White Christmas howls through Texas

Related Photos

Dusted a S.W. 4th Avenue yard and rooftop. Libby Cluett
In Mineral Wells, though there wasn’t enough quite enough to make a snowman, snow remains on cactus Wednesday. Libby Cluett.

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December 27, 2012

White Christmas howls through Texas

Palo Pinto County gets a dusting, while delays, power outages effect other Texans

Anonymous Mineral Wells Index The Mineral Wells Index Thu Dec 27, 2012, 08:45 AM CST

From Staff Reports

Staying home seemed the easiest option for area residents experiencing a slightly white Christmas.

While Palo Pinto County received a dusting, up to five inches of snow fell in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

DFW International Airport officials said at least 1,000 passengers woke up Wednesday morning after spending the night inside airport terminals. They were given cots, blankets and toiletry kits. A winter-weather warning at the the world’s eighth-busiest airport, based on passenger traffic, expired mid-day Wednesday and came with cancellation of at least 40 departing flights.

In other parts of Texas, Christmas Day storms spawned at least three tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, heavy snow and brisk winds that knocked down trees, killing one person near Houston. More than 20,000 customers in the Houston area were without power — down from a previous estimate of more than 70,000 — and nearly 20,000 more lost power in parts of East and Central Texas.

As of Wednesday morning, about 13,700 American Electric Power-Southwestern Electric Power Company customers in northeast Texas were without power, company spokesman Scott McCloud said. He added that the hardest hit areas were Mount Pleasant, Pittsburg, New Boston, Texarkana and surrounding communities.

“The major problems are along the I-30 corridor,” McCloud said. “It may be up to 48 hours before we have power completely restored to every customer in those areas, but we have crews working around the clock.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.