Tuesday was a picturesque snow day in Waco.

It was sledding and snowball fights, and hot chocolate by the fire.

Today is not expected to be as enchanting as the day before.

After the snow stopped and temperatures fell late Tuesday, officials feared dangerous, icy conditions might develop early today.

Some schools and businesses already had announced late starts today in preparation for icy roads.

McLennan Community College student J.J. Salcedo ducks as he is hit by a snowball thrown by classmate Dawson Neufeld. Classes at MCC were released at noon Tuesday.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

The storm officially produced 3 inches of snow from about 7 a.m. through late Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters had predicted the snowfall would have topped the 6 inches of snow that the city experienced in January 1982.

Sunny skies, though, are expected today. Temperatures should warm up to a high near 48 degrees, the weather service said.

Slowed to a halt

The city virtually closed for business after about noon Tuesday.

Waco, Midway and Robinson schools, as well as Baylor University, McLennan Community College and Texas State Technical College, let out early.

Bundled-up sightseers walk across a snowy Waco Suspension Bridge. Go to wacotrib.com for a slide show of Tuesday’s snow in Central Texas.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Some county and municipal court proceedings and various businesses also closed early.

Later in the day, city road crews closed the stretch of Lake Shore Drive between Hilltop and Mount Carmel drives because of ice on the inclined road.

It was unclear at press time how long the road would remain closed.

Ken Roberts, a spokesman with the Texas Department of Transportation, predicted that roads early today would be slick, with isolated icy patches.

Roberts said bridges and overpasses would be the first to freeze and the most dangerous, no matter how much magnesium chloride, sand and gravel is spread on roadways by TxDOT crews.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers worked several wrecks through the day Tuesday but said there were no major injuries.

“I’ve been watching traffic all morning, and people are driving way too fast for the conditions,” DPS Cpl. Charlie Morgan said.

(From left) Daniel Garner, 4, Abby Garner, 12, and Noah Garner, 6, build a snowman on Bishop Drive near Valley Mills.
Jose Yau/Waco Tribune-Herald

Morgan said drivers should not change speeds while going over a bridge or overpass.

Drivers should brake before the bridge and maintain a consistent speed while crossing, he said.

“Anywhere there’s moisture, there will be ice,” Morgan said.

All Continental Connection flights to Houston out of Waco Regional Airport were canceled. The earliest of four American Eagle flights to Dallas on Tuesday was canceled, and its other flights were delayed.

There was no word about any cancellations or delays today.

Oncor spokesman Mike Cain, meanwhile, said 17 Waco residents were temporarily without electricity. Given the amount of snow that collected on tree limbs, that number was low, he said.

“Electric wires and tree limbs don’t mix,” Cain said. “They cause outages.”

The day was not without fun.

With the help of an air mattress, Tanner Kielman slides down the side of a hill near Waco’s Bledsoe-Miller Park.
Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald

Nearly 50 students from West Independent School District gathered on the track near the middle school for a no-snowballs-barred barrage.

West Middle School eighth-graders Jennifer Prnka, Bayley Votaw, Jordan Jup, Jolee Meurer and Ashlee Mynarcik battered their classmates without fear of consequence — that is, other than a return snowball fired in their direction.

Votaw said the idea for the snowball fight came up in third period, before classes were dismissed for the day, and quickly spread across the district’s campuses.

Jup, who displayed uncanny aim in delivering a well-placed snowball into a reporter’s chest from 20 yards, said she was disappointed they weren’t able to join in the wintry festivities earlier.

West ISD did not release students until 1:15 p.m.

West students engage in an after-school snowball fight after being released early from classes.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Prnka said the 2 inches or so that coated the ground at the battlefield was the most snow she remembers seeing.

Though the girls shivered as they waited for their rides home, they said they hoped the snow kept up through the night because they had big plans for today.

“Tomorrow, if it’s like this, we’re doing it all over again,” Meurer said. “And I’m definitely going to make a snowman when I get home.”

Not so fast.

“Weather events in Central Texas are fairly short-lived,” Roberts said. “By the time we get into (today), it will all be a memory.”

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