LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Pockets of Texas were dealing with ice and snow Wednesday evening, with freezing rain and snow possible into New Year's Day as a blast of arctic air swept the Southwest.
Roads and highways were treacherous from the Panhandle south to San Angelo, while drivers abandoned cars in the unmoving traffic on Interstate 10 in Texas Hill Country.
With patchy sleet and cold rain forecast, Austin canceled its New Year's Eve celebration.
Photos: Icy New Year's Eve across Texas
A winter weather advisory was in effect from Austin to San Antonio, warning of "extremely hazardous" travel conditions.
Meanwhile, Lubbock got about an inch of snow early Wednesday, which covered a layer of ice from freezing rain and sleet that fell Tuesday.
"For the most part people are staying off the road," said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Merchant in Lubbock.
Temperatures across West Texas were at least 20 degrees below normal and were predicted to last through Friday.
The Texas Department of Transportation says road delays due to icy conditions were expected to worsen in the next 24 to 36 hours.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area could get some freezing precipitation late Wednesday.
Tom Bradshaw, weather service meteorologist in Fort Worth, said it was going to be a "close call" on icy conditions for the area.
"We have increased confidence that we're going to see some icy conditions late tonight and into tomorrow," he said, adding that bridges and overpasses will be the main concern should freezing rain or drizzle fall. "The further west you go, the greater the confidence that there will be slick conditions."
Ranger Hill in Eastland County, about 85 miles west of Fort Worth, could again be a headache. During previous icy conditions, the 300-foot hill on Interstate 20 has proven perilous. Once, motorists who managed to get off on the interstate during a horrible snow and ice storm were forced to stay on beds in the county jail.
"They are well known for being a port in a storm," Bradshaw said of the town of Eastland.
He suggested New Year's Eve partiers stay home, particularly if they live west of Interstate 35.
"We're really most concerned west of the I-35 corridor," he said.
The icy conditions are along and west of a north-south line that could eventually drape itself across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Bradshaw said.
"To say where that line is, is hard to say now," he said.
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Associated Press reporter Emily Schmall reported from Fort Worth.
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