Seminole County and much of Oklahoma braced for a wintry mix of weather as January ends and February begins. Monday started with a light glaze of freeing rain, followed by an extremely fast and heavy fall of sleet in Seminole that turned streets into a driving hazard in a matter of minutes in town. This heavy precipitation appeared to end almost at city limits south of town, at least before noon. This was followed by thunder later in the morning.

The Norman office of the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory through noon on Wednesday, warning temperatures would drop below freezing and there was a 70 percent chance freezing rain and sleet through Monday afternoon before dropping to a 30 percent chance of freezing rain overnight. On Tuesday the weather service predicted a 60 percent chance of snow and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, the National Weather Service predicted a range of 20 – 40 percent chance of freezing rain, turning to rain as temperatures climb to 37 before dropping to 30 degrees, just below freezing, in the evening as the chance of precipitation climbs to 60 percent.

On Thursday temperatures will reach 47, although there will continue to be a 50 percent chance of rain, turning to sleet as temperatures drop to 25 before the moisture moves through and the skies clear.

On Friday the temperatures will climb to around 50 with sunny skies, and remain above freezing for the remainder of the weekend.

As always, this weather report is subject to change, since it is Oklahoma. Even though there continues to be improvements in predicting weather, local conditions can change rapidly with just the slightest variation in temperature or wind speed.

The National Weather Service suggests everyone use caution if you must leave home. Give yourself extra time to reach your destination and keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle, just in case. As Monday morning demonstrated to Seminole residents, driving conditions can change in the blink of an eye, depending on your location.