Updated Forecast: More Snow, Less Ice In SW Oklahoma

For the last week, we've been tossed so many different scenarios of what this round of winter weather could bestow upon Southwest Oklahoma, it's hard to know who to trust.

As we've talked about in the past, the ultimate and most accurate weather authority has always been the National Weather Service. They employ the top experts in the field that spend zero time prepping for broadcasts or worrying about ratings and focus all of their energy into researching the weather.

If you still didn't know, our local National Weather Service is located in Norman, inside the National Weather Center at OU.

They've updated the current winter storm forecast in the last hour or so, and things are looking better and better for Lawton and everyone to the West.

As the day goes on, rain and sleet is expected to turn to snow as the NWS has been saying consistently since the weekend, but the risks of ice are dwindling.

At some point early this afternoon, that slushy precipitation will turn into just snow...

And it's not going to stop snowing for a while... The NWS is predicting this snow to continue in varying heavy and light bands through Thursday.

All in all, this is going to make for some heavier-than-expected snow totals locally in Lawton.

While people are generally aggravated at the thought of snow, call it flashbacks to 2021's record storm, you have to look on the positive side... The risk of freezing rain and ice is dwindling to the point Lawton is no longer included in that possibility.

That's not to say the slushy road conditions won't freeze and make things slick, with the predicted extreme cold temperatures this will likely happen... the ice forecast is referring to the kind of freezing rain and ice that kills trees and breaks power lines.

If you are the kind of essential employee that will be forced to get out and about for work, bundle up. The predicted wind chill isn't something to be gambled with. It only takes a few minutes of exposure at these temperatures to do real and permanent damage to things like ears, fingers, toes, etc...

If you take your weather seriously and want to always have the most accurate forecast at your fingertips, bookmark the National Weather Service in your phone today.