Winter storm brings treacherous travel conditions, school closures

Editor's note: This information was obtained and valid as of press time Tuesday, Jan. 31. 

Limestone County Emergency Management monitored winter weather "minute-to-minute" early Jan. 30, and until Feb. 2, Director Matt Groveton said. 

"The difficulty when we have this type of weather is the temperatures are staying on the borderline," Groveton said. "Right around 32 degrees." 

Limestone County remained under a winter storm warning until 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, according to the National Weather Service. 

Central Texas residents experienced mixed precipitation of freezing rain and sleet. The total ice or sleet accumulations were about one-quarter inch, with bursts of sleet totaling 1/2 inch in some spots. 

 "We're a little bit further south than where a lot of the major ice is," he said. "We're just outside with a major icing area, but things are still treacherous out there…if you don't have to drive a lot, I wouldn't do it, but I know that's easier said than done." 

There has been ice on local bridges and roadways, Groveton said. It causes problems when the temperatures drop above and below freezing as they have been.

"People can't see the ice,” Groveton said, “ they don't take it seriously and get into bad accidents. There haven't been widespread vehicle accidents, but there have been accidents.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety reported that Trooper Curtis Putz was struck by a vehicle while investigating a crash on I-45 in Navarro County around 8:45 a.m. Jan. 31. Putz was seriously injured and transported to a Dallas area hospital in serious condition.

The winter weather resulted in dangerous travel conditions expected to continue into early Thursday morning. In some areas, roads became nearly impossible to pass by late Tuesday, Jan. 31, and bridges and overpasses remained icy. 

Many school districts, including Groesbeck Independent School District and Mexia ISD, were closed Jan. 31. and Feb. 1 out of an abundance of caution.

"If you can cut down on your traveling out there, please do it, and if you have to travel, it goes without saying just to slow down and be careful," he said. 

Black ice is thin, transparent ice that forms in places with less warmth, like heavily shaded roads, underpasses and tunnels. Bridges and overpasses are more prone because cold air circulates beneath them, causing the pavement above to freeze.

Respect black ice, he said. Slow down, allow distance between vehicles or avoid traveling. 

"If you're going to work, you've driven that route so many times you get hypnotized by the road, and all of a sudden you look down, and you're at 60 miles per hour, 70 miles per hour again. That's where you get in trouble. Everyone needs to stay aware of their speeds."