Locator: 49843FERN.
North Texas, from DFW north to Oklahoma, the state of Texas was shut down and the national news kept talking about Dallas and the winter storm of the century -- Winter Storm Fern.
Oh, give me a break.
Yes, the northern half of the state did shut down completely for four days, and possibly five days, but it was only due to the freakish event of rain just before the sub-freezing cold front. So, we had a glaze of ice -- they all it "black ice" in Germany -- covered by a 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch covering of ice-snow -- something I had never see before. Not in North Dakota, not in Germany.
But this was nothing like the storm of the century back in 2021. Now, that was bad. I can't recall the exact numbers but back in 2021, we went 280 hours straight with sub-freezing weather. This time, this year, 2026, 70 hours straight with sub-freezing weather. The numbers are probably wrong but that gives you an idea of the two storms.
At the end of the day, a lot of canceled flights and a four-day weekend for students.
Tomorrow should be the fourth of four days, but it's possible we could see the authorities extending it one more day -- a five-day weekend for Sophia.
But today was quite pleasant -- those areas that got sunshine -- the ice turned to slush which will freeze again overnight. But tomorrow, the temperature will get to 40+°F and everything will melt. And it will be over.
***********************************
A Musical Interlude
How did we go from Cher to Taylor Swift. And, yes, it's still Taylor Swift. Vs Cher.
