Ice gives way to warming trend, but wet weather isn’t over

The warmup from a week of on-again, off-again winter weather was slower than hoped for Saturday, leaving a little too much ice and snow for the running of the 37th annual Cowtown Marathon on Sunday morning.

Race organizers, noting that parts of the route were along shaded side streets that had not warmed enough for the snowpack to melt, called off the 26.2-mile event and a 50-kilometer ultramarathon that were scheduled to start at 8 a.m. but left the half-marathon on schedule.

Those who signed up for one of the longer races were given the option of running the 13.1-mile event. The decision came a day after the 10K and 5K races set for Saturday were canceled.

Eric Martello, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office, said that after a night of temperatures inching up to 34 or 35 around daybreak, Tarrant County could see a gradual warming into the low 40s on Sunday. Dallas County was expected to get a little warmer, he said.

Freezing rain left highways slick and forced the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights Saturday at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, one of the nation’s biggest airline hubs.

The chaos Saturday was on top of about 600 flights nixed Friday, forcing about 5,000 travelers to spend the night at the airport, spokesman David Magana said. The airport provided cots, blankets and toiletries to passengers and kept concession stands open overnight, Magana said.

“As it is with travel, we just have to take everything with stride, and you know there’s no controlling these situations. You just have to see what happens,” said Eric Melzer, who was at the airport Saturday trying to find out whether he would be able to fly to Minnesota.

American Airlines, which uses DFW as its main hub, had canceled 600 flights systemwide Saturday after canceling 700 on Friday, spokesman Matt Miller said. One American flight from the airport to Oklahoma City that typically takes less than an hour ended up being a nine-hour journey for some passengers.

“We apologize for the frustrating experience,” Miller said. The period that the jet was delayed on the tarmac did not exceed three hours, he said.

The flight, with 110 passengers and five crew members, pushed away from the gate around 1:45 p.m. Friday but returned to the terminal amid de-icing delays, Miller said. Passengers were allowed to exit, and they remained in the gate area while crews also dealt with an air-conditioning issue on board.

Some passengers opted to stay on the jet, Miller said. Another flight crew had to be assigned because of federal regulations on how long crews can be on duty, he said.

The flight took off at around 10:45 p.m., Miller said.

More precipitation coming

The heaviest snowfall — from 5 to 7 inches in some places — was recorded north and west of Tarrant County, in a line roughly from Graham to Gainesville. Dallas-Fort Worth received 2 to 2.5 inches, although amounts were higher in Denton County, according to a weather service graphic.

Although the sleet and snow are gone for now, the clouds and precipitation are not. Martello said drizzle and “hit-or-miss” showers are expected into Sunday night.

On Saturday, roads were slippery and dangerous in places. In Eastland County, west of Fort Worth, several accidents Saturday morning caused long delays on Interstate 20, the Texas Department of Transportation reported. In Gainesville, near the Oklahoma line, vehicles were sliding off Interstate 35, the agency said.

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, or the T, suspended bus operations at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday because of road conditions. Limited bus service resumed at about 2:30 p.m., and full service was expected on Sunday.

The weather service extended its winter weather advisory for areas west and north of Dallas-Fort Worth through midnight Sunday.

While drivers faced challenges on freeway flyways, some streets were more slush than ice.

“We will have crews out for the evening treating bridges and overpasses,” Val Lopez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Fort Worth district, said in an email Saturday night. A staffing decision for Sunday morning was to be made later in the evening. “Conditions are still wet and slushy, so motorists should drive with caution.”

The nearly weeklong battle against icy conditions on North Texas roadways has caused the Transportation Department to rethink how it charges tolls on managed express lanes.

For the rest of the weekend, tolls will be set at a fixed-base rate of 70 cents for tag users and $1.33 for no tag, department spokesman Tony Hartzel said in an email, responding to questions about toll rates on the DFW Connector in Grapevine. “TxDOT is exploring options for future winter weather events.”

On one hand, charging tolls on roads clogged by ice-related congestion is counterproductive. Under a policy adopted several years ago by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, motorists on managed toll lanes should be guaranteed a trip of no less than 50 mph. The policy calls for agencies or companies that charge tolls to create a system that allows for at least a partial refund of tolls collected on days when the travel speed is lower.

On the other hand, managed toll lanes — also known as TEXpress lanes — can provide a valuable relief valve to help traffic escape congestion on a highway’s nontoll main lanes.

From 6 p.m. Friday to 4 p.m. Saturday, Fort Worth responded to 112 weather-related calls, far fewer than the 617 calls from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.

“We don’t anticipate large numbers of calls for service” Saturday night and Sunday, officer Daniel Segura, a Fort Worth police spokesman, said in an email. He added that motorists are urged to use caution on overpasses and bridges, to reduce speeds, to wear seat belts and to maintain a safe distance from other vehicles.

The icy conditions also gave the TCU men’s basketball team headaches in getting to its game against Oklahoma in Norman.

After the charter bus company refused to drive to Norman, TCU took the Amtrak train scheduled to arrive in Norman at 1 a.m. Saturday.

A Dallas police officer was taken to the hospital as a precaution early Saturday after losing control of a squad car on the ice and striking another vehicle, WFAA News reported. The driver of the vehicle that was struck was treated at the scene.

Staff writer Patrick M. Walker contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.

This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Ice gives way to warming trend, but wet weather isn’t over."