Think this is bad? Check out photos of Fort Worth’s epic ‘cobblestone’ ice storm of 2013
Matt Leclercq
·1 min read
If you’re growing tired of this week’s lingering sleet and freezing rain, at least it hasn’t been as bad as the epic ice storm that hit Fort Worth nearly 10 years ago, coating the city in 4 inches of sleet.
The Arctic blast started on Dec. 5, 2013, and persisted for five days. What was expected to be freezing rain turned into up to 4 inches of sleet that morphed into thick “cobblestone ice” that tormented road crews and drivers. About 250,000 people lost power in Dallas-Fort Worth. On Dec. 7, the high of 26 degrees broke a record set in 1950.
Dan Huckabee of the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, told the Star-Telegram a few weeks later that the deep freeze was the No. 1 weather event of 2013.
Here’s a look at Star-Telegram photos from the great “cobblestone” ice storm of 2013.
Cobblestone ice on the Lancaster Bridge and other overpasses slowed traffic on Fort Worth streets on Monday, Dec 9, 2013.
Neighborhood children gather for some sledding on the ice left by the winter storm in Fairview, Texas, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Traffic on the West Seventh Street bridge moves, but slush and a ridge of ice between lanes remains in the late afternoon as the area continues to thaw out from the winter storm, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013.
Mark Vogel gives his daughter Parker, 7, a push on the sled he used when he was a kid on the icy streets in west Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Motorists try to get vehicles and a city bus up an icy hill on East Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Jamie Hannah, 9, and Emily Bell, 11, play in the ice in west Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Vehicles try to pass through Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Fort Worth police try to control traffic around a city bus stuck in ice on East Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Cobblestone ice on bridges and overpasses makes travel treacherous overnight in Haltom City, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, as low temperatures continues. TXDOT announced plans to have crews treat the cobblestone ice to make roads safer starting Sunday morning.
A TXDOT crew works to clear ice from the southbound lane of I-35W on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013, two days after the storm.
Traffic backs up on the ice-covered ramp from Airport Freeway to the south entrance to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Slippery roads on Fifth street in Fort Worth make for treacherous footing on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Cobblestone ice on bridges and overpasses makes travel treacherous on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, in Haltom City.
Signs warn of treacherous conditions on Highway 121 in Fort Worth. Ice remains after low temperature refroze sleet from the day before’s storm that had begun to melt.
Monica Foley walks her dog Clover at Eagle Ranch neighborhood in north Fort Worth on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013.
Ice piled on the shoulder of I-20 near Hulen Mall in Fort Worth on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013.
Ashley Leonard and her daughter Veda, 4, walk to a neighbors for pancakes this morning in the ice in west Fort Worth on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.
Trucker Alonso Medina and his semi stranded on the shoulder of I-20 (westbound) near Winscott in Benbrook. He was headed to Lubbock, and was on the phone with friends locally, hoping to find a place to stay while he sought to get his semi moving. Cold and ice remained in Fort Worth with roads especially treacherous in the the morning hours before temperatures rose, Sunday, Dec 8, 2013.
Interstate 30 looking east from the intersection of Hulen on Dec. 7, 2013, in Fort Worth, Texas.
In the December 2013 ice storm, the Plant Shed in Benbrook lost four greenhouses, including one that was filled with Christmas trees.
Zack Smith of Keller twirls his daughter, Carline, 4, on the ice around the Christmas tree moments after it was illuminated during Keller Holly Days on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. The event had been rescheduled because of weather.
An editorial in a Chinese state-controlled newspaper on Thursday admonished "two-faced" Japan for inaccurately portraying it as a regional security threat while chasing more stable bilateral ties, warning of Chinese measures if Tokyo acted recklessly. In his address to the U.S. Congress last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called China's military actions "an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge" to the world, and vowed deeper strategic cooperation with Washington, placing China and Russia's military actions as top threats. In an editorial on Thursday, the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper said Japan claimed to be promoting bilateral relations but was also attempting to provoke confrontation by exaggerating China as a threat, describing Japan as "typical of a 'two-faced person' with no credibility".
America stands with Japan until all the Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago return home to end their painful separation, United States ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday in Tokyo. Japan says North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens, possibly many more, to train them as agents during the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas-Greenfield began her Japan visit by meeting with families of those kidnapped.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said the car Vega was found inside was not her car. Vega's parents told ABC15 her vehicle was ultimately found dumped in the area near First and Farmer streets in Tempe.
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