Winter storm warnings abound as snow, sleet expected in Dallas

On By Littum

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Another looming winter storm is expected to dump heavy snow, ice, freezing rain from the South into the Mid-Atlantic this week, potentially knocking out power and closing roads.

Days after a deadly storm battered the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, a developing system is expected to move out of Mexico over the Gulf Coast late Thursday, into western Florida Friday night and hit the southern Mid-Atlantic coast by Saturday.

The incoming storm is expected to bring 6 to 8 inches of snow from southeastern Oklahoma through western North Carolina, National Weather Service warned Thursday. Ice and freezing rain will hit the southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley before moving toward parts of the Southeast, southern Appalachians, and up into the Mid-Atlantic on Friday.

The Tennessee Valley could see some of the heaviest snowfall, with 6 inches expected on Friday. A wide swath of the country is under winter weather warnings and advisories and will see impacts including “widespread closures, treacherous travel, scattered power outages and downed branches,” the weather service said.

“Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, are likely to become slippery and dangerous,” weather service office in Shreveport, Louisiana warned. “The strong winds and the weight of snow on tree limbs can bring down power lines and can cause sporadic power outages. Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice. Travel may be nearly impossible.”

Dozens of winter storm warnings were issued Thursday in northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma, southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana, southeast Missouri, which expire Friday. Warnings will remain in effect for Tennessee, northern Alabama, as well as parts of south-central Indiana and Kentucky through Saturday.

“In places that don’t get snow or ice very often, like Austin, Dallas, Little Rock and Nashville, it’s going to be a big deal,” AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines told USA TODAY earlier this week, noting that cities like Dallas could see their most significant snowfall in several years.

Developments:

∎ Thousands of customers in the path of the storm, including more than 5,500 in Indiana and more than 3,000 in Kentucky, are without power as more bad weather approaches, according to USA TODAY’s power outage tracker.

Texas is getting ready for winter weather

A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain has already begun to fall as the storm, dubbed Winter Storm Cora, hit West Texas, The weather channel reported Thursday.

Between 2 and 5 inches of snow and sleet is expected to accumulate in parts of the state, with isolated snowfall of up to 10 inches in some areas, the weather service in Fort Worth said. If Dallas — where the annual historical snowfall average is 1.6 inches — gets half a foot of snow, it would be among the “top-five snowfalls on record” according to AccuWeather.

Dozens of schools are closed or will open late over north and central Texas in anticipation of the storm. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that he had directed more than a dozen state agencies to prepare for the severe weather and concentrate resources in North and West Texas.

Power outages and a lack of snowplows remains a concern during winter storms for Texans, especially after 2021 when almost 70% of the state lost power and ice and snow made many roads impassable and dangerous during a days-long arctic winter storm.

Chief Pablo Vegas of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said the state’s power grid, which came within minutes of total collapse during the 2021 storm, is expected to have a “more than adequate supply” of energy to keep homes powered and heated through this winter storm. Roads with “hot spots” have been pre-treated with brine since Tuesday, and the state has invested in more snow plows and “strategically” deployed them, said Brian Barth, Texas Department of Transportation deputy director.

Cast: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY; Bianca Moreno-PazAustin American-statesman