Jan. 5--Thousands of Dallas-Fort Worth area residents are without power this evening after a day of dreary, wet weather.

As of 5 p.m., Oncor reported about 39,000 outages across the area.

Jeamy Molina, an Oncor spokesperson, said the storm hit the eastern areas hard. Most of the outages are east of State Highway 360, she said.

Area residents largely avoided a big freeze today.

A freezing rain advisory for Dallas expired at noon. The advisory was extended until 4 p.m. for areas to the north and northwest, including Denton and Collin counties, but it has since been lifted.

Some school districts west of Tarrant County announced early closures this afternoon, according to WFAA-TV (Channel 8).

For most of the morning, the temperature hovered around 32. It was a slow climb to 35 degrees this afternoon.

American Airlines and its partner American Eagle canceled a few dozen flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport because of freezing rain. Some arriving flights at D/FW were being delayed about an hour and a half, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Just before 10 a.m., DART reported that some Blue Line trains were delayed due to an ice buildup near the Forest/Jupiter Station. Later, the agency reported a similar ice problem at the LBJ/Skillman station.

Service was fully restored by about 12:30 p.m., DART said.

In comments posted to dallasnews.com's Weather blog, some residents of Denton and Collin counties reported light freezing rain.

There were no major traffic accidents reported.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Dunn said temperatures should remain around 35 degrees and above freezing for the rest of the evening.

Overnight, it may rain, but not freeze.

Expect cloudy skies and possibly lingering rain Tuesday morning with temperatures in the upper 30s.

Tuesday's high is expected at 59 degrees.

Temperatures should continue climbing through the week, and by Friday, the high should be around 70.

-----

To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Dallas Morning News

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.