Another winter storm could dump 5 inches more snow on Dallas-Fort Worth

This story will be updated regularly.

The sun came out on Monday, but it didn’t do much to warm the millions of Texans who were struggling without power.

By 3 p.m. Monday, the summit had climbed to just 13 degrees – not enough to clear the 4 inches of snow that fell on Sunday at DFW International Airport.

And before people have had a good chance to stabilize, more snow could be about to add to the slippery conditions that made even short trips home perilous, according to the National Weather Service.

According to Jason Dunn, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, Tuesday’s lows are expected to fall back into single-digit numbers again, and gusty winds will make it look more like -15 degrees.

Dallas-Fort Worth was under a wind chill warning until noon Tuesday – the first such warning ever recorded in North Texas.

“Cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes,” the weather service said. “Avoid outdoor activities if possible.”

The next winter season is expected to travel to Texas on Tuesday afternoon, crossing the Red River before heading south towards Dallas, Dunn said.

Areas north of Interstate 20 could receive 3 to 5 inches of more snow.

“It should be mostly freezing rain and / or a mixture of sleet, which could lead to significant additional icing, particularly south of the metroplex,” he said.

After a winter storm warning expired Monday morning, the National Weather Service issued a second for all of Dallas-Fort Worth. The warning, scheduled from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Thursday morning, urged North Texans to avoid travel late Tuesday through Wednesday and warned that more power outages were likely.

Governor Greg Abbott deployed the National Guard across the state on Monday to conduct welfare checks and help get those in need to warming centers.

To clear roads and assist essential workers, Abbott also deployed resources, including 3,300 state troops and 3,300 patrol vehicles, as well as workers from the Texas Military Department, Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. , Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas Department of Transportation and Texas Emergency. Medical working group.

Temperatures have plunged to single digits as far south as San Antonio, and Harris County officials have warned the frost could create problems the size of the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast every summer.

“This is a truly historic event,” said Jason Furtado, professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.

Disturbances

Most flights from DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field have been halted for a second day.

American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, has canceled about 371 flights at DFW International Airport, which is its main hub responsible for channeling most of its traffic through the central United States. The cancellations nearly matched the 386 flights the airline cut off on Sunday.

Water utilities in the area were already receiving dozens of calls about frozen pipes early Monday, and the number has risen as temperatures stayed below freezing. Residents were encouraged to turn on the faucets to reduce the risk of freezing.

Grand Prairie was struggling with broken water lines that crews struggled to repair due to the extreme cold. However, neither of the two cuts posed major problems.

Power outages and dangerous road conditions forced many businesses to close on Monday.

Denton’s NorthPark Center and Golden Triangle Mall were closed all day, and the Dallas Galleria closed at noon. Many grocery stores such as Kroger and Central Market were also planning to close early.

HEB, the state’s largest grocery chain, has closed locations around Austin and San Antonio, cities that have few resources to clear roads.

The severe cold was also causing problems for the state’s coronavirus vaccine distribution efforts. State health officials said Texas, which was due to receive more than 400,000 doses of the vaccine this week, no longer expected deliveries to take place until at least Wednesday.

Risky roads

The Texas Department of Transportation said Monday that nearly all roads in North Texas had accumulated snow after Sunday’s storm.

Crews worked Monday to deal with the patches of ice and the plow, but TxDOT strongly discouraged people from taking to the streets and warned that traffic lights could be affected by power outages.

“Be careful at these intersections and treat them like a four-way stop until power is restored,” TxDOT said in a written statement.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit suspended all streetcar services on Sunday evening and will not resume rail operations until Thursday morning.

The Trinity Railway Express service was suspended from Monday evening to Thursday morning. DART buses operated on a Saturday schedule and 14 shuttle routes were added. The Dallas streetcar was not running while DART was running on a winter weather plan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.