Ice Storm — Tarrant, Texas

2009-01-27 to 2009-01-28 · Tarrant, Texas

Event narrative

There were almost 600 wrecks in Fort Worth due to icy conditions with 207 of them occurring in one 90 minute period. Most of the accidents occurred on Highway 287 and Interstate 35. Several crashes on I-30 forced its closure near the Parker County line. In Arlington, 50 accidents were reported. One man was killed (indirect) after his car left Loop 820 and struck a tree. Power was knocked out to about 400 customers. An NWS employee reported 0.25 inches of sleet accumulation along with 0.20 inches of ice from freezing rain. About 185 flights were canceled at DFW Airport.

Wider weather episode

A shallow arctic airmass moved over north Texas as an upper level storm system moved in from the west. Periods of rain, freezing rain, and sleet occurred resulting in thousands of traffic accidents and numerous power outages. Ice accumulations ranged from a tenth to over a half inch. Indirect monetary damages were over a million dollars with dozens of injuries (indirect).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 150722. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.