Two weeks ago, Dallas breathed out a triumphant chuckle when the massive winter storm that promised to encase the city in ice and smother all signs of life arrived instead as a chilly but gentle rain. No way would the weather gods have the chutzpah to mess with the Big D, right?
Turns out, the weather cognoscenti weren't wrong about the coming icemageddon, just two weeks premature. Bearing down on Dallas right now is a storm the likes of which WFAA weather guru Pete Delkus has never seen before.
"The Metroplex is going to be entombed in ice," he warned today on Facebook. "It's just a question of how thick will it ultimately get."
The first storm arrives Thursday night. That, Delkus says, will be followed by a "McFarland Signature," which "effectively relocates the North Pole to the state of Kansas, and we will see temperatures dropping to levels we have not experienced in years by early next week.".
"Folks ... this is serious," Delkus concludes.
John Calipari believes it. The University of Kentucky basketball coach requested, probably in jest, that Saturday's matchup against Baylor at AT&T Stadium be postponed.
Of course, hyperbolic freakouts are Delkus' MO. The considerably more staid folks at the National Weather Service are hedging their bets more carefully, declaring an "increase in the likelihood of ice."
We're putting our money on Delkus in this instance. Why? Because this:
Starting my coverage in #Dallas tomorrow morning. Little Rock and #Memphis you are very much in play for significant ICE! #Cleon
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) December 4, 2013
Jim Cantore is The Weather Channel's go-to guy for running around the country to cover hurricanes and the like. He doesn't waste his time with cold drizzles. Plus, according to AccuWeather.com, Dallas is being targeted by an angry cactus of ice, rain and snow.
All that's left to be done is stock up on nonperishable food items and bottled water.
Head over the page for the official NWS (National Weather Service, not Not Work Safe) declaration of panic, complete with more capital letters than you can even imagine, and an explanation of how ice storms work.
FANNIN-LAMAR-COLLIN-HUNT-DELTA-HOPKINS-TARRANT-DALLAS-ROCKWALL- ERATH-HOOD-SOMERVELL-JOHNSON-COMANCHE-MILLS-HAMILTON-BOSQUE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BONHAM...PARIS...PLANO...GREENVILLE... COMMERCE...COOPER...SULPHUR SPRINGS...FORT WORTH...ARLINGTON... DALLAS...ROCKWALL...STEPHENVILLE...DUBLIN...GRANBURY... OAK TRAIL SHORES...GLEN ROSE...CLEBURNE...BURLESON...COMANCHE... DE LEON...GOLDTHWAITE...HAMILTON...HICO...CLIFTON...MERIDIAN... VALLEY MILLS 312 PM CST WED DEC 4 2013
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THURSDAY TO 6 PM CST FRIDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THURSDAY TO 6 PM CST FRIDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* TIMING...RAIN IS EXPECTED TO TRANSITION TO FREEZING RAIN THURSDAY EVENING AND CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY WHILE MIXING WITH SLEET.
* MAIN IMPACT...ICE AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS WILL CREATE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ON AREA ROADS...ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL IMPACTS ARE POSSIBLE DURING THIS EVENT...WHERE ICE ACCUMULATIONS MAY MAKE ROAD SURFACES IMPASSABLE AT TIMES THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
* OTHER POSSIBLE IMPACTS...ICE ACCUMULATIONS MAY BRING DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES...AND COULD CAUSE POWER OUTAGES.
* ACCUMULATION...ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE DURING THIS EVENT. THE HIGHEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL TEND TO BE ON ELEVATED SURFACES...SUCH AS BRIDGES... OVERPASSES...TREES...AND POWER LINES. UP TO ONE HALF INCH OF SLEET ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.
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