North Texas’ winter storm warning has transformed into a hard freeze warning. Forecasters warn that icy roads and pipe-freezing temperatures could linger into Saturday. Depending on where in North Texas you are, residents saw up to three inches of snow and sleet before the storm moved east out of Dallas on Thursday afternoon.
While this winter storm was not as severe, widespread, and long-lasting as the inclement weather that kicked a hole in Texas’ power grid last February, localized power outages remain possible. Most of those would be caused by downed power lines, particularly risky at locations near trees that may have frozen. Wind gusts add to that risk.
We’ll update this post over the next few days as Dallas-Fort Worth freezes and thaws.
If you don’t want to bother reading anything else in this article, just take a look at this image from the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. As of shortly after noon Wednesday, it tells you just about everything to expect. — A.M.
Update: Friday, Feb. 4 at 12 p.m.
Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders held another press conference. It would seem we’re in a holding pattern until we warm up. Abbott says this morning’s demand of around 69,000 megawatts will be the peak of the storm, below the 75,000 that was forecasted. The grid’s reserve capacity has held steady throughout the event.
According to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, the 20,000 Texans currently without power are suffering local outages due to damaged power lines and other case-specific problems. There are about 2,100 Dallas County residents without power, down from the 20,000 that went without 24 hours ago. Oncor worked through the night to restore service.
There are now about 800 individuals experiencing homelessness sheltering at Fair Park, about double the count from yesterday.
The roads remain slick, but we’re about to get another three hours of sun and temperatures just-above freezing. At nightfall, we’ll run it back—what has melted will re-freeze as temperatures drop back down into the teens. — M.G.
Update: Friday, Feb. 4 at 11:10 a.m.
The McKinney Avenue Trolley is out of service until at least Saturday morning. The Trinity Railway Express appears to still be sending trains to Fort Worth and back.
Update: Friday, Feb. 4 at 8:45 a.m.
DART is suspending its rail and bus services from noon Friday to noon on Sunday. It stopped its rail operations on Thursday, but has now added buses and its paratransit service. (Riders who need to use paratransit to get to medical services will be accommodated.)
The National Weather Service’s Hard Freeze Warning will continue for Dallas-Fort Worth through at least Saturday morning. — M.G.
Update: Friday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 a.m.
The roads are worse than they were yesterday. The temperatures overnight dropped into the teens, refreezing the wintry mix that spent much of Thursday blanketing the region. All of North Texas is like this: Dallas north to Collin County and Denton County, south to Waxahachie. The Texas Department of Transportation is urging drivers to stay off the roads, at least until the sun comes out. Some of the heavily trafficked corridors might melt as we get into the afternoon, but the song will play again Friday night: temperatures will fall to 12 degrees by Saturday, re-freezing the roads.
“Pavements may appear wet in places but actually have coating of ice due to freezing temps,” TxDOT’s Dallas division said in a tweet. “Avoid travel if possible.”
Meantime, the state’s power grid has yet to show signs of failure. The height of electricity demand still appears to be around 8 a.m. this morning, but that demand is about 7 megawatts lower than what was projected on Thursday. ERCOT’s dashboard shows that the state has about 15 megawatts of capacity that it isn’t using. Demand peaked at 68,146 megawatts and is beginning to slope. That is definitely encouraging, consideringthe grid failed in 2021 as demand reached69,692 megawatts.
This storm is nowhere near as severe or widespread. Wind generation is still out-performing expectations because the turbines in West Texas didn’t freeze. And the natural gas operators that fell offline last year have, so far, kept producing as expected. — M.G.
Update: Thursday, Feb. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
The storm is now east of us. The below-freezing temperatures are not. Which presents a problem for what the storm produced. The low tonight is 17 and the wind chill will hover somewhere between 4 and 14 degrees. Download the OurCalling app to alert service providers to any individuals who you see who are out in the cold. They have folks ready to respond. According to Councilman Adam Bazaldua, who represents South Dallas, the city served 445 unsheltered individuals at its warming center at Fair Park. (And two dogs and a cat.)
The wintry mix that spent more than a dozen hours with us is now re-freezing on the roads. The National Weather Service expects wind gusts of up to 25 mph tonight, which means there is still a risk that a frozen tree limb could come off and damage the power line near your home. So keep your phones charged, just in case you need to call Oncor. The power grid capacity is still hovering about 20 megawatts over demand, which means it’s actually doing its job.
See you tomorrow, unless I have to see you tonight. — M.G.
Update: Thursday, Feb. 3 at 2:45 p.m.
The Dallas Morning News reports that one runway at DFW Airport is back open, but Love Field won’t see any activity at least until the evening. More here. — M.G.
Update: Thursday, Feb. 3 at 12 p.m.
