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Weather
Climate
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Capital Weather Gang
Environment
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SEVERE ICE STORM CAUSING TRAVEL CHAOS FROM TEXAS TO TENNESSEE


THE ICE HAS ALREADY TRIGGERED MULTIVEHICLE CRASHES, TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK, HUNDREDS
OF FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS AND THOUSANDS OF POWER OUTAGES

By Dan Stillman
January 31, 2023 at 1:52 p.m. EST

An emergency vehicle moves down an icy highway in Dallas on Tuesday. (Shelby
Tauber/Reuters)
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A dangerous ice storm has turned streets into skating rinks and closed schools
across a large swath of the southern United States from Texas to Tennessee. The
frozen precipitation, mainly in the form of freezing rain and sleet, developed
in Texas and Oklahoma midday Monday before spreading to the east and northeast
Monday night into Tuesday.



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Multivehicle crashes near Austin and Memphis on Tuesday morning stranded drivers
for hours, with at least one fatality confirmed, and hundreds of flights were
canceled or delayed, with airports serving Dallas and Austin among those hardest
hit.

More than 1,700 flights canceled as wintry weather hits southern U.S.

Ice storms threaten the South

as temperatures drop

Minimum temperature, forecast for Tuesday

-10˚F

32˚F

70˚F

ME

NH

WA

VT

MT

ND

OR

MN

MA

ID

SD

NY

WI

CT

WY

MI

RI

IA

PA

NE

NV

NJ

OH

IN

IL

UT

WV

DE

CO

CA

MO

VA

KS

KY

MD

AZ

NC

TN

OK

AR

SC

NM

AL

GA

MS

LA

TX

FL

Source: NOAA

DANIEL WOLFE/THE WASHINGTON POST

Ice storms threaten the South

as temperatures drop

Minimum temperature, forecast for Tuesday

-10˚F

32˚F

70˚F

WA

NH

VT

ME

MT

ND

OR

MN

MA

ID

SD

NY

WI

CT

WY

MI

RI

IA

PA

NE

NV

NJ

OH

MD

IN

IL

UT

DE

WV

CO

CA

VA

MO

KS

KY

AZ

NC

TN

OK

AR

SC

NM

AL

GA

MS

LA

TX

FL

Source: NOAA

DANIEL WOLFE/THE WASHINGTON POST

Ice storms threaten the South as temperatures drop

Minimum temperature, forecast for Tuesday

-10˚F

32˚F

70˚F

WA

ME

MT

ND

VT

OR

MN

NH

WI

ID

SD

NY

MA

MI

CT

RI

WY

IA

PA

NJ

NE

NV

OH

IN

MD

DE

IL

UT

WV

CA

CO

VA

MO

KS

KY

AZ

NC

TN

OK

AR

SC

NM

MS

AL

GA

LA

TX

FL

Source: NOAA

DANIEL WOLFE/THE WASHINGTON POST

Power outages were starting to build as well. As of midafternoon Tuesday, more
than 20,000 customers in Texas were in the dark.

State and local officials were asking people to stay off icy roads and urging
the safe use of space heaters to avoid destructive home fires. In some cases,
treated roads might be passable, but bridges could still be dangerously icy.



One person was confirmed dead in a 10-vehicle pileup Tuesday morning in Austin.
The Austin Fire Department said it responded to more than 90 accidents between
midnight and about 11 a.m.

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Thundersleet, which is indicative of intense bursts of precipitation, was
reported in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Up to about 1.5 inches of sleet fell as
far north as southern Missouri and southern Illinois.

Northeast faces ‘ferocious Arctic blast’ and wind chills near minus-60

THE FORECAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY

Difficult to nearly impossible travel conditions were expected to continue
Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday. Winter storm warnings, ice storm
warnings and winter weather advisories stretched across central and northeast
Texas, southeast Oklahoma, Arkansas, western Tennessee, southern Missouri,
southern Illinois, southern Kentucky, and far southwestern Virginia.

An additional round of ice could hit central and northern Texas, as well as much
of Oklahoma and Arkansas, Wednesday into early Thursday.

The National Weather Service is predicting ice accumulations of 0.25 to 0.75
inches across parts of central and northern Texas, southern Oklahoma,
south-central Arkansas, and western Tennessee, with up to one inch possible in
south-central Texas near and west of Austin.



“Accumulating ice on roadways, especially bridges and overpasses, will cause
treacherous travel conditions. Prolonged power outages and tree damage are
likely,” the National Weather Service said in a summary of key messages.

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Texas

Moderate to heavy sleet was expected to continue Tuesday across and southwest of
the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with average ice accumulations around 0.25 to 0.5
inches. Isolated thunderstorms could produce bursts of sleet and freezing rain,
with some spots receiving up to one inch of sleet.

Travel impacts were expected to continue in and around Dallas-Fort Worth, and
westward to Abilene, Midland and Lubbock, at least into Wednesday afternoon, and
in some spots potentially into Thursday morning before temperatures rise above
freezing.



The worst is probably still to come in Austin and San Antonio. “Today is worse
than yesterday, but tomorrow will be even worse than today,” the Weather Service
office serving the region wrote Tuesday.

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Icy conditions were expected to remain north and west of the Houston area.

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Arkansas and Oklahoma

Periods of sleet and freezing rain were expected to continue across much of
Arkansas and central to southern Oklahoma into Thursday, especially Tuesday
afternoon into the evening, and again Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.
For Little Rock, most of the precipitation should be in the form of freezing
rain, with another 0.1 to 0.2 inches of ice accumulation possible.

Oklahoma City is forecast to see the worst conditions Wednesday evening into
Thursday morning.

Tennessee

A mix of freezing rain and sleet is expected in Memphis, as well as near and to
the north and west of Nashville, especially late Tuesday afternoon through early
Wednesday, with up to a half-inch of ice accumulation possible through
Wednesday. Conditions should improve as temperatures rise above freezing late
Wednesday.

How to see the green comet — from the astronomer who discovered it

COLD AIR FROM THE NORTH, WARM AIR FROM THE SOUTH

The nasty combination of sleet and freezing rain is a result of warm air at the
upper levels of the atmosphere that came from the south, and cold air near the
surface that came from the north. The precipitation melts into liquid as it
falls through the higher and warmer air first, then freezes as it reaches the
colder air near the ground.

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Freezing rain occurs when liquid rain freezes on contact with the cold ground,
forming an icy glaze. Sleet, on the other hand, develops when there’s a narrow
wedge of cold air several thousand feet high that freezes partially melted
snowflakes into pellet-sized pieces of ice. Generally speaking, sleet provides
more traction and is not as hazardous for pedestrians and motorists as freezing
rain — but it is still quite slick.

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.

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