Freezing Temperatures Still Felt in Some US States After Massive Winter Storm

Although the storm was passed, police agencies and road crews across Texas urged folks to remain off the roads on Friday.

Extreme Weather

Texas was one of many states affected by a large winter storm that interrupted air travel throughout the country, prompted severe weather in the South, and caused mayhem on the roadways, resulting in at least four fatalities.

According to Sergeant Jonathan Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department, one person was tragically injured Thursday evening on I-10 in Kerrville, Texas, when a tractor-trailer attempted to slow for traffic that was at a standstill due to bad weather conditions.

The trailer crashed with a halted Ford F-350 pickup truck, critically wounding both of its occupants. Around 9:30 p.m., police were dispatched to the scene.

Kerrville Fire EMS transported both injured persons to the hospital, classified as severe. One of the pickup's occupants died of his injuries early Friday morning.

Lamb said that there would be no charges filed against the tractor-trailer driver this time since it appears that road conditions at the time of the collision were a key contributing factor.

Temperature Drop

As temperatures dropped into the low 20s across a large portion of the state and various forms of frozen precipitation accumulated, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 17 counties Thursday evening, saying, "This ice storm poses an imminent threat of severe property damage, injury, or loss of life."

Damages

On Wednesday, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) in New Mexico reported a fatality in a rollover collision on a hilly route just outside of Albuquerque due to the icy conditions. Officials blocked the route following the crash, citing very slippery and snow-packed conditions.

After severe weather formed, another fatality was recorded in western Alabama, this time on the warmer side of the storm. According to Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden, a radar-confirmed tornado killed one lady and wounded at least eight others. Three of the victims were critically injured, while the remaining five had minor injuries.

While the storm had passed through the Central states and Midwest by Friday morning, low temperatures and strong winds assured that some of its effects lingered, such as slippery roadways.

"That freezing rain, sleet, snow, and ice that hit yesterday, it was all packed down by cars," AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell said on Friday from Waxahachie, Texas, South of Dallas. "Almost everything on the roadways froze last night," he added.

Temperatures dipped below freezing overnight in Dallas, and while the sun and warming temperatures managed to melt part of the ice by Friday afternoon, it is predicted to refreeze by Saturday morning.

Flight Delays

According to FlightAware, the storm hindered air traffic at airports in Texas, Illinois, Colorado, and Ohio, with over 5,200 flights in the United States canceled on Thursday.

As of Thursday night, Dallas-Fort Worth Internfercotational Airport has had over 1,400 arrival and departure cancellations, with at least another 156 planes delayed. Some of the flights were canceled when American Airlines decided to cancel the remainder of its inbound flights to Dallas-Fort Worth on Thursday night.

According to the airline, the flights were canceled due to deteriorating weather conditions, which it expects to affect Friday's flights as well.

Following last February's hard frost, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) proclaimed most of its electric generating units and transmission infrastructure completely winterized, putting the state's power grid to the test.

According to The Associated Press, local power outages accounted for around 70,000 consumers across the state by Thursday morning, with winds and ice conditions interfering with power lines rather than power generators falling offline like they did last February. According to PowerOutage.US, the number of customers without power had dropped to 11,000 while personnel tried to restore electricity.

Power Shortage

Over 200,000 customers in the United States were without power by Thursday evening, most of whom were in western Tennessee. In Memphis, ice-encased trees slicked roadways and even masked traffic camera footage as icicles formed on them, leaving over 137,000 people without power in the state.

Temperatures plunged throughout most of the central United States this week as a powerful cold front swept across the region.

The storm had moved into the Northeast on Friday, completing the final leg of its cross-country journey.

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