Snow, ice to create difficult travel conditions from Texas to Oklahoma and Arkansas
The same storm responsible for heavy snow over the interior Southwest at the start of 2019 will spread a swath of snow, ice and dangerous travel from parts of Texas to portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas from Wednesday to Thursday night.
Just enough cold air will slice southward, while moisture builds over the low levels of the atmosphere to set up a swath of ice from parts of western Texas to central and eastern Oklahoma and northeastern Arkansas.
There is the potential for enough snow and ice to cause road and school closures in part of the region.
Enough freezing rain may accrue to weigh down tree limbs and cause sporadic power outages with the setup.
A more widespread problem will be a thin coating of ice on roads and sidewalks, which will pose a major hazard for motorists and pedestrians.
As the storm spins eastward, the warm air aloft preventing snow from falling will trend much colder. This change in the storm structure will allow rain or a wintry mix to turn to snow and progress northeastward across the region.
Just northwest of the ice and wintry mix area, a few inches of snow is likely to accumulate from part of northwestern Texas to western and northern Oklahoma and perhaps in part of the Ozarks in northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri.
After a period of ice and wintry mix, the storm is likely to end as accumulating snow in Abilene, Lubbock and Wichita Falls, Texas, and Oklahoma City and Lawton, Oklahoma.
Rain may end as snow with the chance of an accumulation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.
There is a chance the air gets cold enough to cause some ice over the Hill Country northwest of San Antonio, Texas.
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Some ice is likely to build up north and west of Dallas, with the risk of slippery conditions on some of the bridges and overpasses around the Metroplex.
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The southern Plains will remain on the southern fringe of a batch of bitterly cold air much of this week.
However, temperatures are forecast to moderate considerably across the Plains late this week and this weekend, which will allow the snow and ice to melt.
The storm set to bring snow and ice to the region will bring all or mostly rain farther to the east to end this week.
Drenching rain will fall closer to the Texas coast and into the lower Mississippi Valley. Enough rain is likely to fall to cause flash and urban flooding problems and keep water levels on the major rivers elevated.
