Blizzard troubles continue

Updated:  It's a record -- 14 inches of snowfall in one day for Tulsa and more snow is coming.  Temperatures will keep snow on the ground for several days and by all standards, most of the community is "snow bound."

Claremore gets the prize, at latest report, for an accumulation of 20 inches.  Owasso saw 19 inches of snow.

A blizzard warning remains in effect through midnight tonight for Canadian, Cleveland, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Garfield, Kay, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, Mayes, Noble, Nowata, Oklahoma, Osage, Ottawa, Payne, Pawnee, Pottawatomie Rogers, Tulsa and Washington counties.

This is only the second time in the history of the Tulsa National Weather Service Office that Tulsa as been put under a blizzard warning. The other time was the Christmas Eve storm of 2009.

Most area schools, government, and businesses are closed with very few even attempting travel as dawn broke in Tulsa.  Officials urged caution and highly discouraged travel for all, but emergency reasons.

The storm arrived quickly with heavy moisture laden air first reaching downtown around 11:30 pm Monday night.  By midnight, it was sleeting.  This speed to sleet may have saved many power outages as the urban forest did not suffer rain that builds ice on each individual twig.  Thus odd for those out in the storm; the bone chilling cold appears to have been a good thing.

Reporters for Tulsa Today noted a half-inch of sleet fell as base for snowfall now expected to exceed historic levels.  From the outset, high wind and lighting accompanied this dry snow.  Automobiles parked outside are not as encapsulated as usual because the bitter cold wind blew them dry in large part.

National Weather Service forecasters say snow will continue into the afternoon along the U.S. 75 corridor and into mid afternoon in the northeast corner of the state. Forecasters report some heavier bands of snow have dropped more than two-inches per hour.

Reports from AEP-PSO at this time note only 143 customers without power in Tulsa County Tuesday morning about 6:30 a.m. and no other AEP-PSO customers were reporting outages.  More than 500 OGE customers in the Ardmore area are reportedly without power

According to the National Weather Service Tulsa office, the previous record for the most snowfall in a single January day for Tulsa was 8.6 inches that fell in 1988.  The most snowfall ever recorded for Tulsa was 12.9 inches in March 1994, according to the NWS data.

Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday declared a state of emergency in all 77 counties as state officials prepared to respond throughout Oklahoma.

Tulsa Today will update this story.  Your snow photos are welcome.  You may add them to our Gallery Page or send to editor@tulsatoday.com.