By Kenny Mitchell

Due to the forecasted winter weather coming into Northeast Texas tomorrow, area school districts have decided to put the safety of students and staff at the forefront and close.

Wednesday afternoon the National Weather Service issued a statement saying that all of our area will be under a winter storm warning beginning Thursday morning and continuing through noon on Friday. Forecaster predict that the winter precipitation will come into the area around lunchtime on Thursday. Northeast Texas is expected to get a mix of snow and ice with accumulations expected to be from 2 to 8 inches of snow and up to a quarter inch of ice.

The affected area includes all of Northeast Texas along with portions of Southeast Oklahoma and Southwestern Arkansas including the area from Texarkana and west back to Mount Pleasant. and as farth south as LOngview and towns along the I-20 corridor.

School districts announced this afternoon that they will be closing out of an abundance of caution for the safety of students and staff.

Schools in our coverage area that will be closing for both days include:

Avery

Hubbard

DeKalb

Malta

New Boston

Simms

Partial closings include:

Hooks ISD will be closed on Thursday and will evaluate then as far as Friday.

Maud ISD will close at 1 p.m. on Thursday and be closed Friday.

Redwater ISD will be open a half day on Thursday and will be closed on Friday.

Watch the Tribune Facebook page for up to date weather information as the winter storm makes its way into our area.