Rare Dallas Snow and Ice Ground Hundreds of Flights Across US

A winter storm that brought snow to Dallas and threatens the US South with ice and sleet has grounded more than 1,000 flights and is raising the risk of power outages through the region.

As of 8 a.m. Dallas time Thursday, 1,291 flights were grounded across the country, with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and nearby Dallas Love Field accounting for more than 90% of them, according to FlightAware.

Light snow had started falling in Dallas with as much as 2 to 5 inches (5 to 13 centimeters) expected through the rest of the day. Schools were closed across North Texas.

A powerful low-pressure system from the Gulf of Mexico will track across the South before moving off the Carolina coast early Saturday and out to sea without threatening the Northeast, said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the US Weather Prediction Center. North of the storm’s track a wide area of snow, sleet and ice is expected to fall, while heavy rain will drench the Gulf Coast. Houston that may get as much as 2 inches of rain.

Winter storm warnings, watches and weather advisories stretch from New Mexico to southern Virginia, the National Weather Service said. A large area of 4 to 6 inches of snow is forecast to fall from the Dallas area through Arkansas and into Tennessee and Kentucky.

The hardest hit areas will likely be eastern Oklahoma and central to northern Arkansas, according to the weather prediction center.

Transportation troubles may spread Friday as up to 0.1 inch of ice is forecast for the Atlanta area, a major US air hub. In addition to delays in air traffic, federally-funded passenger-rail carrier Amtrak has canceled several trains across Texas and the South, including the iconic City of New Orleans and Texas Flyer.