Freezing rain, sleet, snow chill southern Plains, triggering power outages and closing roads

Ice, snow chill southern Plains amid power outages

OKLAHOMA CITY — A powerful storm dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain on the southern Plains Thursday, disrupting power to thousands of homes and businesses, canceling flights and shutting down major highways across three states.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings through Friday for much of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle.

Ice accumulations of more than one-half inch and high winds snapped electrical lines across Oklahoma, knocking out electrical power to tens of thousands of customers.

“In some places, as far you can see there are hundreds of utility poles on the ground,” said Andrea Chancellor, spokeswoman for Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

“It could be five days for all customers who can take power to get power restored,” she said.

Airlines canceled more than 100 flights at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City over concerns about icing on aircraft, spokeswoman Karen Carney said. She said additional flights will likely be canceled Friday morning.

Another 35 flights were canceled at Tulsa International Airport, said Alexis Higgins of the Tulsa Airport Authority.

Many flights in and out of Lubbock, Amarillo and Wichita Falls airports in Texas were canceled.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 44 southwest of Oklahoma City was closed due to downed power lines in the roadway. Toppled power lines also forced the closure of a portion of Interstate 40 in far western Oklahoma.

In New Mexico, eastbound I-40 was closed from Tucumcari 40 miles east to the Texas state line because of snowpacked, icy conditions. Difficult driving conditions also were reported in the Santa Rosa area 60 miles west of Tucumcari, and snow was accumulating on I-40 east of Albuquerque.

The Texas Department of Transportation closed I-40 Thursday night from the New Mexico state line to the Texas-Oklahoma border. It also closed U.S. 87 and U.S. 287 from Amarillo north and U.S. 54 from the Texas-Oklahoma border to the New Mexico line after about 13 inches of snow accumulated in the northern Panhandle by nightfall.

In parts of West Texas, heavy snow and freezing precipitation downed tree limbs and power lines.

National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Weaver said the storm could generate up to 8 inches of snow in counties northwest of Lubbock.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said up to 12 inches of snow is likely in northwestern Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Freezing rain and sleet was forecast to turn to snow in central Oklahoma.

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Associated Press reporters Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Texas, and Heather Clark in Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this report.