Kingfisher County residents woke up to a wintry blast of wind and light snow Thursday.

Local Emergency Management Director Steve Loftis issued warnings of additional snow reaching a depth of one inch accompanied by winds of 35 to 50 miles per hour.

The warning said the winter weather could cause frostbite if skin is exposed for as long as 30 minutes.

He cautioned that it would be best to stay indoors if possible but to wear plenty of protective clothing if you have to get outdoors.

Loftis also warned of the possibility of falling branches and anything blowing away that was not tied down.

Hazardous road conditions existed through the evening commute.

Both the city of Kingfisher and Cimarron Electric Cooperative employees took steps to prepare essential service systems in advance of the extreme cold snap.

“Crews have taken cold weather precautions and we will monitor developments and stay weather aware,” City Manager Dave Slezickey said Wednesday.

“The water department has prepared the water and sewer plants, booster pumps and lift stations for the cold weather with extra heaters.

“The street department has the sand truck ready and operating.

“The police and fire departments are prepared for the cold weather and being able to respond efficiently in emergencies.” The city also is staying in contact with emergency management to provide heating centers or emergency temporary housing if that becomes necessary, Slezickey said.

The high wind and cold temps also created potential issues for electric power distribution for both the city and Cimarron Electric.

“We have called Storm Mode Level 1, where all operations personnel are on-call and ready to respond if we get some outages,” CEC Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Hyatt said Wednesday.

As of Thursday morning, only two outages had been reported in the Cimarron system, one east of Kingfisher and one in the Marshall area, both due to high winds.

“We’re confident in our distribution system and hoping the OG&E in-coming transmission feed stays reliable,” Slezickey said.

He noted no problems as of Thursday afternoon but added, “I hate to jynx us by saying that.”

Hyatt urged all Cimarron customers to have their account number or service location handy so any additional outages can be reported quickly and accurately.

He also recommended everyone keep bottled water and ready-to-eat food stocked in case an outage does occur.

Central, northern, northwest and western Oklahoma were included in the advisory, part of a winter storm system that is impacting nearly every part of the country during the busiest travel period of the year.

The local forecast calls for low temperature readings of 4 degrees on Thursday, 8 degrees Friday, 17 degrees Saturday and 28 degrees on Sunday before warming begins on Monday when a high of 48 degrees is forecasted.

The expected high on Thursday was 14 degrees and on Friday 21 degrees. A below freezing high of 30 was projected for Saturday.

With a blast of cold winter weather projected for the area in coming days, the Times & Free Press checked with Oklahoma State Extension Service for tips on how to keep their livestock healthy.

Water during cold spells is especially important for livestock and all other animals, including pets. Household pets need warm, dry sleeping places as well.

Cattle producers need to follow recommended livestock- care checklists to mitigate significant dangers that arctic blasts bring to animal health and production, said Oklahoma State University experts.

It’s important to remember that cattle in southern Great Plains states are relatively naïve when it comes to the presence of ice in the field, said David Lalman, OSU Extension beef cattle specialist.