FORT WORTH, Texas — A frigid record low hit North Texas Monday morning and ERCOT, the electric utility, began rotating outages to reduce the state's demand on energy as Texans tried to keep warm.
On Sunday, the entire state of Texas was under a winter warning advisory.
And weather forecasters say it may not get above freezing until Friday.
At 7 a.m., the temperature was 6 degrees at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, breaking the previous low of 15 degrees set in 1909, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
Another record low will probably be broken on Tuesday morning. The record is 12 degrees established in 1903, and the NWS is calling for a low of 3 on Tuesday morning.
Snow and sleet covered North Texas Monday morning after a winter blast hit the area over the weekend.
MedStar responded to 431 calls on Sunday, 21 involving crashes. Two kids suffered minor injuries Sunday afternoon when they were hit by a car as they were riding a sled near the TCU area in Fort Worth, according to MedStar reports.
In addition, MedStar responded to 22 hypothermia cases in the area.
A hard freeze and wind child warnings were in effect until noon Tuesday for most of North Texas, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
Early Monday, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) started rotating outages to reduce demand on energy as Texans tried to stay warm.
ERCOT officials also advised Texans to keep thermostats at 68 degrees, turn off and unplug non-essential lights and appliances, and avoid the use of large appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers.
Oncor officials said the outages would last 15 to 45 minutes, but North Texas social media posts indicated some residents have been without power for several hours.
McKenna Carey of Aubrey lost power at 2 a.m.
"When I called the Texas-New Mexico Power outage number it said the expected time for it to be fixed was 4:15 a.m.," Carey said. The power remained off as of 8:10 a.m.
"Now it says it should be fixed by 9:15 a.m.," Carey said. "We are snuggled up with lots of blankets right now. Our thermostat is showing 53."
Carey said her family does not have a fireplace.
As of 7:05 a.m., more than 533,000 customers were without power in Tarrant and Dallas counties, according to Oncor.
The high Monday will be only 15 with wind chill values as low as 16 below.
More snow and sleet arrives late Tuesday into Wednesday in North Texas.
"The D-FW area will be probably have some light icing from the storm," said David Bonnette, a meteorologist with the NWS in Fort Worth on Monday. "And there's a chance of three to six inches of snow."
