Much of Dallas-Fort Worth without power amid record low temps, new winter storm warning
Hundreds of thousands of Dallas-Fort Worth residents were without power Tuesday as record low temperatures bore down on the region and more winter weather loomed on the horizon.
Road conditions were also dangerous in many spots across North Texas, with the frigid temperatures freezing over precipitation from the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Tarrant County issued a disaster declaration on Tuesday, stating citizens and businesses have been impacted by impassable roads and power outages. Many residences and storefronts across the county have been dark since Monday.
Judge Glen Whitley, in a letter to Governor Greg Abbott, asked for help with the situation that is “of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond Tarrant County’s capability to recover.”
The temperature was hovering around -1 early Tuesday morning, breaking the previous record low of 12 set in 1903, according to the weather service. As of 3:30 p.m., around 172,000 Oncor customers in Tarrant County and 246,000 in Dallas County were without power, according to the company’s outage map. Estimated restoration times weren’t known on Tuesday morning.
Ben Fort, a 34-year-old who lives in Fort Worth’s Ryan Place neighborhood, said in a Twitter message on Tuesday morning the power has been out since 2 a.m. Monday in the home he shares with his wife and two children, ages 2 and 4. They huddled close in a bed together Monday until the sun rose, when their thermostat read 44 degrees, Fort said. He and his wife soon began thinking the safest thing for them to do was to leave.
They went to the home of a friend with power in Mistletoe Heights, about two miles north of them, and have stayed through Tuesday as they wait for their power to come back. Fort has been periodically checking in on his home, he said — the thermostat now simply reads “LO,” and toilet water is beginning to freeze.
Their estimated restoration time from Oncor has gone down from 4 a.m. Monday to, as of Tuesday morning, indefinite, Fort said.
“I get that it doesn’t make sense for Texas to be fully prepared for a state-wide blizzard, but it feels like they didn’t even have a plan,” Fort said.
Around 212,000 North Fort Worth residents were also being told on Tuesday to boil their water following power outages at water treatment plants.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas declared the state was at its highest energy emergency level on Monday and began rotating power outages across the state. Scores of people, beginning Monday and continuing Tuesday morning, have taken to social media to say they have been without power for several consecutive hours, and many for more than 24 hours.
ERCOT said on Twitter Tuesday morning, “We should be able to restore some customers this afternoon due to additional wind and solar output...But, the amount we restore will depend on how much generation is actually able to come online.”
MedStar had 570 ambulance responses over 24 hours Monday, with 82 responses related to power and 44 for hypothermia, spokesman Matt Zavadsky said. That’s the most ambulance responses within 24 hours since 2011.
Wind chill and hard freeze warnings were in effect for North Texas through noon Tuesday, with possible wind chills as low as 15 below zero. The extreme cold can become life-threatening with prolonged time spent outdoors, and can severely damage pipes that aren’t properly insulated, according to the weather service.
David Bonnette, a meteorologist with the weather service, said the wind had “backed off a good bit” Tuesday and the wind chill was about the same as the temperature in the air. But with temperatures around 0, DFW residents are still dealing with dangerous cold they may not be used to, Bonnette said.
Additionally, he noted, the sun began to melt some snow on Monday, and in the overnight hours those spots turned into a glaze of ice.
“Especially on area side roads and side streets and things like that, there’s actually a lot of black ice that’s out there so roads are slick,” Bonnette said over the phone. “On my experience, driving in this morning, the roads are worse in spots than they were yesterday.”
He also warned that, in terms of the winter weather, “when it rains it pours.”
“Or in this case, when it snows it snows more,” Bonnette said.
Incoming winter storm
A winter storm system is expected to move into DFW between 6 and 9 Tuesday evening, initially bringing a mix of sleet and snow, Bonnette said. That should transition into only snow overnight, he said, dropping around 1 to 2 inches by the morning, which will accumulate on top of snow and ice already on the ground.
Area farther north of DFW are expected to see more snow and areas farther south could see more ice and freezing rain, Bonnette said. DFW is kind of on the “dividing line,” he said.
“I don’t think we’re gonna get a lot of snow and I don’t think we’re gonna get a lot of ice but there’s a chance we get a good bit of all three — of freezing rain, sleet and snow,” Bonnette said.
A winter storm warning for North Texas will go into effect 6 p.m. Tuesday and last through 6 a.m. Thursday, with possible impacts including dangerous road conditions and additional power outages.
Homeless shelters across Tarrant County will be active all week due to the cold weather, according to Lauren King, executive director of the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition.
Fort Worth is also operating a shelter at the Fort Worth Convention Center open from 7 p.m. Tuesday through 7 a.m. Wednesday, and then from 7 p.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Thursday, officials said in a news release. It will be open until noon on Thursday.
People are advised to enter through the Houston Street entrance, where there will be a COVID-19 screening. Pets aren’t allowed inside the building at this time, officials said.
The high was expected to be around 21 on Tuesday, according to the weather service. Highs are expected to be in the 20s on Wednesday and Thursday, before a high of around 36 on Friday and 48 on Saturday.
It’s expected to reach 58 on Sunday and Monday.
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