Weekly Weather Event -Week of Feb. 8
February 12, 2021An ice storm over Texas brought dangerous road conditions to many interstate highways on February 11th, leading to a massive chain-reaction car crash near Fort Worth that involved over 100 vehicles. At least six people were killed in the crash, and more than 65 others were hospitalized. Further south, these same conditions rested in a 26-vechicle pileup in Austin, sending five people to the hospital. This was also accompanied by power outages stretching in Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia, leaving more than 100,000 people without power as of this morning.
These icy, frigid conditions will not be letting up over the weekend. New York City, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia are all bracing for a wintery mix while New England is expecting 1 to 3 inches of snow. In the northwest, Seattle and Portland are bracing for some of the largest snow events in years. Record cold is expected to stretch into Oklahoma and Texas, possibly bringing subzero temperatures as far south as the Texas Panhandle.
Looking closer to home, Madison typically sees the coldest weather of the year in the last week of January. This makes our current temperatures well below average for this time of year. As our Weather Guys said in their blog this week, the Madison area might be seeing one of its longest streaks of cold temperatures on record. Be sure to stay warm and limit outdoor activities until (comparatively) warmer weather rolls around.