Houston Weather Forecast: Drivers Warned to Stay off Roads

Houston Weather Forecast: Drivers Warned to Stay off Roads
Jack Phillips
1/24/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

Drivers around Houston are being told to stay at home after ice covered many roads across the city on Friday.

The winter storm that came through Houston caused fight delays, dangerous driving conditions, and school closings.

The weather on Saturday looks to be mostly sunny with a high of 62 degrees with no rain, said The Weather Channel.

“As the bad weather increased during the early morning hours and the icy conditions got worse, the Houston Fire Department since mid-night ahs responded to 136 MVAs (motor vehicle accidents),” fire department spokesman Jay Evans said. 

Houston Airport System spokeswoman Darian Ward said that the icy weather canceled a number of flights.

Parts of Texas 146, the westbound Sam Houston Tollway from Aldine Westfield to the Hardy Toll Road, sections of FM 762, and sections of US 59 were closed over the ice, the Houston Chronicle reported.

At least 60 roads were completely or partially blocked.

“Always when you have rain and icy conditions the number of wrecks goes up,” Evans said.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said that there were about 30 accidents caused by motorists who slid into one another Friday. “I guess people just think they have to get to work,” a sheriff’s dispatcher said.

AP update on flights:

DALLAS (AP) — Icy roads and light snow have affected travel in parts of Texas in cold weather-related delays extending to other parts of the country.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines and its regional carriers had about 220 cancellations Friday due to weather. Spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan says the cancellations are systemwide.

Minor flight delays were reported by Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, mainly in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for those areas until midday Friday.

The Houston Independent School District, the state’s largest with more than 210,000 students, canceled classes Friday due to inclement weather. Icy roads made travel hazardous.

CPS Energy reported nearly 2,800 customers without electricity Friday in the San Antonio area. Oncor had about 1,400 outages, mainly in the freezing Dallas area.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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