OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma are expected to have an unusual white Christmas this year, which means potentially treacherous driving conditions for holiday travelers.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Tuesday stretching from far western Oklahoma to northeastern Arkansas. Some mountainous areas of Arkansas’ Ozark Mountains could see up to 10 inches of snow, the weather service said Monday.
Precipitation is expected to begin as a mix of rain and sleet early Tuesday in western Oklahoma before changing to snow as the storm pushes eastward during the day. The National Weather Service warned that travel could be “very hazardous or impossible” in northern Arkansas, where 4 to 6 inches of snow was predicted.
In central Arkansas, the storm could bring 2 to 4 inches of snow, said Julie Lesko, a NWS meteorologist in Little Rock. It’s been decades since Little Rock has had snow fall and accumulate on Christmas Day.
“An actual snowfall on Christmas happens very rarely,” Lesko said.
But the holiday treat could create problems for travelers in both Arkansas and Oklahoma, so forecasters and officials urged people to get ahead of the storm.
“We really want to encourage people to get where they’re going (Monday) and not travel (Tuesday) because of the weather,” said Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph in Oklahoma City.
She said travelers should pack blankets, cellphones, food, water and other supplies and cautioned drivers to be careful.
“Oftentimes we’ll see people in 4-wheel drive vehicles think that because they have 4-wheel drive they can drive at normal highway speeds,” Randolph said. “It does help you go, but it doesn’t help you stop.”
The timing of the expected snowfall — Christmas Day, when there are typically few motorists on the road — is the best-case scenario for a possibly dangerous situation, said OHP Lt. George Brown in Tulsa.
“It’s fair to say it’s a blessing in disguise,” Brown said Monday.
In Oklahoma, 4 to 6 inches of snow was predicted for many areas, including Oklahoma City. Airlines began canceling flights scheduled for Tuesday at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
Megan Freedman of Midwest City, Okla., said Monday that she opted to drive to Ohio to visit family because of a bad airplane experience during a winter storm in Dallas a few years ago.
“I was stuck on an airplane for four hours,” she said. “It was on the tarmac and couldn’t move because of the ice.”
She said the flight took 14 hours — and “I can drive it in 15.”
In Little Rock, Emily Blake, 22, said she was glad to fly out to see her family in Hendersonville, N.C., before the impending snowstorm smacks into Arkansas.
“I’d rather get there before it all starts,” said Blake, who works in a Searcy, Ark., gift shop.
As the storm loomed Monday, utilities were preparing to respond as needed.
“At this point, basically we have alerted all our internal and external crews, contractors, to make sure they are on standby and that they are alerted to the situation,” said Stan Whiteford, spokesman for Public Service Company of Oklahoma, which has about 527,000 customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma.
The forecast already led some people to alter their holiday travel plans. Yvonne Tiger of Norman, Okla., said she and her husband leaving Monday, a day early, to visit her 90-year-old grandmother in Eufaula, Okla.
“We’ve decided that we’re going today just to avoid hitting any of the weather,” Tiger said Monday. “We have the kids, so we don’t want to risk getting stuck anywhere.”
Tiger also said she picked up a snow shovel and rock salt to prepare for the wintry weather.
And while adjusting the family’s travel plans was a slight inconvenience, Tiger said her 6-year-old son thinks it’s worth it for a white Christmas.
“He has his winter clothes planned out and he’s ready to build a snowman,” Tiger said.
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Associated Press writers Jill Bleed and Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark., and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
