Dublin, area shuttered by winter storm
Dublin grinded to a literal halt last week as a winter storm pummeled Erath County and surrounding area.
On Sunday, Jan. 29, a winter storm rolled into the area, and as weather forecasters had warned, the temperatures dropped, affording winter precipitation the perfect opportunity to stick.
A winter storm warning was issued for the area from Monday, Jan. 30 through Wednesday,Feb.1.Residents were warned to expect mixed precipitation, primarily in the form of freezing rain and/or sleet. Total ice or sleet accumulations between one tenth and one half of an inch were forecast. The National Weather Service had issued a Winter Storm Watch on Sunday, Jan. 29 to prepare people.
As the winter storm amped up, Dublin ISD canceled school on Monday, Jan. 30 due to the anticipated weather and ended up canceling school every day for the rest of the week due to road conditions and winter precipitation.
According to DISD Superintendent Melissa Summers, the district will apply for a waiver if one is available for the missed days but if not, the district has enough minutes built in to cover the missed time.
With a high temperature of only 29 degrees on Monday and sleet beginning to fall, many citizens made their way to Brookshire Brothers and other stores to stock up on groceries and other necessities.
Tuesday’s high continued to be freezing with a high of 26 degrees and .14 inches of precipitation.
Trash service for Dublin by Waste Connections was canceled for the week simply because the trucks could not safely traverse the roadways.
On Wednesday, the month of February rolled in with more cold air with a high of only 29 degrees.
An ice storm warning was issued Wednesday, Feb. 1 through the morning of Thursday, Feb. 2 with the forecast of another half inch of inch falling.
Overnight on Wednesday, more freezing rain fell on already frozen ground making many parking lots and driveways like ice skating rinks.
State Highway 6 east at County Road 522 closed when it was blocked with a semi-truck on its side, blocking both lanes. Ultimately, TxDOT sand trucks were called to assist emergency services getting numerous 18-wheelers unstuck.
On Thursday, Feb. 2 the area finally made it above freezing at about 9 p.m. with a high of 33. Though major roads were reasonably passable by the afternoon, many county roads were not drivable.
Thursday, United Cooperative Services were reporting about 1,350 outages in its service area due to trees snapping under the weight of the ice.
Crews continued to work over several days to get customers’ power back up and running.
Transformation Pathway/ Christian Women’s Job Corps in Dublin also suffered from the winter weather as its back porch awning in downtown Dublin collapsed due to the weight of the ice. Citizens are being asked to temporarily not drop off donations to CWJC until the awning can be fixed.
West Clinton at Highland to the loop was closed for a period of time on Thursday, Feb. 2 due to a stuck semitruck.
The newspaper itself was not unaffected as newspaper deliveries did not take place until Friday, Feb. 3.
Athletic schedules were also altered throughout the week as road conditions were dangerous.
Friday, Feb. 3 the area was able to finally move around safely by mid-morning as sunshine and warmer temperatures returned to the area with a high of 50 degrees.
Rain is in the forecast for several days this week, but will not be accompanied by freezing temperatures.
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