Texas Snow Storm Threatens to Unleash Blackouts and Travel Chaos
A winter storm is poised to pummel Texas and the U.S. South later this week, putting the region at risk of blackouts and travel mayhem.
About 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of snow and ice will fall across southern Oklahoma and Texas, including Dallas, coating trees, roads and power lines from San Antonio to northern Louisiana, said Peter Mullinax, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center.
The system “is going to be a disruptive one with significant accumulations of snow and ice,” Mullinax said. It will start to build Wednesday night, getting stronger on Thursday before sweeping east across the South on Friday.
The storm is likely to trigger widespread power outages, snarl transportation in a region where snow plows and salt trucks are rare, and ground or delay airline traffic. While temperatures won’t approach the extreme lows seen during the February 2021 storm that killed more than 200 people and left millions without power for days, any recurrence of cold raises concern about the stability of the state’s fragile power grid.
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator, warned Monday of possible tight power conditions due to the storm.
Snow will fall as the Dallas-Fort Worth area prepares for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between the University of Texas and Ohio State football teams. As of Monday, organizers said the game is still scheduled for Friday.
The troubles won’t be isolated to snow and ice. There’s also a risk of heavy rain along the Gulf of Mexico coast from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, which could lead to flooding in cities including Houston.
As the storm moves east, snow is forecast to pile up from central Arkansas to Memphis, Mullinax said. The system’s track will determine any further impacts, which may include snow in Asheville, North Carolina, where residents are still recovering from 2024’s Hurricane Helene.
While temperatures will drop to freezing and below during the storm, readings will become milder once the weekend arrives.