The first real taste of winter weather in Odessa didn’t leave nearly as many upsets as last year’s big storm.
About an inch of snow fell overnight Wednesday leaving roads icy and leading to all schools in Odessa closing to in person learning.
The cold will continue Friday and temps dipped as low as 17 in Odessa on Thursday. Friday’s low is expected to be 17 with a high of 41.
Gene Powell, the spokesman for TxDOT’s Odessa District, said nothing unexpected has arisen from the winter storm. He said crews will continue to lay down granular material throughout the district.
“We’ve been addressing trouble spots and looking for places that need granular material,” Powell said. “We are trying to break up any ice that has formed. We can’t be everywhere. People need to slow down and behave.”
A Facebook post from the Odessa Police Department detailed that there have been 17 minor collisions and three major collisions that happened between 5 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday.
Monica Quintero, the public relations manager for the Odessa Police Department, reported OPD hasn’t added more officers to the street as collision numbers are low. However, she also stated OPD has the ability to add additional officers on the street quickly if conditions change.
Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said only one person used the West Annex located at 2261 W. Sycamore Drive, as of Thursday morning. Griffis said the person requested to go home earlier Thursday morning. He said a deputy was standing by in case anyone else needed to use the West Annex as a warming shelter.
Griffis also said as of Thursday morning deputies have responded to five winter weather collisions. The Texas Department of Public Safety detailed in an email that DPS’ Midland District is reporting a total of six traffic crashes from midnight to 2 p.m. Thursday.
As of 5 a.m. Thursday, 30,000 Oncor customers are without power, a press release from ONCOR detailed. A majority of those outages – about 24,000 – were in the Dallas metro area and adjacent north and northeast counties.
The storm has also impacted the northern and western regions of ONCOR’s service area, with 5,000 outages near the Red River and 1,000 in the Permian Basin.
ONCOR’s outage map showed 12 customers in West Odessa as of 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Five of the 12 customers’ restoration time was expected to return in less than two hours.
UTPB and Odessa College each stated classes will meet virtually on Friday. Ector County offices will open two hours late on Friday. City of Odessa offices will delay opening until 10 a.m. Friday.
According to social media posts, Ector County Independent School District’s schools will have varying starts.
The Texas Military Department Public Affairs issued a press release on Thursday afternoon that detailed numerous service members and tactical vehicles have mobilized in support of the state’s winter storm response.
Service members are poised to provide support in Texas cities threatened by extreme winter conditions. Working in support of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and in collaboration with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Guardsmen are providing assistance to first responders as needed.
