Texans feeling the cold in a big way

DALLAS — Freezing rain and stinging winds slammed the Southwest on Friday and made a strangely blank landscape out of normally sun-drenched North Texas: mostly empty highways covered in a sometimes impassable frost, closed schools and businesses, and millions of residents hunkered down for icy conditions expected to last through the weekend.

Earlier this week, many in Texas were basking in spring-like temperatures that hit the 80s. But by Thursday, Texas was facing the same wintry blast that has slammed much of the U.S., bringing frigid temperatures, ice and snow.

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An orange tree is covered in icicles Friday in Newcastle, Calif. A wintry blast has slammed much of the U.S. The Associated Press

The weather forced the cancellation of Sunday’s Dallas Marathon, which was expected to draw 25,000 runners. A quarter of a million customers in North Texas were left without power, and many businesses told employees to stay home to avoid the slick roads.

Rob Yates, 44, of the Dallas suburb of Rowlett, had trained for four months to participate in the half-marathon Sunday.

Now, “I’ll probably be catching up on some work,” Yates said.

Yates spent Friday at home with his children, who were outside pulling off icicles and wishing more snow had fallen. But Yates, originally from near Manchester, England, said he stayed inside with his wife.

“It’s kind of unusual weather for Dallas, so they’re just having fun with it,” Yates said. “Me and my wife – adults are not particularly impressed with it.”

Friday’s storm stretched from South Texas, where anxious residents bagged outdoor plants to protect them from the cold, through the Midwest and Ohio Valley and up into northern New England and the Canadian Maritimes.

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