A couple of days ago, amid severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings across Oklahoma, State Climatologist Gary McManus warned of a freeze over the weekend. Some meteorologists also warned of the possibility of snow on Sunday morning, but McManus advised Oklahomans not to lose sleep over it.
He said, “Don’t worry too much about the snow. Even if it DOES happen, and I’m not saying it’s gonna, there shouldn’t be too many impacts, other than the oddity of having snow in April in some parts of the state.”
Weather models seem to be coalescing on a SW to NE I-44 corridor type of snow, which puts Oklahoma City and Tulsa in the hunt. For both, it would be an oddity, indeed. Tulsa has only seen measurable snow (0.1 or more) four times since 1900. The last time was exactly 0.1 inches on April 7, 2018, with a high total of 1.7 inches on April 12, 1957. Oklahoma City has only seen it seven times in April since 1931. The last time for OKC was 0.2 inches on both April 13 and 14, 2020, with a high of 3.3 inches on April 8, 1938.
McManus emphasized, “Don’t worry about the snow because the rain and storms will be what get ya.”
As he wrote the Mesonet Ticker, which he emails out almost daily, rain, storms, and flooding (in some areas) were widespread across the state; however, he cautioned that Southeast Oklahoma would see big time storms later today (Friday).
Cold-sensitive plants will need to be protected by Saturday night, especially in the Northwest half of the state, which will see the greatest threat of snow and freezing temperatures.
