Wintery Mix; 50 MPH Wind Gusts Possible Thursday, Friday; Winter Storm Watch West Of DFW
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – As Thursday approaches, some nasty weather is in store for the Metroplex. A wintery mix of precipitation is possible for some as well as sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph and gusts as high as 50 mph.
A Winter Storm Watch begins Thursday afternoon for locations west of the DFW area.
Most in DFW are expected to see a cold rain, with some rain / snow mix occurring in areas west of I-35W Thursday night into Friday.
A Wind Advisory will be in effect Thursday afternoon from 3:00 p.m. until noon on Friday for most of the CBS 11 viewing area.
Winds, much colder air and high moisture levels in the atmosphere are expected to pack a punch for North Texas primarily west of the metro area where the Winter Storm Watch is in effect.
Counties in the watch area are Young, Jack, Stephens, Palo Pinto, Eastland, Erath, Comanche and Mills including the cities of Graham, Olney, Jacksboro, Breckenridge, Mineral Wells, Cisco, Eastland, Ranger, Gorman, Stephenville, Dublin, Comanche, De Leon and Goldthwaite.
CBS 11 Meteorologists say snow with accumulations of a trace to four inches are possible in the watch area in the above counties.
In addition, winds could gust to 55 mph and result in visibility of less than a half mile during periods of snow.
With higher ground temperatures, the amount of accumulation will depend how fast the snow falls in the watch area.
Road crews in North Texas are already preparing DFW bridges and overpasses for the potential of winter weather in the Metroplex.
TxDOT told CBS 11 Wednesday night, 140 vehicles are on standby with 33,000 tons of salt, sand and brine to spread on North Texas highways.
Wind chill values are expected to be in the low 20s to teens on Friday morning.
The possibility of the heaviest winds in years as well as the potential for a rain and snow mixture could hit DFW.
Fort Worth resident Molly Reid bought 300 pounds of sand Wednesday due to that threat of 50 mph winds.
"My Christmas soldiers, I glued them down to the drums and then I went today to Ace Hardware and picked up a bunch of play sand and I put around my trees," said Reid.
Reid is hoping the sand will weigh down her decorations, keeping them from becoming casualties of the wind.
The school district in Fort Worth is warning the storm could lead to bad driving condition and power outages.
Fort Worth ISD is asking parents to use its app to get alerts if classes are cancelled.
No classes have been cancelled at this time.
