are being used in some cases to thaw frozen switches.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reports additional crews have been dispatched to the Woodward area to assist Northwest Electric Cooperative and the Cherokee area to assist the Alfalfa Electric Cooperative. Alfalfa Electric reports about 45 poles remain down, disrupting service to about 1,000 customers. Northwestern Electric reports more than 100 poles remain downed by the ice storm. They estimate 1,300 outages.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission also reports that Pioneer Telephone offices in Drummond, Helena, Mooreland and Waynoka are running on generator power but telephone service is still up. The exchanges of Fort Supply, Harmon, Mutual, Sharon and Shattuck are isolated for toll calling due to a commercial power outage in Sharon.

One electric crew member was injured during the night in Blaine County. He is being treated at a hospital, according to Blaine County Emergency Management. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper was injured in a collision this morning on the Belle Isle Bridge in Oklahoma City.

Travel is discouraged in the west, northwest, north, north central areas of the state as well as in the Oklahoma City metro area. Many areas are reporting black ice conditions.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) continues to apply sand, salt and magnesium chloride to the worst impacted roadways. More than 250 trucks and plows are in use on the state maintained roadways. Crews are in full force and will continue to work around the clock until tomorrow. Oklahoma drivers are reminded to stay back at least 100 feet from these ODOT vehicles as they do their work.

Oklahoma road conditions are available at www.dps.state.ok.us and by calling (405) 425-2385.

Possible flooding due to heavy rains remains a concern in the northeastern counties of Delaware, Osage, Pawnee and Washington. No reports of flooding damage have been received.

Tuesday afternoon the American Red Cross opened a shelter in Woodward due to power outages. It was closed late Tuesday night after some power was restored. There are no shelters open at this time.

Numerous schools and businesses across the state were closed due to the inclement weather conditions. Non-essential state employees were allowed to leave at noon today.

Alva Emergency Management -- power outages experienced by 10 to 20 percent of Alva residents. Power line problems cited as contributor to early morning house fire. Also reports power out to some water wells. Community looks like a war zone due to all of the downed trees.

Dewey County Emergency Management -- power was restored in Taloga around 3 p.m. today after being without since midnight. Power outages remain in the Seiling area. About 20 residents were assisted at a shelter opened at the Taloga Senior Citizens Center. The shelter is now closed. Main h ighways are passable due to ODOT salting and sanding.

Ellis County Emergency Management-- electric poles are down, experiencing poweroutages, and debris on roadways throughout county with some impassable. County was without long distance, 911, cell phone and pager communications for period of time today.

Enid Emergency Management -- experiencing power outages due to relays, breakers and transformers and schools are closed.

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01/07/2005

Many portions of the state continue to feel the effects of the winter storms that moved across Oklahoma Tuesday and Wednesday. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) remains in contact with affected areas and coordinating resource agencies. The following reports were received at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Requests for financial assistance were received from city officials in Mooreland and Woodward. OEM will be evaluating the requests to determine whether they are eligible for state or federal public assistance.

In the hardest hit areas of the state as much as 2 inches of ice caused downed tree limbs, power lines and power poles. At 11:30 a.m., approximately 2,500 Oklahomans were without electric service. Power outages were reported by OG&E as well as some electric cooperatives in Alva, Avard, Capron, Dacoma, Wakita and Woodward.

The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives reports that Alfalfa Electric in Cherokee has adjusted their lost pole estimated significantly downward to approximately 60 from their first estimate Wednesday morning of 200 to 300. They’ve restored several large lines on their system and are down now to approximately 400 outages in Oklahoma and Kansas. They have many smaller lines still down all over the system which makes restoration efforts slower and more difficult. They do not expect full power to be restored today.

