DALLAS — The latest updates for Friday can be found here.
The wintery precipitation that fell overnight into Thursday morning has come to an end, as the winter storm pushes out of North Texas.
The weather system, which brought freezing rain, sleet, ice and snow, left trees and roadways frozen over.
Power outages, which had reached a peak of 34,000 overnight, are slowly being restored, according to Oncor. The majority of those lingering outages are in the Dallas metro area and adjacent north and northeast counties and along the Reed River. (Click here to see the latest outages)
Here are the latest updates from across North Texas:
Latest forecast
Snow and sleet moved out of the North Texas area Thursday afternoon, but frigid temps and slick roads remained.
The winter storm warning that was issued this week has ended, but the North Texas area is now under a wind chill advisory from 9 p.m. Thursday to 9 a.m. Friday.
Wind chills overnight and into the morning could range from -5 to 5 degrees. Be sure to cover yourself up if you have to be out Friday morning.
WFAA will have continuous coverage on WFAA.com and the WFAA app. Also be sure to watch Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus' latest forecast updates each evening at 5, 6 and 10.
Watch Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus' latest forecast from Thursday night:
Boil water notice for city of Commerce
The city of Commerce in Hunt County has issued a boil water notice "until further notice." The city said this is due to low water pressure conditions.
Texas A&M University-Commerce said in a tweet that most of its buildings are on a separate water system.
According to the university, the buildings that are part of the boil water notice are: Prairie Crossing, the Welcome Center, Rayburn Student Center and Henderson Hall.
The city said pressure is being restored but the water quality will need to be tested before the notice can be lifted.
Police departments warn about slick roads Thursday night
The Cleburne and Grapevine police departments gave residents a warning about the roads late Thursday evening.
Roads are once again very slick after the cold temperatures dipped down even further, refreezing a lot of the accumulated precipitation.
U.S. 75 closure in McKinney
All northbound lanes of U.S. 75 at Eldorado Parkway in McKinney were closed due to "extremely dangerous driving conditions," according to police.
Police said there were several stalled vehicles that the department had been working on.
The lanes have since been opened.
American Airlines suspends flights at DFW Airport
American Airlines announced it suspended all flight operations in DFW for the rest of Thursday night due to ice in the ramp areas.
According to the airline, any flights that were already near the airport will land but that there will be no other flights to DFW.
The total number of canceled American flights at DFW on Thursday, as of 7:30 p.m., was 1,401. Nationwide cancellations by American were at 5,210.
Ground stop at DFW Airport
A ground stop had been issued at DFW Airport on Thursday night due to the current weather conditions, but it has since been lifted.
Departures to DFW Airport were grounded.
Dallas Love Field plans to resume operations Friday
After suspending operations for Thursday due to the weather, officials told WFAA that Dallas Love Field expects to resume operations Friday.
The airport was open on Thursday and had staff on site, but it did not have any commercial flights. Officials said staff members kept the runways clean and operating.
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said its plan is to operate at a "reduced schedule" on Friday.
Garland facilities will remain closed; trash collection suspended
All City of Garland offices and public facilities will remain closed Friday, Feb. 4. Trash, recycling, and brush and bulky item collection will be suspended for Friday and is expected to resume Saturday, Feb. 5, if road conditions allow. Thursday’s routes would be picked up first. Friday’s routes would be picked up Monday, Feb. 7.
TRE to adjust Friday service
The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) says it will operate on a Saturday schedule on Friday, Feb. 4 and will operate a normal Saturday schedule on Saturday, Feb. 5. Services will return to normal operations on Monday, Feb. 7.
Power outages going down
Power outages in North Texas have gradually gone down through the day, from around 25,000 outages in the morning to around 18,000 outages at 4 p.m., according to the Oncor outage map.
The outages have been localized and not related to the Texas power grid, officials said.
Track the latest outages here.
How are the roads in Dallas?
While not many cars were on the road Thursday, the few that were kept running into travel issues.
Interstate 635 was shut down in the westbound lanes on Thursday afternoon in at Northwest Highway before crews began letting one lane get by. Also on 635, near Jupiter Road, traffic was slowing down because 18-wheelers were having trouble getting up a hill and were stuck.
In Duncanville, westbound Interstate 20 was shut down at the Cedar Ridge exit. Large trucks were stuck on the hill and needed time to clear out of the area.
In Dallas, several trucks were struck for hours on a bridge at Interstate 30 and Interstate 45.
Tarrant County sheriff's officials also have the road closed in the 6700 block of Rendon Bloodworth near Drury Cross because of icy conditions that have resulted in multiple vehicles becoming stranded.
