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Dallas (CNN) — Mother Nature smiled Saturday on ice-weary metro Dallas residents and Super Bowl visitors, providing sunny skies and snow-melting temperatures in the low 50s.

After four days of often-miserable driving conditions and closed schools and offices, millions were out and about, shaking off cabin fever and stocking up for the nation’s annual ode to football, food and fun advertising.

“We are so thankful,” said Tiara Ellis Richard, media relations coordinator for the Arlington Police Department and a member of a joint public safety task force established for the Super Bowl.

Sunday will be cloudy and chillier, with a chance of a rain and snow mix by Sunday evening’s kickoff, but it shouldn’t be that big a deal, CNN forecasters said. Very light accumulations of snow are possible on grass and elevated surfaces.

National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Patrick, who has lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for seven years, told CNN, “This is by far the worst and longest-lived bad driving conditions I’ve seen. Today was a fantastic travel day for the most part.”

Air and highway traffic were normal Saturday. Principal interstate highways and freeways were lit up in green on the Texas Department of Transportation online traffic map.

City and NFL officials have taken some heat about whether they were ready for the rash of inclement weather, which prompted hundreds of flight cancellations Friday and affected some pregame activities in town.

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck gave the most direct response to grousing out-of-towners who showed up days ahead of Sunday’s big game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, calling their chilly assessment a Super Bowl-size case of sour grapes.

“They’re probably jealous,” Cluck said. “Everybody is going to be able get in and out easily. So I don’t pay any attention to that.”

But former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner called the city “unprepared” to handle the nation’s biggest sporting event in the wintry weather. “When you drive around here right now, there’s nothing going on,” Warner said. “It’s like the city is dead, which you don’t expect Super Bowl week.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was a bit more diplomatic, saying the city faced “a few challenges that we didn’t expect, weatherwise.”

Sunday’s forecast calls for a slight chance of rain and snow in the morning, with the likelihood increasing by late afternoon. Game-time temperatures will be around 40 degrees, Patrick said.

Monday will be mostly sunny as people begin heading out of town. Tuesday will be partly sunny in the morning, but conditions will worsen as the day goes on, according to the forecast.

Patrick expects another significant storm system to slam into north Texas Tuesday night into Wednesday. This week’s weather was unusual, even if occasional ice is not, he said. “What stood out was the cold temperatures,” which plunged into the upper teens and 20s.

The big game will be played in Cowboys Stadium — a domed arena with a retractable roof.

Ice and snow slid off the stadium roof Friday and caused injuries to workers below, authorities said. Gusty winds on the south side of the stadium sent ice falling up to 60 feet from the stadium, striking several people, according to fire department officials.

One man, struck in the head by ice, was in stable condition at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, said Lt. Pedro Arevalo of the Arlington Fire Department. Five other men and women had minor injuries, he said.

All stadium entrances have been closed except for an adjacent truck tunnel, which workers and visitors will exit through as a precaution, said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.

Richard said parking lots will be in good shape for the game. Because of extensive security and checks, she advises fans to arrive at least two hours before kickoff.

Both teams and their fans are cold weather clubs, accustomed to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Sunday’s game, Super Bowl XLV, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m ET.

Via:CNN.com