Northwestern Electric in Woodward still estimates they’ve lost roughly 100 poles on their system. They have nine contract crews assisting in their restoration efforts. Reported outages this morning are approximately 800. No estimate for power restoration was given. Kiwash Electric in Cordell reports that damage from the storm was confined to Dewey County, where roughly 150 residential units were affected. Power was restored by Wednesday afternoon. Northfork Electric in Sayre reports a total of six poles lost, two of them due to vehicles hitting them. They have no outages as of this morning.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reports that OG&E has the following outages: Alva 632, Avard 261, Capron 61, Dacoma 114, Norman 67, Oklahoma City (north) 86, Wakita 65, Woodward 500. AEP/PSO has a minimal number of outages. Please note they (AEP) have more than 90,000 outages in Indiana and 60,000 outages in Ohio. What the ice storms missed in Oklahoma hit the states in the upper Midwest.

One electric crew member was injured Tuesday night in Blaine County. He was treated at a hospital, according to Blaine County Emergency Management. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper was injured in a collision Wednesday morning on the Belle Isle Bridge in Oklahoma City. Many more injury and non-injury crashes were reported throughout the affected areas.

Travel is discouraged in the west, northwest, north and north central areas of the state as well as in the Oklahoma City metro area. Many areas are reporting black ice conditions. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) reports that crews were out all Wednesday night and all areas are clear and passable. Some roads are still slick in spots in the panhandle area. Travel is still discouraged if possible. Oklahoma road conditions are available at www.dps.state.ok.us and by calling (405) 425-2385.

No reports of flooding damage have been received.

There are no shelters open at this time.

Numerous schools and businesses across the state remain closed today due to the inclement weather conditions. Non-essential state employees were allowed to arrive two hours late today.

Alva Emergency Management
At this time we still have 1,080 residents county-wide without power (Alva-613, Avard-261,Capron-61, Dacoma-115, Waynoka-30). Roads are clearing and calls for downed power lines have stopped. Our water wells are in service again.

Goltry Emergency Management
The City of Goltry reports that power was out for only about two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday. We sustained minor tree damage.

Washington County Emergency Management
Main roadways have patchy ice. Secondary roads and streets are ice covered and extremely slick. Several minor accidents reported this morning. No utility outages reported at this time.

Kingfisher County Emergency Management
Here in Kingfisher County we have only icy roads. NO POWER OUTAGES! (Remember, Kingfisher was hard hit with power outages in the January 2002 ice storm.) No serious accidents and no tree limbs down.

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01/10/2005

This is the final update regarding this ice storm.

Only a handful of communities continue to feel the effects of the winter storms that moved across Oklahoma Tuesday and Wednesday. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) remains in contact with affected areas and coordinating resource agencies. The following reports were received at the State Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

OEM continues to evaluate the requests for financial assistance received from city officials in Mooreland and Woodward.

In the hardest hit areas of the state as much as 2 inches of ice caused downed tree limbs, power lines and power poles. At 11:30 a.m., approximately 769 Oklahomans were without electric service. A total of 269 power outages were reported by OG&E in Alva and Oklahoma City (North).

Northwestern Electric Cooperative (NWEC), located in Woodward, has approximately 450 consumers still without power. Those consumers are located in the rural areas near Arnett, Curtis, Fargo, Quinlan, Mooreland, and Woodward. NWEC has several crews from other cooperatives as well as contract construction crews working to restore electric service in these areas. It is estimated that most residential consumers will have power restored by late Saturday or Sunday.

One electric crew member was injured Tuesday night in Blaine County. He was treated at a hospital, according to Blaine County Emergency Management. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper was injured in a collision Wednesday morning on the Belle Isle Bridge in Oklahoma City. Many more injury and non-injury crashes were reported on Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday throughout the affected areas.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation reports that all state roads have been cleared. Drivers are encouraged to watch out for slick spots especially in the panhandle area. Oklahoma road conditions are available at www.dps.state.ok.us and by calling (405) 425-2385.

No reports of flooding damage have been received.

There are no shelters open at this time.

Numerous schools and businesses in the hardest hit areas remain closed today due to the inclement weather conditions.

Ellis County Emergency Management

Arnett, Shattuck and most of Gage have power now. Some rural areas are still without power. Secondary roads remains lick and many trees are still ice-covered.

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For more information, contact Michelann Ooten, Public Information Officer at (405) 521-2481.