North Texas winter weather forecast: Closures, traffic crashes, warning extended - The Dallas Morning News

The acold upwind and icy conditions coating North Texas are apt to proceed done Thursday greeting arsenic the National Weather Service extends its wintertime upwind tempest warning.

The warning, primitively acceptable to past Monday done Wednesday, is present set to expire astatine 6 a.m. Thursday.

The tempest — which brought freezing rain, sleet, and iced implicit roadways, to the portion Monday — caused schools and businesses to close done astatine slightest Tuesday, canceled flights retired of DFW International and Love Field airports, and sent cars sliding connected the highways.

“Widespread icing connected bridges and overpasses arsenic good arsenic aboveground streets is expected with question importantly impacted,” the upwind work said. “There is simply a debased accidental of immoderate downed powerlines and histrion harm owed to ice.”

A unrecorded radar tin beryllium viewed below, on with the latest updates from reporters astatine The Dallas Morning News:

10:38 a.m.: Storm moves implicit Dallas

The tempest shifted implicit Dallas, bringing with it airy to mean sleet and freezing rainfall successful immoderate areas, according to the upwind service. Sleet accumulation could summation to a half-inch oregon inch.

10:28 a.m.: Wreck shuts down I-35 successful Denton

A agelong of northbound I-35W successful Denton is closed owed to a jackknifed 18-wheeler blocking each lanes, Denton constabulary said connected Twitter. Traffic is being diverted astatine the Crawford exit to Highway 377.

Lanes volition beryllium closed until astatine slightest 11:30 a.m. Drivers should question alternate routes, constabulary say.

9:50 a.m.: Flights canceled

DFW International Airport said connected Twitter that it is monitoring the forecast and treating runways, roads, bridges and pedestrian walkways for ice.

Passengers should cheque their formation presumption with the hose earlier heading to the airport, let other clip to get determination and attack entranceway plazas with caution, the airdrome said.

By mid-morning Tuesday, much than one-third of flights successful and retired of DFW and Dallas Love Airport had been canceled, according to FlightAware, a formation tracking site.

Live radar

9:40 a.m.: As respective metropolis buildings close, libraries acceptable to open

The hazardous roadworthy conditions caused respective metropolis buildings to adjacent Tuesday, including Dallas Municipal Court and each recreation centers.

As of 8:15 a.m., metropolis libraries — which treble arsenic warming centers during inclement upwind — are acceptable to unfastened astatine noon, but metropolis officials accidental radical should telephone locations up of clip to verify they’re unfastened earlier heading over.

Additionally, a scheduled metropolis assembly committee gathering scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday was postponed until Feb. 7.

8:49 a.m.: Business arsenic accustomed successful immoderate places

The Kroger connected E. Mockingbird Lane was unfastened for concern contempt the icy roads surrounding it Tuesday morning. The parking batch was a premix of slush and recently fallen freezing rain.

About a twelve customers walked done the aisles, grabbing last-minute foods and necessities arsenic an intercom announcement echoed: “Attention employees: Please study to Starbucks for a escaped coffee.”

The adjacent 7/11 astatine the country of Greenville Avenue was besides unfastened for customers needing to capable up connected java oregon gas.

7:45 a.m.: ‘Thunder sleet’ begins to determination done D-FW

Just aft 7:30 a.m., the National Weather Service said a “moderate band” of sleet was opening to determination done the metroplex, successful summation to areas some westbound and east.

The upwind work said to expect a fewer isolated thunderstorms with bursts of some sleet and freezing rainfall to proceed passim the morning, adding sleet accumulations volition “average a 4th of an inch, with isolated totals up to 1 inch.”

“This volition pb to crystal packed roads and treacherous driving conditions,” the upwind work said.

In the Hollywood-Santa Monica vicinity of East Dallas, connected the borderline of Lakewood, the “thunder sleet” began falling astatine 7:50 a.m. truthful furiously that successful 3 minutes, the roads and rooftops went from looking wholly wide to covered successful white.

As Dallas Morning News columnist Sharon Grigsby described the scene: “It sounds similar solid breaking connected the roof.”

6 a.m: Icy roads

North Texans person been urged to enactment location passim the tempest if possible, but Dallas metropolis officials said for those inactive needing to marque a commute, TxDOT enactment crews are connected 24-hour shifts to dainty roads and highways.

Madison Schein, a TxDOT Dallas spokeswoman, said radical who person to thrust should program routes up of clip and to look for accusation connected drivetexas.org.

“We started pretreating roads with brine a fewer days agone and we’re continuing with brine,” Schein said. “Now we’re doing brackish and soil premix arsenic needed and we’ll proceed to set our operations arsenic the tempest moves done our area.”

The metropolis said it volition besides beryllium utilizing a brackish and soil substance to dainty roads adjacent to exigency facilities and icy bridges.

Hundreds of drivers were successful a multi-hour gridlock Tuesday greeting connected Interstate 20 successful Palo Pinto and Parker counties. The postulation resulted successful at slightest a 20-mile backup, KDFW-TV reported.

In the Fort Worth area, determination were much than 140 reported centrifugal conveyance collisions with reported injuries arsenic of 5 a.m. Tuesday, including 16 were rollover crashes, according to Matt Zavadsky, a spokesperson for MedStar.

There were besides 8 hypothermia-related calls, Zavadsky said. Seven radical required hospitalization and 5 of those were successful superior condition.

In addition, 9 radical were injured successful falls from slipping connected ice, Zavadsky said.

“Out of an abundance of caution,” Zavadsky said MedStar suspended the usage of lights and siren responses arsenic of 11:30 p.m. Monday to forestall crashes arsenic motorists effort to determination retired of the mode for ambulances.

“An ambulance that does not get connected the country of an exigency is not capable to assistance patients,” helium said. “It’s better, and safer, to respond a small slower, guarantee we arrive, and don’t origin immoderate injuries connected the mode to the call.”

Grid expected to conscionable demand

The Public Utility Commission of Texas and Electric Reliability Council of Texas, oregon ERCOT, the state’s main grid operator, person said they expect the grid to beryllium capable to grip “forecasted demand” brought connected by this week’s storm.

In a written connection Monday afternoon, Peter Lake, the president of the inferior commission, echoed ERCOT’s connection and said radical should proceed reporting section outages.

“Our biggest interest is powerfulness enactment safety, particularly successful areas that acquisition icing,” Lake wrote. “Ice tin measurement down lines and topple histrion limbs causing section powerfulness outages.”

Weather warms up aboriginal successful the week

The forecast calls for much sleet and freezing rainfall Tuesday with temperatures hovering successful the precocious 20s each day. Up to a fractional inch of crystal could accumulate.

Travel has the imaginable to go “life-threatening,” according to the upwind service. Road conditions could amended by the afternoon, but h2o connected the roads could frost erstwhile again overnight, worsening conditions for Wednesday morning.

These conditions proceed Wednesday earlier warming up to the 40s with rainfall connected Thursday. The play should beryllium sunny with temperatures successful the 50s and 60s.