The winter weather could impact fans traveling to AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Friday for the 89th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between the University of Texas and Ohio State University. A lot is riding on this bowl game since it is the College Football Playoff semifinal.
As of Monday, organizers of the bowl game said all the plans remain the same for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
"We're routinely looking at the weather like everyone is now, and talking with our friends at the stadium and local authorities and just monitoring the situation. You know we always have a contingency plan and when you put on events like this, you have to have a contingency plan," explained Scottie Rodgers, vice president of communications for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
He said they'll let everyone know if they need to make any changes.
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"We hope Mother Nature allows us to get everybody to the stadium safely, and then they can enjoy what’s going to be a great college football game," said Rodgers. "Getting to the game might be a challenge, but once you're at the game it's 72 and sunny [inside]."
The thousands of Longhorns and Buckeyes fans traveling to Arlington to watch the game may have to alter their plans with the hazardous road conditions forecasted.
Cotton Bowl - CFP Semifinal
"What a bummer, and of course it's the same time, it just feels like that snow just had to come now. It couldn't have waited a week? But yeah, I mean, I still plan on being there," said Nichole Williamson, a UT alum and huge Longhorns fan.
She and her husband haven't missed a game this season and don't plan on letting Mother Nature get in their way.
"Our original plan was to come in Friday morning and as of right now, our plan is to now leave Thursday as we both get off [work]," said Williamson. "I'd rather get there Thursday and have it locked in, but I don't think we can leave much earlier than that, even if it takes us like seven hours driving, I'd rather do it and get there than not get to go at all."
She said their next obstacle will be getting to the stadium since they're staying at a hotel in downtown Dallas, and Arlington is about 18 miles away, separated by highways.
"I was hoping that there was a chance it would get moved to Saturday, but I know logistically that is way easier said than done, and you know, they've got a lot that they've got to do, but yeah, as of right now, we plan on being there and decked out in our burnt orange and hopefully no matter how we get there it's safe and that's all that really matters at this point," said Williamson who admitted her parents aren't too happy about her planned journey through the winter weather.
Over the weekend, ERCOT, the Texas agency that manages the state's power grid, issued a Weather Watch to give Texans advanced notice of a weather situation that may impact electricity usage and grid conditions. Currently, grid conditions are normal, and no conservation has been requested.
With two to five inches of accumulating snow forecast for Thursday, keep up with the latest forecast here.
ERCOT TXANS and Emergency Levels Explained
In 2023, ERCOT debuted TXANS to deliver clear and reliable information to the public about grid conditions. Here’s what the alert levels mean:
- Weather Watch: A Weather Watch is an advanced notification of an upcoming weather system that is expected to increase electricity usage. Texans are asked to pay attention to changing weather conditions that may result in a call for conservation. During a Weather Watch, grid conditions and electricity use are normal.
- Conservation Alert: This is a voluntary request to reduce electrical use, ERCOT said. While ERCOT said it is not in emergency operations, it asks the public and “all government agencies to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities.”
- Energy Emergency Level 1: Conservation is considered to be critical. We reach this stage when operating reserves drop below 2,300 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes.
- Emergency Level 2: Triggered when reserves are less than 1,750 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes. At this point, ERCOT can reduce demand on the system by interrupting power from large industrial customers who have contractually agreed to have their electricity turned off during an emergency.
- Emergency Level 3: The final level hits when reserves drop below 1,430 MW. If operating reserves then drop below 1,000 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes and/or the grid’s frequency level cannot be maintained at 60 Hz, then ERCOT will implement “controlled outages,” also known as rolling blackouts.
