Winter Weather — Hartley, Texas

2013-04-02 to 2013-04-03 · Hartley, Texas

Event narrative

One fatal wreck was reported east of Dalhart (Hartley County) involving a GMC pickup truck traveling westbound on FM 281. The pickup lost control on the slick roadway and rolled into a field. The driver of the vehicle was transported to a Hospital in Lubbock, but later succumbed to his injuries. The Dalhart ASOS reported a trace of ice accumulation on the 2nd and 0.08 inches for the 3rd.

Wider weather episode

During the early morning hours of the 2nd, patchy drizzle developed across the Texas Panhandle. With at or slightly below freezing surface temperatures the drizzle froze on elevated surfaces such as bridges and overpasses. Less than a tenth of an inch of ice accumulations were reported in Hartley, Dallam, Moore, and Oldham Counties. However, the slick conditions resulted in a few vehicle accidents. Bridges and overpasses near Dumas (Moore County) were reported to be slick but did not cause any accidents, and slick bridges resulted in 2 minor accidents near Vega. One fatal wreck was reported east of Dalhart (Hartley County) involving a GMC pickup truck traveling westbound on FM 281. The pickup lost control on the slick roadway and rolled into a field. The driver of the vehicle was transported to a Hospital in Lubbock, but later succumbed to his injuries. Road conditions improved after 10 AM CST as temperatures rose above freezing.

During the afternoon hours of the 2nd, a cold front moved southward across the Texas Panhandle. Temperatures behind the front quickly dropped 10 to 15 degrees and continued to drop throughout the evening hours. At the same time a closed low moved southeastward from the Four Corners Region. This low provided the lift needed for warm moist air to ride overtop the intruding cold surface airmass to produce light drizzle. As the overnight hours progressed, surface temperatures dropped below freezing causing the drizzle to freeze upon contact with elevated surfaces such as bridges and overpasses. The freezing drizzle continued through the overnight hours and into the early morning hours of the 3rd. By 6 AM CST, the closed low had progressed far enough southeastward to cause the freezing drizzle to intensify into a band of light freezing rain that moved from west to east across the Panhandle. By noon of the 3rd, the upper low had progressed southeastward enough to send the band of light freezing rain into western Oklahoma.

The frozen precipitation caused numerous vehicle related accidents across the Panhandle. The Amarillo (Potter and Randall County) Police Department reported 17 traffic accidents between the hours of 4 to 8 AM CST on city roads with the majority of them on overpasses. At the Ross-Mirror Connector, an initial two car accident resulted in multiple other accidents when motorists were unable to brake in time due to icy roadway conditions. At the Hughes-Adams Connector, a vehicle traveling northbound hit a patch of ice and swerved into the southbound lanes. The vehicle collided with an empty southbound Durham school bus which resulted in minor injuries to the passenger of the northbound vehicle. While first responders were working this accident, another northbound vehicle was unable to stop due to the icy conditions, and struck an Amarillo Fire Department truck which was blocking traffic from the initial accident. No injuries were reported in the secondary accident. A fatal vehicle accident occurred at the intersection of Interstate 40 and FM 1912. A Ford pickup truck traveling eastbound on Interstate 40 lost control after encountering icy road conditions, crossed into the westbound lanes, struck the guardrail, and rolled several times before coming to a stop. Both driver and passenger were transported to a local Hospital where the driver later succumbed to his injuries. The passenger was treated and listed as stable. Several other wrecks were caused by the icy conditions at the Grand Street Overpass and on U.S. Highway 60 near Amarillo. No serious injuries were reported in association with these accidents.

Icy road conditions resulted in a string of vehicle accidents that caused one fatality and one injury on U.S. Highway 87 near Dumas (Moore County). A Chevrolet pickup lost control after encountering icy conditions on the overpass and crashed. A passing motorist stopped to render aid to the Chevrolet driver when a Dodge pickup lost control, and struck the assisting motorist and the other two vehicles. The assisting motorist was pronounced deceased at the scene, and the Chevrolet driver was treated and released from a local hospital.

The following is a list of the highest ice amounts reported: Dalhart (Hartley and Dallam County) reported 0.08 inches of ice; Dumas (Moore County) reported 0.05 inches of ice; Amarillo (Potter County) reported 0.01 inches of ice; Wayside (Armstrong County) reported a trace of ice; Panhandle (Carson County) reported a trace of ice; Bootleg (Deaf Smith County) reported 0.01 inches of ice; Clarendon (Donley County) reported 0.02 inches of ice; Pampa (Gray County) reported 0.03 inches of ice; Spearman (Hansford County) reported 0.01 inches of ice; Canadian (Hemphill County) reported 0.02 inches of ice; Borger (Hutchinson County) reported a trace of ice; Lipscomb (Lipscomb County) reported 0.02 inches of ice; Perryton (Ochiltree County) reported 0.03 inches of ice; Boys Ranch (Oldham County) reported a trace of ice; Canyon (Randall County) reported a trace of ice; Miami (Roberts County) reported 0.01 inches of ice; and Stratford (Sherman County) reported 0.01 inches of ice.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 448660. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.