A winter storm that dropped snow and ice caused temperatures to plummet across the southern plains, leading to a power outage in Texas a day after conditions canceled flights and affected traffic across much of the US. short-lived could take hours instead, as temperatures plummeted in the teens near Dallas and in the 1920s around Houston.
Rotary power outages began Monday morning by the Texas Electric Reliability Council, which manages the flow of energy in the state.
The council described the rotary outage as a “last resort to maintain the reliability of the electrical system as a whole,” adding that utility transmission companies are tasked with determining how to reduce demand for the system.
Oncor, a utility that serves the Dallas-Fort Worth area and other parts of the state, said on Twitter Monday morning that the outage can take hours
“These aren’t rolling blackouts,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Twitter“We are dealing with system-wide power outages statewide.”
Oncor advised customers to close blinds or curtains, seal rooms, and tuck towels or rags under doors to avoid heat loss.
“Every grid operator and every utility company is fighting to restore power right now,” Board Chairman and CEO Bill Magness said in a statement
According to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking site, more than 2.7 million customers in Texas were in the dark as of 11:20 a.m.
CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported that strong winds caused sub-zero chills. For the first time in history, there was a wind chill warning for North Texas. Dangerously cold feel-like temperatures were expected Monday evening and Tuesday.
CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV said all of Southeast Texas was also under a wind chill warning Tuesday morning.
Up to 400 record cold temperatures were possible in the middle of the week, said CBS News meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli.
Matt Varble in the Dallas suburb of Las Colinas told The Dallas Morning News that his power went out a few times Monday morning. The second time, it went out around 3:30 am and hadn’t returned by 7:00 am
“It’s getting really cold in my house,” Varble told the newspaper. “I’ve lived in the North for a long time and nothing like it ever happened when I lived in New York, Ohio and Illinois.”
About 5,000 customers in Oklahoma Gas & Electric were without power overnight, and Entergy Arkansas recorded about 3,000 outages. Both states have much smaller populations compared to Texas.
Houston officials had warned people to prepare for outages and dangerous roads – conditions similar to what residents might see in the aftermath of a Category 5 hurricane.
“There have (have) been numerous reports of icing accidents,” Bob Oravec, chief forecaster for the National Weather Service said Monday. “I think there will be a major threat today as the system moves northeast.”
By mid-morning, 3,000 flights across the country had been canceled, of which about 1,600 were at Dallas / Fort Worth International and Bush Intercontinental airports in Texas. At DFW, the temperature was 4 degrees Fahrenheit – 3 degrees colder than Moscow.
Collecting ice between one-tenth and a quarter of an inch was possible in eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, central Tennessee, Kentucky and beyond to the West Virginia and Ohio border region, Oravec said.
Up to 12 inches of snow was expected over parts of the southern plains until Monday, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.
The region had been preparing for the winter weather for most of the weekend. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster statement for all 254 counties of the state. Abbott, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, each activated National Guard units to assist government agencies with tasks including rescuing stranded drivers.
Sue Ogrocki / AP
President Biden also declared an emergency in Texas on Sunday night. The statement aims to add federal support to state and local response efforts.
The National Weather Service said on Sunday that the forecast will require 8 to 12 inches of snow in central Oklahoma through early Tuesday and 4 to 8 inches in an area stretching from East Texas to the Ohio Valley in the Northeast.
In Louisiana, police closed several bridges and parts of some interstates due to icy conditions around Baton Rouge. In particular, Interstate 10 between Baton Rouge and Lafayette was closed in both directions on Monday morning due to ice buildup that caused multiple crashes.
In Memphis, Tennessee, snow began to fall on Sunday afternoon, and in Mississippi, sleet in Jackson and other central parts of the state caused roads and bridges to be slippery.
Parts of Kentucky and West Virginia that were still recovering from an ice storm last week were expected to be up to a quarter inch of ice or up to 20 inches of snow Tuesday.