Subfreezing temperatures could combine with thick fog to create dangerous travel conditions across parts of northern Texas and Oklahoma on Saturday morning, as a thin layer of ice may form on roads and bridges.
Portions of Oklahoma and North Texas are under a Dense Fog Advisory early Saturday, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning that freezing fog may develop and pose serious risks for drivers. Freezing fog occurs when tiny fog droplets contact surfaces at or below 32°F (0°C) and freeze on impact, leaving behind a nearly invisible coating of ice on pavement, overpasses, and other elevated structures. This can rapidly cut visibility and make roads unexpectedly slick for morning commuters.
NWS meteorologist Matthew Day told Newsweek that freezing fog is a relatively rare event for the Norman, Oklahoma, forecast office, which also covers parts of North Texas. Dense fog itself is common in late fall and winter, he explained, but temperatures are not always cold enough for the fog to freeze.
“Freezing fog happens when [fog] occurs below freezing,” Day said. “It causes some of that fog to crystallize on surfaces and cause slick spots.”
The NWS office in Norman has issued a Dense Fog Advisory for Saturday morning, noting that freezing fog is possible northeast of Seymour, Texas, in and around Wichita Falls, Texas, and across central Oklahoma, including Oklahoma City. The advisory warns that visibility could drop to a quarter of a mile or less and that ice from freezing fog could create slick roadways, even though a specific freezing fog advisory has not been issued.
Drivers are urged to slow down, allow extra time for travel, and use low-beam headlights while the advisory is in effect.
“Fog and freezing fog will be possible across parts of OK and north TX early Saturday into the mid-morning hours. The fog could cause slick roadways and reduced visibility,” NWS Norman said on its website. The advisory highlights that “portions of central, east central, northern, southeast, southern, and southwest Oklahoma and northern Texas” could see impacts from midnight to 10 a.m. Saturday.
The NWS office in Fort Worth, Texas, has also issued a Dense Fog Advisory from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, echoing guidance for motorists to prepare for low visibility and potentially hazardous conditions.
Beyond Saturday morning, freezing fog is not anticipated for the rest of the weekend or early next week, though Day noted that fog in general is difficult to forecast more than a day or two in advance.
