Freezing drizzle causing ‘accident after accident’ with wind chills in the teens
A surprising dose of freezing drizzle turned the Thursday morning commute into an icy mess.
A strong cold front that blew through Wednesday turned out to be stronger than expected, sending the freeze line south of Fort Worth when it was originally predicted to stay northwest of the Metroplex.
“The cold front was quite a bit colder than the models predicted,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bianca Villanueva. “We just didn’t anticipate the freezing line being that far south.”
A look at the number of accidents reported during the morning rush hour was staggering.
▪ The Fort Worth Police Department tweeted that it responded to 209 accidents between 4 a.m. and 9:50 a.m.
▪ Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Fire Department responded to 90 motor vehicle accidents and one of its own support units was involved in a rollover accident on the Chisholm Trail Parkway, with only minor injuries.
▪ And MedStar reported 56 injury crashes on area highways since 4 a.m., including 12 rollovers by 9:15 a.m.
As the freezing conditions developed, crews were on standby to treat roads, said Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Val Lopez.
“What we’re seeing is ice on elevated surfaces,” Lopez said about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. “It’s one of those mornings.”
Drivers were advised to take side streets.
Ice briefly caused a ramp closure at Interstate 20 and Interstate 35W around 7 a.m. but had since reopened. Throughout the morning, numerous crashes had been reported along both I-20 and I-30 in Tarrant and Dallas counties.
Fort Worth police reported several bridges and highways closed Thursday morning because of icy conditions.
A winter weather advisory expired at noon for Tarrant, Dallas and surrounding counties.
Friday will provide a brief reprieve with highs in the 50s before an Arctic cold front brings rain and then cold to the area this weekend.
For now, no frozen precipitation is predicted but Monday morning’s low could be in the low 20s, which would be the coldest it has been this winter.
Temperatures won’t reach 50 until next Wednesday.
This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 7:09 AM with the headline "Freezing drizzle causing ‘accident after accident’ with wind chills in the teens."
