By Brian Lada, Meteorologist
December 31,2014; 8:05PM,EST
Unsettled weather will kick off the new year across Texas and the southern and central Plains as a storm emerges from the Southwest, spreading rain, ice and snow over the region.
Raincoats and umbrellas will be put to good use across much of Texas as rain is in the offing for cities such as San Antonio, Houston and Austin for both Thursday and Friday.
A different story will unfold farther north as a wedge of cold air creates a zone of freezing rain from western Texas through southeastern Oklahoma that can cause major disruptions to travel and New Year's Day celebrations.
The rain and freezing rain is forecast to fall over western Texas on Wednesday night before spreading to the north and east on Thursday.
According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologists Bob Smerbeck, the worst of the freezing rain through New Year's Day will occur around San Angelo and Abilene, Texas, where there may be some ice accumulations.
Hazardous travel conditions should be anticipated as the freezing rain can cause roads and sidewalks to become slippery. It does not appear like enough freezing rain will fall to bring down tree limbs or power lines, although a few isolated cases may still occur.
Know when the rain will start or stop down to the minute by using AccuWeather MinuteCast®.
The main zone of freezing rain is expected to stay north and west of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. However, a few hours of rain and sleet with near-freezing temperatures will occur early Thursday morning, which could make some elevated surfaces slippery.
This could cause some travel disruptions early on Thursday morning before temperatures rise above freezing and precipitation transitions to a cold rain.
Those headed to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classing in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday should prepare for the wet weather before heading into the game.
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Much of the precipitation is expected to change over to rain for Friday, reaching from central Texas to southern Missouri.
However, there may still be a period of freezing rain on Friday morning in central Oklahoma and some snow over the Texas Panhandle and into New Mexico.
As the storm continues to roll northeastward into a thicker dome of colder air this weekend, rain and ice will transition to snow over the central Plains and part of the High Plains farther south.
According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "A swath of ice will be followed by accumulating snow in parts of northwestern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and northwestern Missouri at the end of the week."
People traveling around Amarillo, Texas; Wichita, Kansas; and Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri, should be prepared for slippery conditions and delays Friday night into Saturday.
"Enough snow to shovel and plow is likely from central Kansas to northern Missouri," Sosnowski said.
Motorists should be prepared for snowy and slippery travel over a long stretch of Interstate-35 in northern Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Delays due to deicing activities are possible at Kansas City.
The storm will move on to the Midwest and Northeast with a large swath of snow, ice and travel disruptions later in the weekend.
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