Icy Conditions in Northeast Oklahoma

An Arctic cold front blasted into the state Monday, icing some roads in northeast Oklahoma, forcing school closures and leading to traffic accidents that injured several people and killed one.

Monday, December 15th 2008, 6:46 pm

By: News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An Arctic cold front blasted into the state Monday, icing some roads in northeast Oklahoma, forcing school closures and leading to traffic accidents that injured several people and killed one.
   Temperatures across most of the state were in the teens or low-20s by the afternoon, with winds gusting to more than 20 mph in some locations, the National Weather Service reported.
   The weather was dry after some morning freezing drizzle that caused 75 school districts in northeastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa Public Schools, the state's largest, to cancel classes.
   Many of the 172 prep basketball games scheduled for Tuesday night were also in danger of being called off.
   Emergency Medical Services Authority crews went to 15 wrecks between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., agency spokeswoman Tina Wells said. Three motorists had serious injuries. All were injured while on the Sand Springs Expressway in eastern Oklahoma.
   At least one traffic death was attributed to the weather. A tractor-trailer hit an icy patch on the Will Rogers Turnpike near the Adair exit and veered off the road, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. The cab turned upside down, catching the rig on fire and killing the driver.
   Wind chills of 8 to 10 degrees below zero were common Monday morning in far northwest Oklahoma and in the Panhandle.
   Precipitation will taper off Tuesday, but the freezing temperatures would continue, leaving bridges and overpasses potentially treacherous.
   Widespread accumulations of ice were not expected.
   Another storm system was expected to move into the Central Plains Thursday, increasing the chance for rain as temperatures warm.