The Latest: Ice storm affects 22 North Texas counties until Thursday. Here’s what to expect
Here’s the latest on the winter storm hitting North Texas. Check back for updates throughout the day, and sign up to get breaking news alerts here.
Tarrant, Dallas and 20 other North Texas counties are under an ice storm warning until 9 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Officials say residents should prepare for localized power outages.
David Bonnette, a spokesperson for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, said there will be a widespread round of freezing rain Wednesday that will worsen mid-afternoon, continue through the night and add up to half an inch of new ice to already treacherous roads.
Bonnette said the ice will accumulate on power lines and trees, which could lead to localized power outages. Road conditions will be extremely dangerous Wednesday.
The ice storm warning says that travel could become “nearly impossible” Wednesday. The ice storm warning includes Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Collin, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Wise, Somervell, Young, Jack, Stephens, Palo Pinto, Eastland, Erath, Comanche, Montague, Cooke, Grayson, Mills, Hamilton and Bosque counties.
The worst buildup of ice is expected to be along and west of the I-35 corridor.
Bonnette said officials are advising people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary and plan for power outages in case they happen.
Officials at the NWS in Fort Worth said if you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. If you have to be out on the roads over the next couple of days, make sure to slow down, watch for ice/black ice, and to give yourself plenty of time for driving.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the upper 20s throughout the day. DFW set a new daily snowfall record with 1.3 inches of sleet as of Tuesday afternoon. For the purposes of record keeping, sleet on the ground is considered the same as snowfall, the weather service said. The old record was 1.2 inches, set in 1985.
Icy conditions are expected to last through Thursday morning. Bonnette said temperatures will remain in the 30s all day Thursday so the ice won’t have much of a chance to melt. Road conditions Thursday will improve somewhat, but should still be considered dangerous.
Bonnette said conditions will continue to improve Friday with some sunshine and temperatures getting into the 40s and 50s.
Weather watches and warnings
A live data feed from the National Weather Service containing official weather warnings, watches, and advisory statements. Tap warning areas for more details. Sources: NOAA, National Weather Service, NOAA GeoPlatform and Esri.
School closings
School districts in the Fort Worth area, including Fort Worth ISD, are closed through at least Thursday.
Fort Worth ISD continues to monitor weather conditions and communicate with the National Weather Service and local agencies, the district said.
Here’s how schools decide when to close.
Power outages
To report an outage to Oncor, text OUT to 66267, use the MyOncor app, or select “Report an Outage” on the website. You may also call 888-313-4747 to report your outage.
Oncor was reporting more than 3,000 active outages affecting around 121,000 customers across its service area as of about 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Most of the outages in the morning were farther south and east of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Around 8 p.m. there were 224 customers without power in Dallas County, and 25 in Tarrant.
Oncor serves almost 4 million customers across the state. Communities including Tyler, Sulphur Springs and Taylor were experiencing the greatest impacts from the storm early Wednesday, according to Oncor.
Oncor officials said on the website that crews are working to restore power to affected areas and that ice accumulation is responsible for most of the outages.
Oncor recommends that residents prepare for power outages ahead of time:
Locate flashlights with extra batteries, warm blankets and jackets, and charge electronic devices.
Prepare a fireplace or standalone heater or a generator. Generators should never be used indoors because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Make sure the house is warm ahead of any power outages and keep curtains and blinds closed to trap in heat.
Oncor officials warn to stay away from downed power lines and call 911 immediately if you do see a downed line.
Electric outages Dallas - Fort Worth vicinity
Here is Oncor's power outages map. Outage information is sent from Oncor to the outage map every 10 minutes. Source: stormcenter.oncor.com
Texas power grid
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday assured Texans that the state’s power grid is working.
The Public Utility Commission expects to see some outages as a result of icing on electric infrastructure and power lines, but local outages do not mean there’s a problem with the grid, Abbott said from the State Operations Center in Austin.
“The power grid itself is functioning very efficiently as we speak right now, and there’s not anticipated to be any challenge to the power grid in the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott instructed those who may experience an outage to check with their electricity provider for updates. Oncor delivers electricity to much of the Fort Worth-area.
Road conditions
Fort Worth police have been responding to calls of stranded drivers on icy roads and highways Wednesday in every section of the city.
At 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, a MedStar ambulance reported being struck on a hill near Northwest 18th Street and Jacksboro Highway, according to a Fort Worth police incident report.
A driver headed to work called Fort Worth police just after 5 a.m. Wednesday to report being stuck on ice near a Fort Worth fire station at S. Hulen Street and Wheaten Drive.
As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, during about 58 hours of the winter storm, MedStar crews had responded to a total of 172 motor vehicle accidents on icy streets and highways, including 21 rollover crashes.
Major highway surrounding Fort Worth have been covered in ice, according to a TxDOT map of road conditions that is updated at drivetexas.org.
Flight cancellations at DFW, Love Field airports
Flight delays and cancellations are mounting Wednesday as the winter storm persists into a third day.
Nearly 1,700 flights at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field had been canceled Wednesday as of midday, according to FlightAware. That’s roughly 1 in 4 flights scrapped. About half of flights at Austin’s main airport were also canceled Wednesday.
More than 800 of Fort Worth-based American Airlines’ scheduled flights have been canceled, about a quarter of its total operations as the winter storm grips much of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and into Tennessee.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines was seeing nearly 700 cancellations, or about 17%.
DFW said it continues to mitigate the impacts of the winter weather and treat all surfaces to ensure safety. The airport reminds travelers to check their flight status with the airline before leaving for the airport, consider road conditions and allow extra travel time. DFW said TSA security operations are limited Wednesday.
Trinity Metro plans to resume operations for bus service
Trinity Metro announced it will begin operations for bus and ZipZone at 10 a.m. Thursday but said service might change if poor road conditions continue. TEXRail, Trinity Railway Express and ACCESS paratransit will operate on their regular schedules.
Call 817-215-8600 with questions about specific routes. Sign up online to receive rider alerts.
Current Temperatures
Current temperatures and weather data from NOAA weather stations updated hourly. Tap on the map for current weather conditions, including humidity, wind speed. and direction. Data provided by NOAA and Esri.
Staff writers Domingo Ramirez Jr., Jenny Rudolph, Eleanor Dearman, Nicole Lopez and James Hartley contributed to this report.
