Another winter storm could drop another 5 inches of snow on Dallas-Fort Worth

This story will be updated regularly.

The sun came out Monday, but it did not do much to warm up the millions of Texans who struggled without power.

By about 3pm, the peak had risen by only 13 degrees – not nearly enough to clear the snow that fell at DFW International Airport on Sunday.

And before people had a good chance of stabilizing themselves, more snow could be on the way to increase the slippery conditions that made even short trips from home treacherous, according to the National Weather Service.

Lowest Tuesday is expected to drop in the single digits again, and gale-force winds will make it feel more like -15 degrees, according to Jason Dunn, a meteorologist from Weather Service.

Dallas-Fort Worth had a cold snap warning on Tuesday afternoon – the first of its kind ever in North Texas.

“The freezing cold can cause freezing on the exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes,” the weather service said. “Avoid outside activities if possible.”

The next round of winter weather is expected to move to Texas on Tuesday afternoon and cross the Red River before heading south toward Dallas, Dunn said.

Areas north of Interstate 20 could still get 3 to 5 inches of snow.

“It must be mainly an icy rain and / or snow mixture, which could lead to significant icing, especially south of the metroplex,” he said.

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

Government Greg Abbott on Monday deployed the National Guard across the state to conduct welfare investigations and take those in need to heating centers.

To clear roads and help essential workers, Abbott also deployed resources, including 3,300 statesmen and 3,300 patrol vehicles, as well as workers at the Texas Military Department, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Emergency. Medical Task Team.

Temperatures plunged in single digits to the south of San Antonio, and Harris County officials warned that the freezing could pose problems on the scale of hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast each summer.

“We’re experiencing a very historic event,” said Jason Furtado, a professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.

Disruptions

Most flights from DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field were stopped for a second day.

American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, has canceled approximately 371 flights at DFW International Airport, which is the main hub responsible for most of the traffic through the central United States. The cancellations are almost in line with the 386 flights that stopped the airline on Sunday.

Water supplies in the area received dozens of calls about frozen pipes early Monday and the number rose as the temperature remained below freezing. Residents were encouraged to keep taps running to reduce the risk of freezing.

Grand Prairie had to deal with water disruptions that could fix crew problems due to the extreme cold. However, no interruption caused major problems.

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

NorthPark Center and Golden Triangle Mall in Denton were closed all day and the Galleria in Dallas closed at noon. Many grocery stores like Kroger and Central Market also planned to close early.

HEB, the largest chain of grocery stores in the state, closes places around Austin and San Antonio, cities that have few resources to clean roads.

The severe cold also caused problems with the spread of the coronavirus vaccine. State health officials said Texas, which would receive more than 400,000 vaccine doses this week, now does not expect deliveries to take place until at least Wednesday.

Risky roads

The Texas Department of Transportation said Monday that nearly every lane in North Texas has accumulated snow after Sunday’s storm.

Crew worked Monday to deal with icy stickers and plows, but TxDOT strongly discouraged people from hitting the streets, warning that traffic signals could be affected by power outages.

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

Dallas Area Rapid Transit suspended all rail service Sunday night and will only resume rail traffic Thursday morning.

The Trinity Railway Express service was suspended from Monday evening to Thursday morning. DART buses operate according to a Saturday timetable and 14 bus routes have been added. The Dallas tram did not run while DART was operating according to a winter weather plan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.