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Snow snarls traffic, forces flight delays in Texas
DALLAS (AP) — Snow blanketed parts of Texas on Thursday as a winter storm slowed traffic, interrupted classes and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Trucks were spreading sand along highways in the Dallas area, and Texas Christian University students got a day off, as classes were canceled due to icy road conditions.
Shelly Heinen, who runs a Braum's ice cream store in Dallas, said quite a few more truckers had stopped in for ice cream on Thursday than ordinarily would have on a February day.
"I think driving in this kind of weather makes people tense and they want something that definitely makes them feel better," she said.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area received 3 to 4 inches of snow, and the Abilene area received 1 to 3 inches, the National Weather Service said. Snow also fell in Amarillo and Lubbock, the weather service said.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines and American Eagle airlines canceled 815 flights systemwide as of midday Thursday, including 305 at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, said spokeswoman Andrea Huguely. The weather affected more than 20 percent of American's daily flight schedule.
American spokesman Steve Schlachter said much of the backup was linked to weather problems along the East Coast.
"We're deicing at the rate of 20 planes an hour here in Dallas," he said. He advised travelers to check with the airline about possible delays.
Southwest Airlines, whose main hub is Dallas Love Field, advised travelers that many Thursday flights out of the Baltimore-Washington, Philadelphia and New York City areas had been canceled due to weather.
Lubbock was expected to get 3 to 5 more inches of snow through late Thursday, NWS said. A winter storm warning was in effect for parts of northern Texas.
Meanwhile, rainy weather forced the cancellation of Mardi Gras festivities in Port Arthur, in southeast Texas. Temperatures there were in the 40s, the weather service said.
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