Cobblestone ice on bridges and overpasses makes travel treacherous overnight in Haltom City, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, as low temperatures continues. TXDOT announced plans to have crews treat the cobblestone ice to make roads safer starting Sunday morning.
Ross Hailey
Star-Telegram
If you’re growing tired of this week’s lingering sleet and freezing rain, at least it hasn’t been as bad as the epic ice storm that hit Fort Worth nearly 10 years ago, coating the city in 4 inches of sleet.
The Arctic blast started on Dec. 5, 2013, and persisted for five days. What was expected to be freezing rain turned into up to 4 inches of sleet that morphed into thick “cobblestone ice” that tormented road crews and drivers. About 250,000 people lost power in Dallas-Fort Worth. On Dec. 7, the high of 26 degrees broke a record set in 1950.
Dan Huckabee of the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, told the Star-Telegram a few weeks later that the deep freeze was the No. 1 weather event of 2013.
Here’s a look at Star-Telegram photos from the great “cobblestone” ice storm of 2013.
Cobblestone ice on the Lancaster Bridge and other overpasses slowed traffic on Fort Worth streets on Monday, Dec 9, 2013. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram
Neighborhood children gather for some sledding on the ice left by the winter storm in Fairview, Texas, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Michael Prengler Special to the Star-Telegram
Traffic on the West Seventh Street bridge moves, but slush and a ridge of ice between lanes remains in the late afternoon as the area continues to thaw out from the winter storm, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. Rodger Mallison Star-Telegram
Mark Vogel gives his daughter Parker, 7, a push on the sled he used when he was a kid on the icy streets in west Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram
Motorists try to get vehicles and a city bus up an icy hill on East Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. RON T. ENNIS Star-Telegram
Jamie Hannah, 9, and Emily Bell, 11, play in the ice in west Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram
Vehicles try to pass through Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. RON T. ENNIS Star-Telegram
Fort Worth police try to control traffic around a city bus stuck in ice on East Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. RON T. ENNIS Star-Telegram
Cobblestone ice on bridges and overpasses makes travel treacherous overnight in Haltom City, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, as low temperatures continues. TXDOT announced plans to have crews treat the cobblestone ice to make roads safer starting Sunday morning. Ross Hailey Star-Telegram
A TXDOT crew works to clear ice from the southbound lane of I-35W on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013, two days after the storm. Richard Rodriguez Star-Telegram
Traffic backs up on the ice-covered ramp from Airport Freeway to the south entrance to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Max Faulkner Star-Telegram
Slippery roads on Fifth street in Fort Worth make for treacherous footing on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram
Cobblestone ice on bridges and overpasses makes travel treacherous on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, in Haltom City. Ross Hailey Star-Telegram
Signs warn of treacherous conditions on Highway 121 in Fort Worth. Ice remains after low temperature refroze sleet from the day before’s storm that had begun to melt. Ross Hailey Star-Telegram
Monica Foley walks her dog Clover at Eagle Ranch neighborhood in north Fort Worth on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013. Khampha Bouaphanh Star-Telegram
Ice piled on the shoulder of I-20 near Hulen Mall in Fort Worth on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013. Paul Moseley Star-Telegram
Ashley Leonard and her daughter Veda, 4, walk to a neighbors for pancakes this morning in the ice in west Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram
Trucker Alonso Medina and his semi stranded on the shoulder of I-20 (westbound) near Winscott in Benbrook. He was headed to Lubbock, and was on the phone with friends locally, hoping to find a place to stay while he sought to get his semi moving. Cold and ice remained in Fort Worth with roads especially treacherous in the the morning hours before temperatures rose, Sunday, Dec 8, 2013. Paul Moseley Star-Telegram
Interstate 30 looking east from the intersection of Hulen on Dec. 7, 2013, in Fort Worth, Texas. Ron Jenkins Star-Telegram
In the December 2013 ice storm, the Plant Shed in Benbrook lost four greenhouses, including one that was filled with Christmas trees. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram
Zack Smith of Keller twirls his daughter, Carline, 4, on the ice around the Christmas tree moments after it was illuminated during Keller Holly Days on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. The event had been rescheduled because of weather. Ian McVea Star-Telegram
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Matt Leclercq is senior managing editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He previously was an editor at USA Today in Washington, national news editor at Gatehouse Media in Austin, and executive editor of The Fayetteville (NC) Observer. He’s a New Orleans native.
