COLD WEATHER PROBABLY HARSH DRIVING CONDITIONS FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY WEEK

  

The busiest traveling weekend of the year is coming at the end of this week, with the American Automobile Association predicting at least four million Texans will make some sort of trip for the Thanksgiving holiday.  They may face some tough driving conditions as a wintry storm has moved into the state.

The large storm is already blamed for eight deaths in the West as it slogged through Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma Sunday. 

The wintry mix will be hitting our area, bringing rain and putting bridges and over passes at risk as early as today (Monday).   The National Weather Service reports the arctic mass will continue to head south and east threatening plans for Tuesday and Wednesday as people hit the roads and airports for some of the busiest travel of the year.

More than 300 flights were cancelled at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, representing one-third of the scheduled departures, and a spokeswoman said de-icing equipment had been prepared as officials planned for the worst in a flurry of conference calls and meetings.

The storm has already caused hundreds of rollovers, including one that injured three members of Willie Nelson’s band when their bus hit a pillar on Interstate 30 near Sulphur Springs, about 75 miles northeast of Dallas.

The Weather Service says the Brazos Valley conditions will be cloudy, windy and rainy throughout today (Monday).  The temperatures will dip well past the freezing mark early Tuesday morning and the cold snap should last through Thursday.