By
Peyton D. Woodson Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH
The strong
arctic front that barreled into the state early Monday is expected
to bring snow, sleet and slick streets today. The high temperature
won't get out of the 20s, forecasters say.
And with an
air temperature of, say, 25 degrees and 10-mph winds, it may feel
like 10 degrees.
The front
arrived between 4 and 5 a.m. Monday, starting the slide in temperatures
that peaked Sunday at a balmy high of 69, said Larry Nierenberg,
a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
By 11 a.m.,
it was 32 and still falling. And at 10 Monday night, a 10-mph
north wind made the 24 degrees feel like 9.
Until the
front passes, roads are likely to be slippery all over North Texas,
beginning this evening. The forecasters put the chance of snow
at 60 percent.
You can't
go south to escape it. The weather service says the chances for
freezing rain and hazardous roads worsen from Waco south through
the Hill Country.
And you can't
go north. The weather is more severe in the Midwest, where a blizzard
warning was posted across northern Illinois and northern Indiana.
More than 10 inches of snow fell in the Chicago area by Monday
evening, with 20 inches possible by this morning in northern Indiana
and southwestern Michigan, accompanied by bitterly low temperatures,
the weather service said.
Wind gusted
as high as 30 mph in parts of the region, kicking up drifting
snow.
Chicago-based
United Airlines canceled more than 75 percent of its flights at
O'Hare International Airport in Chicago; Fort Worth-based American
Airlines canceled nearly 70 percent of its flights there, and
American Eagle, American's regional affiliate, canceled more than
85 percent of schedule there and at the mostly smaller airports
in the Midwest where its planes fly from Chicago.
At Dallas/Fort
Worth Airport, Monday's cold had little impact on airline operations.
American Airlines spokesman Marty Heires said the carrier recorded
only a handful of weather-related delays and cancellations at
its hub there that were related to weather at Midwestern "spoke"
cities.
All that could
change today.
Heires said
American's forecasters expect temperatures to remain in the 20s
all day, with light freezing precipitation beginning in early
afternoon and growing heavier in the evening.
"We could
begin to see light snow or sleet by noon, with accumulations of
1 to 2 inches between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.," Heires said. "We
could see it change to freezing rain after that.
"There
is a possibility of a severe impact on our D/FW operations after
3 p.m. on Tuesday."
The weather
service has put a winter watch into effect for today and tonight.
The overnight low in the low 20s is expected to continue into
Wednesday. Showers are forecast and the temperature may rise only
to the mid-30s. The precipitation is expected to be out of the
area early Wednesday.
North Texans,
many of whom haven't had much reason to light their fireplaces
for heat in a couple of years, began scrambling for winter supplies
yesterday.
Particularly
in demand was seasoned firewood, which typically must be cut and
dried six months before it is sold, sellers said. Seasoned wood
burns more evenly and pops less than unseasoned wood, they said.
"We're
having a hard time getting wood," said Jeff Holifield of
Fort Worth Grass and Stone.
Hardware store
managers also reported brisk sales of firewood, plumbing insulation
and other supplies to winterize homes.
"Anything
that looks like a faucet cover is going right out the door,"
said Fred Held, general manager of Elliott's hardware store in
Grapevine.
Night shelters
opened their doors early Monday evening.
John Suggs,
executive director of the Presbyterian Night Shelter near downtown
Fort Worth, said he expected to see more than 500 people Monday,
compared with the usual 400 to 450. The shelter doors will remain
open around the clock until the weather snap passes, he said.
In the night
shelter Monday, Jessie White Jr. sat crying in his mother's lap.
The 1-year-old had the sniffles and found it impossible to sit
still while Dad cut his hair. "The cold weather, it just
keeps everybody sick in here," said Kimberly White, Jessie's
mother. "It seems when you get better, someone else is sick
and you get sick again."
Street crews
in Fort Worth, Arlington and surrounding cities were on call.
The Fort Worth Transportation and Public Works Department has
36 trucks and crews with sand-spreading equipment, and Arlington
has four trucks.
Robbin Webber,
Arlington's assistant street superintendent, said water sprinklers
left running may be a problem.
"A lot
of people forget to turn them off, but they will get charged if
they do," Webber said. If the water freezes on the street,
"they create a traffic hazard."
Mary Gugliuzza,
spokeswoman for the Fort Worth Water Department, said the city
has an ordinance against wasting water, but she didn't know Monday
night whether freezing sprinkler water has ever caused a problem.
Staff writers
Eva-Marie Ayala, Paul Bourgeois, Gordon Dickson and Dan Reed contributed
to this report, which contains material from The Associated Press.
Send comments
to pdwoodson@star-telegram.com
The earliest
snowfall for a year on record in the Metroplex occurred Oct. 28,
1955.
The latest
snow for a year occurred April 7, 1928.
The last measurable
snow in North Texas fell April 5, 1996. Light snow fell on the
Metroplex. Abilene got a foot of snow, and Sweetwater got 18 inches.
That year,
up to 2 inches of sleet and freezing rain was reported Feb. 2
in some areas of Fort Worth.
On New Year's
Day that year, 1 inch of snow was measured in north Fort Worth.
Two to 5 inches of snow fell just west of Fort Worth.
The warmest
Dec. 12 on record was in 1973, at 83 degrees. The coldest were
in 1989 and 1932, with 18 degrees. The wettest was in 1905 --
1.78 inches.
Fort Worth/Dallas
has had few white Christmases: 1926, 2 inches; 1879, 6 inches;
and 1841, about 1 inch of compacted sleet and snow.
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