Snow fell across parts of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle on Monday, part of a storm system that produced at least two weekend tornadoes and hail as big as softballs.
The National Weather Service posted a snow and blowing snow advisory for parts of Oklahoma and a winter storm warning for sections of Arkansas, where 3 to 6 inches of snow was possible. In the Texas Panhandle, ice and snow covered local roads in western areas of the Panhandle but no problems were reported.
Up to 4 inches of rain had fallen by midday Monday in parts of Arkansas, the weather service said. Winds gusted as high as 61 mph in southwest Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Mesonet, a network of weather monitoring stations.
A cold front triggered damaging winds in the northeastern corner of Texas and a chance for rare snow in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Monday.
Tornado warnings were posted in Bowie County, where strong winds downed trees and damaged property. In Hooks, about 160 miles northeast of Dallas, there were reports of damage but no injuries, said Police Chief Keith Schutte.
On Sunday, two tornadoes were spotted in rural areas of northwestern Oklahoma. Television footage showed one twister passing the communities of Carleton and Southard in northern Blaine County.
No fatalities or severe damage were reported, but downed power lines caused scattered blackouts. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said one highway near the Kansas state line that was closed because of fallen power lines had been reopened early Monday.
Sunday’s storm system also produced wind gusting up to 70 mph, lightning and hail as large as softballs that caused scattered damage, said weather service meteorologist Chris Sohl in Norman.
Such a storm system “is not all that odd, but this early in March sometimes it’s a trick to get enough moisture up here for (atmospheric) instability,” Sohl said.
The stormy weather formed along a cold front stretching across the middle of the nation. Radar showed rain falling along the front from Texas to Michigan on Monday morning with snow in parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.
