Winter blast keeps folks at home

Feb. 24—Winter was never supposed to be like this in Oklahoma — dangerously frigid temperatures and several inches of snow blanketing just about everything.

That's what Pauls Valley, Garvin County and just about the entire state got as an arctic system dipped so far south it impacted much of the country for a few days last week.

What it brought were temperatures dropping well below zero and enough snowfall to force most of us to stay hidden away in our own homes just to stay warm inside.

All of these factors have led to Garvin County and Pauls Valley officials believing the number of calls for help stayed low despite the harsh conditions outside.

Sheriff Jim Mullett says his deputies and staff didn't have to respond to many calls likely because the weather conditions kept most people at home when the winter systems blasted through the area Feb. 14-17.

"Our guys were out there 24-7," he said. "We never did stop our patrols. We helped people get hay to their cattle, but that's a normal thing for us.

"A majority of people stayed off the roads. They stayed home and that helped us. There were some unfortunate things like broken water pipes in Wynnewood, but overall we were light with the calls.

"Considering what could have been, it could have been worse."

The story is much the same in Pauls Valley.

Assistant Police Chief Derrick Jolley says the number of calls to the local department were also low as the worst of the winter weather hit the area.

"We were really fortunate," Jolley said. "We had some crashes but not many.

"We were fortunate it was not horrendous out there. We really didn't have any issues.

"It could have a whole lot worse than it was. I think it was too cold for people to get out."

A look at the numbers shows why things stayed fairly calm in town during the worst of the weather.

Back on Monday, Feb. 8 the high temperature was in the low 40s. Those highs stayed in the 20s for the rest of that week, including some ice on the roads on Feb. 10.

Then the arctic system packing lots of snow moved in and a whole lot of places in the country on Sunday, Feb. 14 as the low that day dropped to 3 degrees in Pauls Valley.

That was only the beginning as the next two days had lows below zero.

The high on Feb. 15 was 6 degrees as temps dropped to -5 that same day. The very next day was the worst as the low dipped all the way down to -13.

Lows came in at 12, 5 and 0 degrees the next three days as Pauls Valley finally got above the freezing mark of 32 degrees on Friday, Feb. 19.

That was followed by more familiar winter weather as bright sunshine over the weekend got the snow melting going in a big way with temperatures reaching up to the 40s, 50s and around the 60 degree mark early this week.

All of those numbers add up to a temperature difference of more than 70 degrees between the coldest day in the stretch to warmer times today.