First snow sticks landing in Lawton

Entities across Lawton and the region adjusted their schedules Thursday and today, as Southwest Oklahoma dealt with a snow storm.

A measurement at the Lawton Constitution showed that 1.75 inches of snow had fallen in downtown Lawton by late morning, with more expected later in the day and meteorologists predicting the city could receive 3 inches or more before the snow stopped.

The City of Lawton’s streets division went to 12-hour shifts Thursday, setting crews to work in two shifts to help maintain arterials and collector streets. City officials said the first crew was to work until 7 p.m. Thursday, with the second shift set to work 7 p.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday so they could continue to treat roads because precipitation was expected to freeze overnight.

Because of road conditions, multiple entities closed early Thursday or didn’t open at all, and are asking people to check ahead today to determine if they are opening later than usual.

The Comanche County Courthouse closed its offices at 1 p.m. Thursday and planned to reopen at 10 a.m. today, Central District Commissioner Johnny Owens said.

City of Lawton offices remained open as usual Thursday, with officials still discussing their plan of action for this morning, because falling temperatures overnight were expected to affect city streets for several hours, a spokesperson said.

LATS officials said they would be modifying their service Friday because of weather conditions. That means that fixed route service will be available only from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on counterclockwise routes only. LATS also is urging riders to check www.myride.ridelats.com for the latest updates on snow routes.

A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 8 a.m. today.

According to Comanche County Emergency Management, snow is ikely to continue as the front moves to the east, with chances continuing to fall off through noon Friday. Impacts to roadways in the early morning hours on Friday are likely as overnight temperatures drop below freezing.