North Texas residents woke up Sunday to a landscape transformed by ice and sleet, as Winter Storm Fern tightened its grip on the region with dangerous sub-freezing temperatures expected to persist through Tuesday.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex received between 1-2 inches of sleet accumulation, with heavier amounts of 3-5 inches reported in counties north of the metropolitan area, according to weather reports. Temperatures Sunday morning hovered around 13 degrees, with daytime highs struggling to reach 19 degrees before plunging to a bone-chilling 9 degrees overnight.
Schools Close, Residents Hunker Down
The severity of the winter blast prompted Dallas-area school districts to announce closures through Monday, giving students an unexpected long weekend but causing headaches for working parents. Many residents shared their winter weather experiences through photos sent to local news outlets, including images of ice-covered trees and sleet-blanketed neighborhoods from viewers like Misty Harris in Fort Worth, as documented by FOX 4.
“There’s going to be another more widespread, a more robust, round of winter precipitation this evening and overnight,” warned a Fort Worth National Weather Service meteorologist, though a temporary break in precipitation was observed early Sunday afternoon, according to Texas Tribune coverage.
How bad will it get? While the worst of the precipitation may be tapering off, the danger is far from over. An Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect until Tuesday morning, with wind chills expected to range from -10 to 0 degrees — conditions that can lead to hypothermia and frozen pipes, Community Impact noted.
Power Grid Holding Steady
Perhaps the biggest concern on residents’ minds is whether the power grid will hold. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has reassured the public that supply remains ample to meet current power demands. That’s welcome news for Texans still haunted by memories of the catastrophic 2021 deep freeze.
Still, some localized outages have been reported. Oncor listed 2,265 customers without power across the region as of Sunday morning, with Tarrant County experiencing the highest number at 1,143 affected customers. Dallas County reported 594 outages, while Collin and Denton counties saw 508 and 20 customers without power, respectively, Fox 4 revealed.
The current situation, while serious, pales in comparison to the February 2021 disaster that caused 4.5 million power outages across Texas, claimed 246 lives, and resulted in an estimated $195 billion in damage. Last year’s winter storm was also significant, with snow accumulations exceeding 6 inches along the Red River, CBS Texas explained.
Relief on the Horizon
Weather experts indicate there is “potential for isolated snow showers that could ‘float around the area’ Sunday. But as far as widespread precipitation goes, that’s pretty much done,” according to KERA News.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the teens throughout Sunday, rise slightly into the low-20s on Monday, with the first break above freezing not anticipated until Tuesday around noon. For many North Texans, that thaw can’t come soon enough.
Until then, residents are advised to stay home if possible, protect vulnerable pipes, check on elderly neighbors, and bring pets indoors — another winter weather drill that’s becoming all too familiar in a region once known for its mild winters.
