[ARRL-OK] Snow still blowing in Oklahoma Panhandle

[Mark Conklin]

NEWSOK.com 12/20/2011
 
GUYMON, OKLA – Snow has mostly stopped falling in the Oklahoma Panhandle Tuesday morning, but blowing snow from drifts and frigid temperatures continue to be hazardous, the National Weather Service reports.

 Many roads in Cimarron and Texas counties remain closed, reports Lt. Mary Anne Burdo, Oklahoma Highway Patrol dispatcher in Guymon.
 
“At times it's hard to tell if it is still snowing or just blowing,” Burdo said Tuesday morning. 
 
Near Kenton in Cimarron County, nearly 15 inches of snow has been reported by the National Weather Service. Burdo said the Panhandle just might have snow left on Christmas Day Sunday.
 
“As long as it lasts and it doesn't come again that will be OK,” Burdo said.
 
Oklahoma Department of Transportation crews continue to salt, sand and clear roads in northwest Oklahoma. All highways are closed in Cimarron County except US-56 and US-64 east from Boise City. US-64 remains closed westbound from Guymon in Texas County due to white-out conditions. All roads in the panhandle are considered slick and hazardous. 
 
Harper, Ellis and Woodward counties are reporting slick roads with one to two inches of snow accumulation.
The Tuesday forecast for Boise City calls for areas of blowing snow and scattered snow showers before noon. The high temperature in the Panhandle will be near 30 with wind chill values between minus 3 and 7 degrees. Blustery winds could gust up to 35 mph. There is a 30 percent chance for more snow.
 
"We have several churches all full of stragglers, and even a couple in the basement of the courthouse," Cimarron County sheriff's dispatcher Sharon Bade said late Monday.
 
 "We closed down the roads really early today, so most of them were trapped in town," she said.
 
 One vehicle was reported stuck on a road near Felt about 10:30 p.m. and an attempt to rescue those inside was underway just before midnight.
 
 Bade said there is no traffic on the roads in Boise City. Sheriff's deputies and Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers are also staying off the roads, she said.
 
 "Even the wreckers can't go out," Bade said.
 
Although the snow in the Panhandle has tapered off, the blizzard warning remains in effect until noon Tuesday, the weather service in Amarillo, Texas reports.