After being glazed in ice for much of the week, North Texas began thawing Thursday as temperatures rose above freezing for the first time following more than three days of bitter cold.
Across Texas, this week’s winter storm created treacherous — even deadly — travel conditions and left hundreds of thousands without power.
The thaw signaled the beginning of the end for an icy blast that brought North Texas to a standstill, blowing in sleet, snow and freezing rain.
With temperatures climbing into the low to mid-30s, conditions on primary roads improved, but slick and slushy conditions could persist on less-traveled roads and side streets, the National Weather Service said. Some afternoon rain may also have accelerated the melting of ice across the region, according to the weather service.
Slick spots could remain for Friday morning’s commute in Dallas-Fort Worth, however, with ice potentially refreezing overnight on roads, bridges and side streets.
Conditions are expected to widely improve across the region Friday, meteorologists say. Friday’s forecast calls for a high in the mid-40s, and temperatures are expected to continue rising, with highs in the 60s by Sunday and Monday.
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As the state melted, Gov. Greg Abbott urged Texans to report property damage from the winter weather by using the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool damage survey at damage.tdem.texas.gov.
”I thank all of our utility workers working to restore power in their communities and our emergency response personnel who are continuing to help their fellow Texans as they begin to move forward,” Abbott said in a written statement.
Power outages
The storm came two years after a February 2021 winter storm crippled the state’s power system, killing more than 240 people and leaving millions without heat.
But this year, tree limbs and power lines buckling under the weight of ice — not a grid failure — have led to power outages across Texas, officials said.
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[30/30] A Dallas Area Rapid Transit train crosses over Northwest Highway toward the Park Lane Station in Dallas on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Due to extreme winter weather across North Texas, DART’s light rail Red, Blue, Green and Orange lines experienced “significant delays,” the day before.(Liesbeth Powers / Staff Photographer)
North Texas seemed to be spared from the worst of the outages Thursday, with the majority clustered in Central and East Texas. About 12,000 customers in Dallas-Fort Worth were without power, and dangerous road conditions had slowed repairs, Oncor spokeswoman Kerri Dunn said.
Statewide, more than 300,000 customers were without electricity Thursday evening — about half of them in the Austin area — according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. Outages near Tyler affected about 30,000 customers.
In Austin, electricity crews had to deal with icy roads and frozen equipment.
“Austin Energy is working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, but challenging conditions may slow down these efforts,” the company said in a statement.
Roads, reopenings
With North Texas warming and roads becoming more passable, more businesses are expected to open Friday.
Some school districts — including Arlington, Fort Worth and Grand Prairie ISDs — are remaining closed, while others plan to open on a delayed schedule, such as Dallas and Lewisville ISDs.
The city of Dallas announced its libraries would reopen at noon Friday and that trash and recycling collection would resume.
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Officials had urged motorists to stay home while public facilities and schools have been closed throughout the week. Icy roads led to at least seven deaths across the state, The Associated Press reported. In Arlington, a man died Monday after his SUV slid into a guardrail.
Early Thursday, two Fort Worth police officers narrowly avoided serious injury after a jack-knifing semitrailer struck a patrol car while they were responding to a crash on Interstate 30. They were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
Since Monday, MedStar has responded to more than 170 crashes in the Fort Worth area, with the ambulance service taking 53 people to the hospital. Nineteen people have been taken to the hospital for hypothermia, with 10 in serious condition, and nearly 30 patients have been injured from falls on the ice.
Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to more than 400 crashes between Monday morning and Thursday evening. The bulk of those calls — 286 — were on Monday and early Tuesday. Spokesman Jason Evans said after the first day of the storm, the number of accidents significantly decreased with fewer people on the roads.
Since Monday morning, Dallas Fire-Rescue has responded to 13 calls for “environmental emergencies,” 190 calls for falls and 27 calls to cut off water.
Travel disruptions improve, but continue
Freezing temperatures and slick roads essentially shut down North Texas airports Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday’s weather led to improved operations at DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field.
Although more than 500 flights were canceled between the two airports Thursday, more than 70% of flights made it into or out of DFW Airport, and Love Field operated more than 90% of its flights, according to Flightaware.com.
Since Monday, airlines have canceled at least 4,200 flights into and out of North Texas airports because of the cold, icy conditions.
Public transportation also started to get back to normal Thursday. After a morning of delays of more than one hour, DART light-rail service resumed with modified schedules.
Some areas began to thaw Wednesday evening but refroze overnight, spokesman Gordon Shattles said. He said crews were out overnight attempting to clear ice from electrical lines and switches with blowtorches and de-icers.
Buses also saw modified schedules as their routes were affected by slick roads.
