Residents in the mid-South were urged to stay home if possible on Monday morning as a dangerous ice storm moved across the region and brought with it significant ice accretions, leading to power outages and dangerous travel conditions.
The FOX Forecast Center said a disturbance moved from the Southwest to the southern Plains and mid-South, spreading precipitation across the region from late Sunday into Monday.
Warm air aloft has helped to melt snowflakes into raindrops, but with temperatures at the surface near or below freezing, the precipitation is reaching the ground as freezing rain. Ice is rapidly developing on the surface due to the cold temperatures.
And that ice is causing numerous issues.
The National Weather Service office in Kansas City warned residents to stay home due to the dangerous driving conditions.
“Heads up,” the NWS said on X, formerly Twitter. “Icy and dangerous road conditions across the southern half of the KC metro. Stay home unless absolutely necessary to venture out.”
The NWS office in St. Louis sent out a similar plea on Monday morning.
“Icy conditions are much more dangerous than snow,” the NWS said on X. “If you must go outside, take it slow.”
The highest risk for dangerous ice continues to be found in eastern Oklahoma, northwestern Arkansas and parts of Missouri.
Ice Storm Warnings are still in effect for those areas, including for the cities of Fort Smith and Fayetteville in Arkansas and West Plains in Missouri.
FOX Weather Correspondent Katie Byrne was in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Monday morning and said roads and sidewalks there have been slick due to the icy conditions.
“The whole thing started up really in Oklahoma last night, then it pushed into Arkansas and also is getting into Missouri, too,” she said.
She said that roads appear to be wet, but that’s what can be extremely dangerous for drivers out on the roads.
“The whole thing started up really in Oklahoma last night, then it pushed into Arkansas and also is getting into Missouri, too,” she said.
“(The roads) are very shiny,” Byrne said. “That’s what you’re going to be dealing with, the potential for black ice.”
The highest ice totals so far have been found in eastern Oklahoma.
Tulsa has reported the highest so far, with 0.28 inches of ice. Behind that, Tiawah reported 0.15 inches, and Bartlesville and McAlester reported 0.14 inches of ice.
Anything over a quarter-inch of ice can cause numerous power outages and tree damage.
Most areas are expected to see closer to a tenth-inch of ice, but even low amounts such as that can cause several problems.
The FOX Forecast Center said that, thankfully, warmer air will quickly move north, bringing milder conditions that will change the freezing rain over to plain rain showers. That should help melt the ice and limit any lingering impacts.
The FOX Forecast Center says that as the warm air continues to move in, the ice threat will shift to the north.