In his first press conference since temperatures dipped into the 20s, Gov. Greg Abbott sought to assure Texans that the state’s power grid would be able to stay online during periods of peak demand. Friday morning remains the most likely high-point of this winter storm. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas expects the state to use upwards of 75,000 megawatts of power, which would be a record demand.
In February 2021, when the grid failed and 4.5 million Texans lost power—1.3 million of those in North Texas—demand for electricity reached 69,692 megawatts. The prior June, the state reached 70,219 megawatts. The most ever was in August of 2019, when demand reached 74,820. ERCOT is expecting Friday to sail past that.
What’s different this time, Abbott said, is a reserve of 20,000 megawatts of extra power over current demand. Around lunchtime Thursday, statewide capacity is about 84,000 megawatts while demand is about 64,000.
Across Texas, about 70,000 customers are without power. (Oncor says about 26,000 of those are in North Texas.) The most likely reason? Heavy winds may have brought down power lines. Ice may have accumulated on those lines and damaged them. Trees might be frozen and fall onto lines. The state is supporting local providers to help fix these issues quickly.
“We have an extraordinary amount of extra supply power at this time,” Abbott said.
Brad Jones, the interim CEO of ERCOT, said the agency got a boost from wind production in West Texas after the level of icing was not as severe as expected. He says no producers have fallen offline, like what happened last February.
“We have not seen any of our generation come offline for a cold weather situation, which is an indication that our weatherization program is working as we had hoped,” he said.
Local conditions remain touch-and-go. State officials urged residents to stay off the road unless absolutely necessary. The National Weather Service’s Winter Storm Warning remains in effect through 6 p.m.. And while the sleet transitioned into snow around 11 a.m., the temperature is still 22 degrees and roads and bridges remain icy.
“We are dealing with one of the most significant icing events that we’ve had in the state of Texas in at least several decades,” Abbott said.
Which is why the Texas Department of Transportation has closed the managed lanes in Dallas-Fort Worth. DFW Airport’s runways are iced over and on a ground stop. Southwest isn’t operating flights out of Love Field today. And DART has canceled rail service until Sunday. — M.G.
Update: Thursday, Feb. 3 at 8:15 a.m.
Here’s another helpful image showing how much precipitation North Texas saw overnight. — A.M.
Closures and Cancellations
The Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, and Richardson school districts have closed schools for Thursday and Friday. Most area schools seem to be shutting down for at least Thursday. Channel 5 is updating a full list of school closures at the other end of this link.
Parkland Hospital is closing its clinics and its COVID-19 testing center on Thursday and Friday.
If you had a flight scheduled at DFW Airport or Love Field, sorry. Airports will remain open.
DART has suspended rail service through Sunday. Shuttle buses will fill in. — A.M.
Are the Lights On?
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, are a little under 19,000 Oncor customers without power. There are 503 active outages. Check Oncor outages in North Texas here.
ERCOT, the state electric agency that blew it so bad last year, says that despite an increase in demand the state’s grid should hold steady throughout the storm. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, its website says grid conditions are normal. Normal is good. ERCOT’s projections show enough operating reserves to meet demand, which it is forecasting to peak Friday morning.
At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott noted there may be localized power outages caused by, for example, ice breaking a tree limb that subsequently hits a power line.
Local electric utility Oncor say that resources “and personnel are being pre-positioned ahead of the severe weather arrival to ensure any necessary restoration work can begin as soon as safely possible.” That news release continues: “Customers can report outages and receive updates by registering for MyOncor text alerts by texting “REG” to 66267, downloading the MyOncor App and following Oncor on Facebook and Twitter, or by calling 888.313.4747. If you see a downed power line, stay away, keep people away and call 911 immediately.”
Good idea to have some flashlights and nonperishable food at hand, just in case. — A.M.
Warming Shelters
The city of Dallas has opened the automobile building at Fair Park as a temporary shelter for people who are homeless. Anyone is welcome to warm up at a library or parks and recreation center during regular operating hours. Here’s a list of some other warming centers throughout North Texas. — A.M.
Driving In All This
Roads are icy and likely to stay that way, according to the National Weather Service:
Don’t drive, if you can help it. We’re not cut out for this in Texas. If you can’t help it, go slow and steady and leave other cars plenty of room. Here’s a corny instructional video that appears to be from an old defensive driving class.
What About My Pipes?
Some tips from Dallas Water Utilities:
- Wrap any exposed pipes.
- Let hot and cold-water drip from faucets on outside walls. Even a trickle can help keep pipes from freezing.
- Leave cabinet doors open under sinks.
- Drain and unhook hoses from outside faucets and cover faucets with insulated covers or wrap in dry cloths.
- Turn off your automatic sprinkler system to prevent burst irrigation pipes.
- Shut-off water to vacant properties with the home’s private shut-off valve.
What Else?
Cover your plants, bring your pets inside, and (figuratively, unless you actually are on a boat) batten down the hatches. We’ll get through the next few days. — A.M.
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