DALLAS - The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for all of North Texas starting late Tuesday night and continuing through 6 p.m. Wednesday as the region braces for yet another round of ice and snow.
"I will be shocked if the kids go to school on Wednesday," WFAA chief meteorologist Pete Delkus said. "I think we're going to have some problems Thursday morning, too."
As the winter storm nears, TxDOT is reloading to deal with the ice and snow that make for dangerous driving conditions.
The highway department in Dallas have been racing through storm supplies, using almost as much last week as it used all last year. But, the staff says they're ready. Overnight, employees already did maintenance work on all the equipment.
"After the last storm, the trucks get pretty weathered and beat up," said Mark Petit, a TxDOT spokesman. "We need to make sure they're going to operate correctly. The rest of our guys are brining in materials."
The emergency operation center is on standby to move when the storm is within 50 miles.
As the arctic front nears North Texas, showers will first appear at about 10 p.m. and into midnight, said WFAA meteorologist Greg Fields. The rain will then transition into sleet and snow early in the morning hours.
At 5 a.m., that freezing rain will be moving into the D-FW area just in time for the morning rush hour.
There will be light accumulations of ice south of Denton, McKinney and Bridgeport.
Delkus said the icy precipitation will shift to all snow by 9 a.m., and snow will continue falling across North Texas through noon, with snow showers and flurries possible through Wednesday afternoon.
The immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area is looking at 2 to 4 inches of accumulation, with lighter amounts to the south and higher totals — up to 6 inches — to the north, the Channel 8 forecaster said.
The high temperature on Wednesday will be 30 degrees at 6 a.m., and the mercury will be falling steadily through the rest of the day. By 5 p.m., the temperature will be around 20, with wind chill readings in the single digits, Delkus said.
The low Wednesday night will be 13 degrees, and the thermometer won't get above freezing on Thursday.
