Non-essential travel should be avoided on Thursday, as winter storms shut North Texas for much of the week and the snow begins to slowly melt.
Road conditions are likely to improve as temperatures gradually rise to below freezing in the afternoon, but muddy and wet roads could refreeze, leaving slippery and icy spots during Friday morning’s commute. there is.
Temperatures will remain below freezing (32 degrees) as of 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning, with a high of around 35 degrees and a low of 29 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The forecast is still for cold rain.
The Associated Press reported Thursday morning that icy roads were responsible for the deaths of at least seven people across Texas during the course of the storm.
Locally, a 45-year-old man died Monday in Arlington during the early stages of the storm after his SUV slid into a guardrail due to slippery conditions.
Weather and government officials asked people to stay off the road until Thursday morning.
In Fort Worth, Medstar responded to four crashes Wednesday night through early Thursday morning. Since the storm began, ambulance services have responded to more than 170 crashes with her, taking 53 people to hospital.
Since the storm began, 22 people have been taken to hospital due to hypothermia, 10 of them in critical condition, according to ambulance services.
Nearly 30 patients were injured after slipping and falling on the ice.
Nearly 4,000 active power outages have been reported across Texas, affecting more than 140,000 homes and businesses, according to Oncor.
Most of the outage was centered around Austin, where about 50,000 customers were without power. About 13,000 homes and businesses were without power in Dallas-Fort Worth, and about 42,000 customers in Tyler were reported without power.