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A city of Sherman sand truck makes rounds on Wednesday, sanding trouble spots.
courtesy photo
This map from the National Weather Service shows temperatures as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. According to the NWS, the snow that fell Tuesday was still visible from satellite at the time in the area north of the dotted line.
Buy PhotoCHRIS JENNINGS / HERALD DEMOCRAT
Despite lingering ice on the roadways, traffic makes its way around town at FM 1417 and Red Bud Trail in Sherman Wednesday morning.
Santa Claus wasn’t the only one busy on Christmas Day, emergency workers and Texas Department of Transportation crews went to work trying to keep roads passable as the area experienced more than 1.5 inches of precipitation.
According to the National Weather Service precipitation at the North Texas Regional Airport-Perrin Field began around 2:35 a.m. Tuesday with rain. As temperatures dropped to 32 degrees around 12:35 p.m. precipitation turned to a mix, lasting until almost 4 p.m.
The weather caused a number of accidents and stranded motorists locally and across the Southern Plains to the Northeast. According to the incident reports from the Denison Police Department, officers responded to 10 accidents on Tuesday, more than double of any of the four previous days.
Texas State Troopers were busy with numerous accidents along Interstate 35. “It was shut down for several hours last night (Tuesday night) but is open now,” Trooper Mark Tackett said in an email Wednesday morning. “The best advice is, if you don’t have to go out don’t. Stay in and be safe. The roads are dangerous during icy conditions. TxDOT and DPS Troopers are working around the clock to make it as safe as possible.”
With temperatures failing to climb above freezing Wednesday, many roadways, especially less traveled ones are likely to be icy again Thursday morning. However, temperatures are forecast to reach into the 40s during the day Thursday and Friday, which should help to melt away any remaining ice on roadways.
