The next two days could be quite icy for part of the southern U.S. as freezing rain, sleet and snow could sweep multiple states this week.
Much of Central Texas, including the Dallas and Austin metro areas, was placed under winter storm warnings through Wednesday. Sections of Arkansas and Tennessee, including the Little Rock and Memphis areas, were placed under ice storm warnings for late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
According to the National Weather Service’s forecast, these areas will likely experience over one-tenth of an inch of freezing rain through Wednesday. Some of these areas, especially west of Dallas, could get up to a half inch of freezing rain.
According to Duke Energy, a quarter inch of ice is enough to bring down trees and cause widespread power outages.
The Texas power grid has been susceptible to winter power outages. In February 2021, the state experienced a massive outage after a winter storm followed by extreme cold knocked out power to millions.
However, ERCOT said it expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand.
The weather is also causing problems in the sky. According to FlightAware, more than 1,600 flights were canceled on Monday.
