When is the snow expected to start falling in Dallas-Fort Worth?

North Texans are bundled up or hunkered down as snow and sleet are expected to begin falling in the region Thursday.

A winter storm warning was in effect for several North Texas counties, including Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman and Tarrant. Ellis remained under a winter road advisory.

Here is the latest information on today’s bad weather:

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s electric grid operator, issued a weather watch for Friday due to an increase in electric demand and the potential for lower reserves, but has maintained that normal grid conditions are expected for the duration of the storm.

“There is no current expectation of an energy emergency,” ERCOT officials said in a news release.

From early Thursday morning, ERCOT’s dashboards showed demand of around 59,000 megawatts – well below the grid’s committed capacity of more than 74,500 megawatts.

Both ERCOT and Oncor, a power transmission and distribution company that owns and operates power lines throughout the Dallas area, have said they are confident and prepared for the storm.

– Jamie Landers

Preparing for the bad winter weather looks a little different for everyone.

For state and local agencies, they began painting roads and staging emergency crews days in advance. Governor Greg Abbott also held a briefing on the state’s emergency operations plans.

Meanwhile, North Texas residents scrambled to get out to stores before the snow started to get their last minute needs like groceries and winter weather supplies.

Meanwhile, businesses such as DFW International Airport, Dallas Love Field Airport, airlines, the Dallas Arboretum, the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and the Dallas Zoo were doing what they could to prepare for the storm as well.

– Lana Ferguson

Several North Texas school districts have closed campuses for the rest of the week, while others have only canceled classes and activities Thursday as they continue to monitor Friday’s weather forecast.

In Dallas County, classes already canceled for both Thursday and Friday include those at schools in Dallas, DeSoto, Garland, Irving, Mesquite, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Cedar Hill and Richardson ISD.

As of Wednesday night, those canceled only Thursday include schools within Grand Prairie and Coppell ISD, in addition to Episcopal School of Dallas.

Dallas Morning News has also tracked multiple campus closings across Tarrant, Collin and Hunt counties.

– Wilborn P. Nobles III

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth began the first Thursday forecast with the words many people have been waiting for: “The winter storm will begin this morning and continue through tonight.”

As meteorologists continued to change their predictions about how much snowfall Dallas-Fort Worth and other areas of Texas could get, the final forecast ahead of the precipitation’s arrival was 2 to 5 inches of winter mix generally along and north of Interstate 20.

Some places may get isolated totals of 8 to 10 inches, likely closer to the Red River near Paris.

Significant ice accumulations are now less likely, but there was an increase in the chance for bands of moderate to heavy sleet across parts of North Texas, including along and south of I-20.

The weather is expected to have some travel impacts starting later Thursday morning, but this danger is likely to peak late afternoon into Thursday evening.

– Lana Ferguson

Thursday Outlook: Dallas-Fort Worth could get 2-5 inches of snow over the next few days

Many school districts across the region have already closed campuses for the rest of the week due to the weather forecast.

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