Rain before the winter storm: Showers taper off before drop in temperatures, sleet and ice to end week in DFW
North Texans are waking up to a few showers on Wednesday morning and milder temperatures. Expect the showers to linger for portions of the area, mainly in the morning before a front comes through, ending the rain showers.
Temperatures rise to the 60s and fall back down to near 40° by night. After Wednesday, all eyes are on our winter system.
Winter storm watch goes into effect Friday
First Alert Weather Days are in place for Friday through Monday due to prolonged winter precipitation and extremely cold temperatures. Record lows likely will be tied or broken.
A winter storm watch begins Friday afternoon and continues through Saturday due to moderate to heavy accumulation of sleet, freezing rain, and/or snow, which will lead to treacherous travel and potential power outages.
Temperatures will dip below freezing by Friday evening, and it will be the most likely scenario that DFW stays below freezing through Monday afternoon, making that a 72-plus-hour stretch.
Now is the time to start preparing. Throughout Friday, road conditions will rapidly deteriorate, and travel will be significantly impacted. Timing is being fine-tuned, but most, if not all, of North Texas will see a wintry mix by the evening, overnight into the Saturday timeframe.
Outlook on wintry mix
The wintry mix continues all day Saturday, and then at some point, there is a chance for a changeover to snowfall, but whether this happens is still to be determined.
There is a warm layer in the upper part of the atmosphere that will cause precipitation to melt and then refreeze before it reaches the ground, causing sleet. North Texas needs this warm layer to shrink substantially or go away, so it stays at or below freezing for the area to get snow.
By Sunday morning, most of the precipitation tapers off, but there is still a chance for the first half of the morning. The Sunday morning and Monday morning timeframes will be the coldest. Temperatures may fall into the single digits, with feel-like temperatures at times below zero. These are dangerously cold temperatures across Texas.
Stay tuned.