An arctic airmass bringing below-freezing temperatures is expected to reach the Dallas-Fort Worth area Saturday evening and will keep the area below freezing until Wednesday.
The National Weather Service forecasts the chance for some winter precipitation — which could mean snow or ice — backing into the area Sunday evening and lasting until at least Monday morning.
As of Friday morning, Fano said freezing rain is not expected and the winter precipitation could mean about half an inch of snow or sleet.
“It looks like the atmosphere may be too dry to really support much in the way of freezing drizzle or freezing rain,” he said. “Right now, it looks like it's going to be so cold that any precipitation that falls will be light and will be mostly light snow.”
North Texas temperatures are expected to drop into the teens Saturday night, Fano said. Below freezing temperatures are forecast around 9 p.m. Saturday until likely noon Wednesday.
“This is certainly not the last one,” meteorologist Monique Sellers said regarding winter weather this year. “We're about midway through our winter months now, we haven't really had a big cold air outbreak so far this season, so this will definitely be the colder temperatures that we've seen this season.”
Hazardous winter weather is nothing new to Texans who experienced the winter storms of the last three years. Most notable was the winter storm of February 2021 which left millions without electricity and an investigation into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
This is the third winter ERCOT’s Weatherization and Inspection Team has conducted weatherization inspections.
“This third winter features enhanced rule requirements for generation and transmission facilities, compared to the earlier seasons,” ERCOT said in a statement.
On Friday, ERCOT extended its weather watch to Jan. 14-17.
Power grid conditions are expected to be normal during the watch, ERCOT said in a statement.
To prepare for this year’s winter weather, the national weather service issued a reminder to North Texans about the four P’s: People, pets, plants, and pipes.
“When we get the temperatures this low, and particularly wind chills that are getting close to almost zero degrees at this point, that's when any prolonged exposure can start to cause issues, particularly with those four P’s,” Sellers said.
The National Weather Service recommends checking on family and neighbors, bringing pets indoors, covering or bringing sensitive plants inside, and covering outdoor pipes. Letting inside faucets drip can also prevent cracked pipes.
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