Icy Spots Possible Monday Night and Tuesday Morning

UPDATE 1025pm - Freezing drizzle in parts of Tarrant Co with snow flakes being reported at Alliance Airport and also snow flakes reported in parts of Parker Co, Denton Co and Collin Co.  This will continue for next several hours with slick spots on roadways possible.  Thin glaze of ice will be impossible to see so be careful if you have to travel from now until daybreak Tuesday.

UPDATE 945PM - Drizzle and snow flakes are making it to the ground now in Tarrant, Denton, Parker and Wise Co.  Air temps range from 32 to 34 degrees.  No icy spots yet, but if precip continues to fall as temps drop below freezing, could start to see a few icy spots for next few hours.

ICY SPOTS ON ROADWAYS TONIGHT…

There are a couple of features I am watching tonight that could have an impact on early morning travel.

First, temperatures will drop below freezing in most locations across Texas.  This means that wherever there is standing water on the roads, it has the potential to freeze creating icy spots.  The wind has helped dry out the roads to some degree, but where there are puddles and other water there could be freezing.

Second, the radar continues to show precipitation falling from clouds moving over North Texas.  Here is a snapshot of the radar at 830pm.

Note the precipitation over Wise and northern Denton Co.  Just about all of this is evaporating before it is reaching the ground as the air here at the surface is dry.  But as this precip continues to fall from the clouds, it will continue to moisten the lower levels of the atmosphere that is currently dry and possibly allow for precip to make it down to the ground.  This precip would likely be in the form of drizzle/flurries or freezing drizzle.  The freezing drizzle would be very problematic because surface temperatures would be below freezing and a thin glaze of ice would form on roadways, bridges and overpasses.  This would be invisible ice.  So you wouldn't know it was there until you started to skid.

At present time, temperatures are still in the 37 to 38 degree range in Dallas/Fort Worth, but areas like Decatur, Graham and Wichita Falls have dropped to 32 to 31 degrees.  The National Weather Service may issue a Winter Weather Advisory for the freezing drizzle threat later this evening.  It would likely just include the area north and west of the Tarrant Co but possibly Tarrant County too.

So keep in mind tomorrow morning if you are out and about before 8am there could be a few icy spots on the roads.  We will continue to monitor the situiation and join me tonight at 10pm and watch Meteorologist Garry Seith beginning at 4:30am Tuesday morning.