Abbott issues disaster declaration
Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday afternoon issued a disaster declaration for 17 Texas counties, including Dallas, Denton and Ellis counties, due to the winter weather.
The declaration includes a waiver of regulations that allows for additional linemen to be deployed to the state. More than 10,000 linemen are already in Texas to help with power issues. Texas plans to bring in an additional 2,000 linemen.
The other counties included on the declaration are Bosque, Delta, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, Rains, Red River, Rockwall and Williamson.
DFW Airport resumes operations
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has resumed operations after they were previously suspended because of the weather impacts.
Operations had been suspended until 11 a.m. while runways were being treated for snow and ice.
By around noon, the first American Airline flights began arriving to DFW, among them a flight from Houston. By about 12:30 p.m., the first departure from DFW was set to take off, headed to Cancun, Mexico.
The latest airport impacts can be found here.
Texas power grid update
State officials in a news conference Thursday morning said the Texas power grid is holding up during the winter storm this week and that no power generators have gone offline.
While about 25,000 people were without power in the North Texas area due to local outages, Gov. Greg Abbott said the power grid has remained resilient and efficient, so far.
"The power grid is performing very well at this time," Abbott said.
Demand for power in Texas has not exceeded ERCOT's supply of energy. Around noon Thursday, the demand was about 64,000 megawatts, while the supply was about 84,000 megawatts.
ERCOT projects the demand to peak around 8 a.m. Friday at around 68,000 megawatts, but the supply should stay above that with a forecast between 77,000-79,000 megawatts.
Watch Abbott's full update:
Updates from across North Texas
WFAA has reporters stationed across North Texas. Here's what they were seeing Thursday morning, as snow and ice moved through the area:
500+ cancellations at DFW Airport most in the world
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport had the most cancelled flights in the world, as of Thursday morning. There were 523 flights cancelled at DFW, as of 7:45 a.m., according to Flight Aware.
Dallas Love Field wasn't far behind, with the 4th-most cancellations at 178. Southwest Airlines had suspended all of its operations at Love Field on Thursday, though the airport remained open.
Major highway closures
Most roadways across North Texas were treacherous Thursday morning, and that led to full shutdowns in some areas.
In Arlington, police shut down the interchange at Interstate 20 and Texas 360 due to a stalled vehicle that could not make it over the overpass. Bridges, overpasses and any raised surfaces are all being reported as slick.
Power Outages
As of 7 a.m. Thursday, at least 23,194 customers were without power in Texas, most of those being local outages in the North Texas area. The outage numbers hadn't increased from around two hours earlier, when around 25,000 customers were affected.
View the full Oncor Outage Map.
And although we are not expecting widespread outages due to issues with the power grid, there is still a possibility for outages from ice accumulations on powerlines and tree branches.
If you need to report an outage or check the status of an outage, here's how you can notify OnCor: Text OUT to 66267 on your cell phone or tablet, download the MyOncor App or visit www.Oncor.com to Report an Outage. You can also call 888-313-4747.
School closings
School districts across North Texas have cancelled classes for Thursday, and several major districts have cancelled classes for Friday, too.
Travel conditions, traffic delays
There are some traffic issues Thursday morning.
On the I-35E NB ramp to Woodall Rogers EB, a charter or commercial bus is stranded full of people. A truck is attempting to pull the bus, but there are people standing by the guardrail.
The Texas Department of Transportation strongly advises residents to stay off the roads, as the current ice and sleet make conditions unpredictable.
Here are some tips to follow if you have to get out on the roadways:
- Slow down. Speed limits are based on normal road and weather conditions, not winter road conditions.
- Maintain at least three times the normal following distance on snow or ice.
- Watch carefully for snow removal equipment and stay at least 200 feet behind snow plows.
- Use extra caution on bridges, ramps, overpasses and shaded areas as they tend to freeze first.
- If your vehicle starts to slide, ease off the gas pedal or brakes. Steer into the direction of the skid until you have regained traction. Then straighten your vehicle.
Disaster declaration for Dallas County
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins shared that he has filed a disaster declaration due to the expected icy roads Thursday through Friday.
"This will speed help to first responders in the event our supplies or personnel are overstretched," Jenkins tweeted Wednesday evening.
Jenkins also reiterated that the Texas power grid should be “OK,” as stated by ERCOT, and urged residents to stay off the roads if possible.
DART suspends rail service
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is suspending all rail services from Thursday through Sunday afternoon, due to the winter weather. TRE is running as scheduled.
Bus routes will still operate but do so on a Sunday schedule, which means various routes will be changed.
DART's winter weather plans will also include shuttle bus routes between rail stations. DART's adjusted schedule and shuttle bus routes can be viewed here.
Live radar
Track the storm and watch the snowfall here: