One of the biggest winter storms to hit the U.S. in years didn’t spare Sulphur, slamming into this area over the weekend with brutally cold wind chills and four to six inches of ice, sleet and snow.
Winter storm Fern began impacting the Sulphur area last Friday evening with plunging temperatures and a light precipitation mix. By early Saturday, the storm impacts were in full force as streets became snow and ice-packed and mostly impassable without four-wheel drive or frontwheel drive vehicles.
Most local residents heeded weather forecasters’ warning to stay indoors over the weekend as the storm continued with snow and sleet throughout much of Saturday and Sunday.
City of Sulphur and Oklahoma Department of Transportation crews were out treating and sanding streets and highways all weekend and into Monday. By Monday afternoon progress had been made with the clearing of most major thoroughfares and state highways in the area.
Sulphur Public Schools closed Friday in anticipation of ice issues later in the day, and remained closed Monday and Tuesday. Roads improved into the early week as temperatures began to moderate.
Murray County Emergency Management Director Brian McDaniel said Monday there were no major incidents over the weekend as most people rode out the brutal storm inside.
Grocery stores in the area were packed in the run-up to the storm’s arrival last Friday.
In addition to the freezing precipitation that impacted travel, some of the coldest temps in years occurred over the weekend. The Oklahoma Mesonet Station, just north of Sulphur, recorded a low temperature of 0 degrees on Sunday, Jan. 25. Wind chills were much lower, however.
Sulphur’s coldest-ever temp occurred on February 16, 2021 with a recording of -14 degrees. Just over a year later, on June 19, 2022, this area recorded their highest-ever temp of 110 degrees.
Forecasters are calling for a slow warm-up on Wednesday and Thursday with highs in the high 30’s and low 40’s, but another plunge of cold air is expected to arrive on Friday with falling temperatures and a high Saturday of 26 degrees, then warming to more normal conditions on Sunday through early next week.
Forecasters are not calling for any more substantial freezing precipitation in the next week or so, but motorists are advised to watch out for black ice in the evenings and mornings due to melting throughout the day.
