Dallas officials warn drivers as freezing temps create icy roads
Temperatures are plunging across North Texas, with wind chills expected to dip below zero. Freezing drizzle may create hazardous road conditions, and some schools have canceled activities. Crews are gearing up—here’s what you need to know.
As temperatures in Dallas dipped below freezing, the rain tapered off, leading to sporadic and patchy ice formation. Still, city officials urged drivers to stay cautious, warning that bridges and overpasses remained at risk of freezing.
“Because it has been raining, I do believe there will be some very slick spots once it reaches under 32 degrees. So for those areas, we will be placing sand on them to help dry quicker and be less slick,” said Tina Richardson, Assistant Director of the Street Operations Division.
Richardson noted that Tuesday afternoon was too wet for crews to apply liquid brine, a preventative measure used earlier in the week.
Instead, road crews deployed 40 sand trucks, with another 40 on standby. At midnight, they began working in 12-hour shifts to monitor and address slick spots.
After applying brine over the weekend, TxDOT crews also remained in 24/7 operations.
“TxDOT crews have been out since Friday pretreating the roads, laying down that initial layer of brine. We finished that up over the weekend. Yesterday and today we have been spot treating, catching those bridges and overpasses primarily where ice may accumulate,” said spokesperson Tony Hartzel.
The agency also kept watch from the Dallas District Traffic Management Center, which operates 750 traffic cameras across seven counties.
Crews deploy sand trucks and monitor roads as bridges and overpasses remain at risk of freezing
Trending Stories
Weather Forecast
By Allie Spillyards • Published February 18, 2025 • Updated on February 18, 2025 at 10:20 pm
This article tagged under:
EXTREME WEATHER
FORECAST
EXTREME WEATHER
FORECAST
Is it safe to drive on DFW roads Wednesday morning? Here’s what we’re seeing
DALLAS — North Texas woke up to frigid temperatures in the teens and wind chills making it feel even colder Wednesday morning. Parts of North Texas were also seeing snow flurries early Wednesday.
Despite the freezing weather and flurries, we weren’t seeing any widespread issues on the roads as of early Wednesday morning, as commuters began hitting the freeways on their way to work.
That being said, we have crews across North Texas monitoring the latest conditions, especially on bridges and overpasses, which can freeze more easily in frigid weather. We were seeing lake effect snow in the Grapevine area, and some areas on the western side of North Texas appeared to have some light snow along the sides of the roads.
TxDOT cameras in Weatherford showed light snow on the roadway and along the side of the road on Farm Road 3325 near Morning Mist.
Here’s a look from the Cockrell Hill area of Dallas County, which was also seeing snow flurries.
However, for the most part, it was too dry for any snow to be sticking on roadways.
While the winter weather this week wasn’t expected to be an ice event, the Texas Department of Transportation was still taking precaution. They’ve closed all TEXpress managed toll lanes across DFW until further notice. The freezing temperatures are expected to last until around noon Thursday, and even when it climbs above freezing, it will still be cold across North Texas into Friday.
Thursday’s winds won’t be quite as strong, but it will be just as cold, if not colder. The highs on Thursday will be only in the middle 30s. We won’t get well above freezing until Friday afternoon. It gets much warmer than that for next weekend and the following week.
20
Bitter temps and life-threatening wind chills are expected through noon Thursday. Protect people, pets, plants, pipes.
by Vincent Martorano
TOPICS:
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) pretreated roads in anticipation of potential winter weather this week, using brine to help prevent ice formation on major highways and state roads in the Austin area.
“You’ll see those pinstripes up and down the highways,” said Brad Wheelis, a spokesperson for TxDOT. “When that precipitation moves in, it starts to activate, and it helps to prevent ice from forming.”
Crews have been pretreating roads since this past weekend. Governor Greg Abbott announced on Monday that 400,000 gallons of brine and over 10,000 cubic yards of granular material are being deployed across the state to pretreat roadways.
“I’ve also directed the Texas Department of Transportation to deploy winter weather roadway equipment and crews to not just pre-treat roadways but to maintain the treatment of roadways as the temperatures plummet,” Abbott said.
00:00
02:39
KEYE – Vinny 6pm
KEYE
RELATED| Arctic blast set to bring dangerous cold and hard freeze to Central Texas
Despite these efforts, Wheelis cautioned that the brine treatment is not perfect, and drivers still need to be aware of ice on the roads.
“We have a goal of making the roads passable. Passable does not mean perfect, so you could see some slick spots,” Wheelis said. “Once you start sliding, it can be too late.”
Wheelis also warned that freezing temperatures are heading this way despite the recently fair temperatures.
“Don’t let these 60-degree temperatures this afternoon fool you because we’re in for some bitterly cold temperatures moving through, and so we can still see some ice form,” he said.
TxDOT said if you need to drive this week, be extra cautious of ice on bridges and overpasses.
