Texans in more than 340,000 homes and businesses braced for near-freezing temperatures without power Wednesday and more than 2,300 flights were canceled amid an unrelenting blast of treacherous, icy conditions and brutal cold that has left at least six dead.
The storm caused massive power outages and disruptions across highways and roads with central Texas stuck in thick ice since earlier this week. While the freezing temperatures and sleet should be gone by this weekend, they’ll move into the US Northeast with dangerous wind chills as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit below zero.
A dangerous winter storm washed over Texas this week causing cars to slide off of highways or otherwise crash into each-other, and has led to a massive power outage for more than 425,000 customers in the Lone Star State as of Thursday. Repair for damaged lines could take until Friday evening, with temperatures in Houston expected to drop to a low of 39 degrees on Thursday night and 37 degrees on Friday night.
The winter weather system, now in its third day, has swept from Minnesota deep into Texas. Wrecks on slippery roads have been reported in Texas, Arkansas and other states across the region all week.
"We really cannot emphasize this enough: DO NOT BE ON THE ROADS," the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth tweeted Wednesday. "They are going to virtually be impassable through today and tonight."
School systems across Arkansas, along with those in Dallas, Austin, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee, canceled classes for Thursday.
Power outages were expected to last 12 to 24 hours in the Texas state capital as ice brought down power lines and tree limbs, Austin Energy warned. The city’s community-owned electric utility said its crews were facing icy roads and frozen equipment, which made it "difficult to provide estimated restoration times."
Parts of Texas were colder than Alaska early in the day. AccuWeather reported a "real feel" temperature of 28 degrees in Dallas on Wednesday morning – 3 degrees warmer than in Anchorage, Alaska.
The weather service said Wednesday that "the epic ice storm should come to a close on Thursday," and states across the Southern Plains to the Mid-South remain under various storm warnings and advisories.
“The prolonged and damaging ice storm that has impacted a large region from Texas to Tennessee is forecast to finally come to an end today as a final surge of moisture slides eastward,” the National Weather Service said. “Highs will return into the 40s and 50s by Friday, likely eliminating any icy concerns.”
Texas Ice Storm 2023 🧊 pic.twitter.com/MAqXCrl4nH
— 🌈Lagoon⛈️ 🔜 TFF (@dragonsapphic) February 1, 2023
Across the state on Thursday afternoon, more than 425,000 customers in both businesses and homes in eastern and central Texas were left without power with 150,000 of those being served by Austin Energy. The company has warned customers that repairs could take until 6 p.m. local time on Friday. Meanwhile, schools and colleges and even the government have all had to close.
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY in Fort Worth, Texas encased in ice from long-duration ice storm!
— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) February 2, 2023
Ice storm warning continues until 9 am this morning.
Stay safe especially on the elevated road surfaces! @accuweather pic.twitter.com/PI48dWgdM6
CNN reported that Arkansas and Tennessee were also impacted by the winter storm.
Roads were slick with ice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Driving conditions, which have already led to seven car-related deaths since Monday, are expected to worsen with freezing rain forecasted for Thursday afternoon. More than 250 flights leaving the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were also canceled on Thursday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, “Approximately 1,600 roads have been impacted. TxDOT has used 1.3 million gallons of brine and other material to treat the roadways.”
You can see the complete lack of traction that trucks are dealing with so making it up this hill has forced probably 20 trucks to pull over or really just stack up on the shoulder and right two lanes
— William Joy (@WilliamJoy) January 31, 2023
(@wfaa) pic.twitter.com/BzVz2qdlbX
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson promised an update to the city’s emergency communications after city officials failed to warn the public about the storm and its subsequent power outages.
The storm will make its way to New England and will bring with it the coldest wind chills seen in decades with some areas reaching 50 degrees below zero. Across the Northeast more than 15 million people will be placed under wind chill warnings or advisories beginning early Friday morning through the weekend. Thankfully, temperatures will rise again by Sunday afternoon.
Extreme wind chills such as these could cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes.
“This is an epic, generational Arctic outbreak,” said the National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine. “The air mass descending on the area Friday into Friday night is the coldest air currently in the Northern Hemisphere.”
“The wind chills are something northern and eastern Maine has not seen since similar outbreaks in 1982 and 1988,” the weather service added.
The frigid temperatures are expected to thrash Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. They will also affect parts of northern New Jersey, northeast Pennsylvania and much of New York state, as well as New York City and Long Island. Temperatures for these areas are expected to plummet to 15 to 25 degrees below zero.
Dangerous arctic blast Friday and Saturday. Wind chill values as low as -35 for Southern New England. Frost bite can occur in less than 10min to exposed skin. #MAWX #CTWX #RIWX pic.twitter.com/gZzUbyrFjh
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) February 1, 2023
Northern New England and northern New York’s wind chills will make the winter air even more blisteringly cold, with temperatures dipping between 35 and 50 degrees below zero. “New Yorkers across the state will experience dangerously cold temperatures and life-threatening wind chills this weekend,” Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement Thursday.
“Now is the time to prepare: plan to limit your time outdoors this weekend and know where to take shelter. Take all necessary precautions to ensure your residence is safely heated and use caution if you plan to use an alternative heat source, such as a space heater.”
“Avoid any outdoor activities on Friday and Saturday!” the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced on social media. “Cold temperatures paired with the wind chill factor could lead to potentially life-threatening conditions outdoors.”
Boston will experience temperatures of 27 degrees below zero. The mayor, Michelle Wu, also declared a cold emergency for the city which will last from Friday until Sunday and urged residents to “take precautions, stay warm and safe, and check on your neighbors during this cold emergency.”
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