An upper level system moved out of the southern rockies and across the southern plains including Oklahoma December 23rd and 24th.  Rain began to fall during the morning of the 23rd and due to evaporational cooling and colder air filtering into the area from the north it began to change over to snow from west to east across the area from 10 am cst on.  During the first few hours at any given location the snow fell at an inch or two per hour rate.  Due to the heavy snow and temperatures dropping below freezing travel became extremely difficult.  Numerous accidents were reported across northeast Oklahoma and several included injuries.  One accident around midday on the 23rd resulted in a death about 8 miles east of Ponca City in Osage county. In addition to the difficult travel the snow caused some tree limbs to fall onto power lines producing a few power outages.  As many as 13,000 customers in Owasso and eastern part of the city of Tulsa experienced an interruption of electric service.  Four to five hundred customers scatterred around Ottawa, Craig, Delaware and Mayes counties also suffered power outages. The snow began to taper off from west to east during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 23rd.  However,  the snow began again during the late evening hours of the 23rd and the early morning hours of the 24th.  This snow lasted into the morning hours of the 24th.  Although the snow during the nighttime period was not as heavy as that during the previous afternoon another one to three inches of snow accumulated.  Some snow accumulations from the storm include:10 inches at Miami, 10 inches at South Coffeyville, 10 inches at Ralston, 9 inches at Bartlesville, 9 inches at Jay, 8 inches at Pawnee, 7 inches at Pawhuska, 7 inches at Tulsa, 6 inches at Drumright,  5 inches at Wagoner, 5 inches at Pryor and 5 inches at Tahlequah.

Heavy Snow in WAGONER, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in TULSA, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in DELAWARE, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in CREEK, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in CRAIG, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in CHEROKEE, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in NOWATA, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in MAYES, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in OSAGE, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in WASHINGTON, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in OTTAWA, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in PAWNEE, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Heavy Snow in ROGERS, OKLAHOMA
From 23-DEC-02 10:00:00 to 24-DEC-02 10:00:00 (CST)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER