January 31, 2023 Ice storm hits the South and central US
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The National Weather Service expanded the ice storm warnings across portions of western and central Texas. This includes areas around Midland as well as areas just west of Dallas, including Fort Worth.
The majority of these areas were under winter storm warnings today for a mix of freezing rain and sleet. The change to ice storm warnings is because the precipitation is expected to be almost exclusively freezing rain Wednesday and Wednesday night.
This round of precipitation is also expected to be the heaviest of the week. Locations across central Texas have received around half an inch to an inch of sleet and up to a quarter of an inch of freezing rain since Monday.
Areas under ice storm warnings are expected to receive up to, or even over half an inch of freezing rain in the next 36 hours. Half an inch of ice was reported on trees and power lines, which is enough to cause significant damage and power outages.
“Prepare for tree limb breakage and localized power outages in this region, in addition to hazardous or impossible travel conditions,” that National Weather Service in Dallas warned.
Much of central and eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee and northwestern Mississippi continue to be under ice storm warnings as well. In total, nearly 8 million people are included in ice storm warnings.
Overall, more than 30 million people are under some sort of winter weather alert from New Mexico to Virginia.