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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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Subfreezing temperatures could cause freezing fog, complicating morning travel in northern Texas on Saturday, as roads could become slick.
Parts of Oklahoma and North Texas are under a Dense Fog Advisory for early Saturday, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning that freezing fog could pose significant risks for travelers. Freezing fog occurs when fog droplets freeze upon contact with cold surfaces, potentially leaving a thin layer of ice on roads, bridges, and elevated surfaces. This phenomenon can quickly reduce visibility and create hazardous driving conditions, particularly for morning commuters.
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NWS meteorologist Matthew Day told Newsweek that freezing fog is an "unusual" occurrence for the Norman, Oklahoma, NWS office, which issues forecasts for north Texas as well. Although dense fog is normal for the region this time of year, temperatures aren't always cold enough to cause 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."
NWS Norman has already issued a dense fog advisory for its forecast region for Saturday morning. According to a graphic on its forecast page, freezing fog is possible northeast of Seymour, Texas, and in Wichita Falls, Texas. It is also possible across central Oklahoma, including in Oklahoma City.
The advisory notes that visibility could drop to a quarter of a mile or less, and slick roadways are possible due to ice accumulation from freezing fog, although a freezing fog advisory has not yet been issued.
Drivers are urged to exercise caution, slow down, and use low-beam headlights when traveling during the advisory period.
"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 webpage.
The advisory warned that "portions of central, east central, northern, southeast, southern, and southwest Oklahoma and northern Texas" could see freezing fog impacts from midnight to 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
"Roads and bridges may become slick where temperatures remain at or below freezing on Saturday morning," the advisory said.
The NWS office in Fort Worth, Texas, also issued a dense fog advisory between 3 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time on Saturday morning, reinforcing recommendations for motorists to expect reduced visibility and potentially hazardous travel.
Past Saturday morning, freezing fog is not expected later in the weekend or early next week, but Day said fog is hard to predict more than a day or two out.
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