Winter Storm Brings Closures, But Few Outages

Sleet Rather Than Freezing Rain Avoids Power Outages; Icy Roads Prompt Closures
  • QUIET ON MAIN STREET - Main Street in Downtown Rison was a picture-perfect scene Saturday under blankets of ice and snow from the weekend's winter storm. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Roberts Photography)
    QUIET ON MAIN STREET - Main Street in Downtown Rison was a picture-perfect scene Saturday under blankets of ice and snow from the weekend's winter storm. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Roberts Photography)
  • COUNTY HIT WITH SLEET - This measurement taken in an open area in northern Cleveland County late Sunday morning shows about 3 inches of sleet had collected from Friday night through almost noon Sunday. Many forecasts were predicting the possibility of freezing rain with the winter storm, but most of it fell in the form of sleet with some light snow. The heavy layer of ice made driving conditions treacherous throughout the region.
    COUNTY HIT WITH SLEET - This measurement taken in an open area in northern Cleveland County late Sunday morning shows about 3 inches of sleet had collected from Friday night through almost noon Sunday. Many forecasts were predicting the possibility of freezing rain with the winter storm, but most of it fell in the form of sleet with some light snow. The heavy layer of ice made driving conditions treacherous throughout the region.
    RISON - Cleveland County managed to avoid the massive power outages that stretched from Texas to North Carolina this past weekend as most of the frozen precipitation that fell locally came in the form of sleet or light snow rather than freezing rain.Still, the winter weather did have a major impact locally as schools and businesses were forced to closed due to icy roads, and the weight of about 3 inches of sleet caused some poultry houses in the Staves community to collapse.The National Weather Service forecast ice accumulations of up to 1 inch were possible in Cleveland County over the weekend as an Artic cold front moved into the region Friday evening. Temperatures fell below the freezing mark early Friday night and remained there through Tuesday. A round of sleet sometimes mixed with light snow began to fall in the county Friday evening and continued into the day Saturday. A second round fell Saturday night into Sunday morning, again in the form of sleet and snow. Weather forecasts showed the greatest chance for freezing rain was to be Saturday night into Sunday morning.Many people heeded the warning about the approaching winter storm as several residents spent last Thursday and Friday filling gasoline cans to fuel generators for what was expected to widespread power outages due to freezing rain.However, with the precipitation falling mostly as sleet with some snow mixed in, there were few power outages in the area. C&L Electric Cooperative's online power outage map showed less than 500 customers in southern Jefferson County were without power Saturday morning before being restored by early afternoon. C&L also reported through its Facebook page that some customers east of Dumas experienced outages caused by "galloping transmission lines," which is a weather-related phenomenon where wind blowing over ice-coated conductors on overhead power lines create a "jumping" or "skipping rope" motion. About 3 inches of sleet was measure...

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