An arctic storm is crawling across Texas, bringing frigid temperatures and frozen precipitation that is expected to last into Monday.
Much of Texas has or will fall under winter storm warning this weekend. A vast swath of the state — from the Panhandle to around San Antonio — could be hard hit. Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for more than 130 counties, which he said will ensure local communities can access every possible resource.
This recent bout of cold weather will not be as severe as Winter Storm Uri, which killed at least 246 people after the electrical grid failed in 2021.
Abbott and other state officials also stressed that the power grid, operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, is currently well-equipped to withstand severe weather. Still, they said there could be local outages if ice accumulation or fallen trees bring down power lines or utility poles.
At the same time, state and local officials urged Texans to avoid traveling if they don’t have to — as the expected snow, sleet and freezing rain can create dangerous road conditions.
Check back for updates as the winter storm continues.
Winter storm updates
- As freeze takes hold in Texas, risk of power outages rising
- Ice storm expected to make travel nearly impossible in Austin, the Hill Country
- Dallas County says official’s out-of-state trip won’t hinder storm response
- Winter precipitation has already fallen in northern swaths of Texas with more expected
- Winter storm makes its way into Texas
- The electrical grid is ready, officials said
- Utilities have learned lessons from previous storms
As freeze takes hold in Texas, risk of power outages rising
As the winter storm’s freezing line crosses over Central Texas, National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler said the risks of localized power outages are increasing, especially in areas that recently saw precipitation. Wind gusts will only increase the chance of iced tree limbs breaking and potentially knocking out power lines.
“The window where we’re going to be monitoring the most for any weather-related power outages is going to be [Sunday] afternoon as those gusty winds come through,” Fowler said.
As of Saturday afternoon, more than 54,300 electricity customers in Texas were experiencing localized power outages, according to PowerOutage.com. Those were mostly affecting homes and businesses in the northeast and east area of the state.
Texas officials expect the state’s power grid to meet the demand for electricity through the prolonged sub-freezing temperatures forecasted for much of the state instead of repeating the catastrophic 2021 failure that killed hundreds of people. The Texas Oil & Gas Association, in a news release on Saturday, said “there has been minimal impact to the overall natural gas production and distribution system,” although there have been several reports of local and intermittent power outages in the Permian and Delaware Basins.
The Panhandle, West Texas and North Texas have already plunged into subfreezing temperatures. The storm’s freezing line is expected to push through Houston overnight, Fowler said, when temperatures may reach the single digits.
In West Texas, residents should largely be wary of dangerous road conditions and cold temperatures lasting into Monday. Precipitation in that region is expected to transition from sleet to snow Saturday night, likely causing slick roadways, according to Kevin Lamberson, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Midland.On Sunday, light snow showers as well as cold temperatures with a wind chill of -5 to -10 degrees are expected.
— Berenice Garcia and Colleen DeGuzman
Ice storm expected to make travel nearly impossible in Austin, the Hill Country
Significant icing is expected to accumulate in the Hill Country, the Austin area and portions of Interstate 35 on Saturday afternoon, making travel nearly impossible, according to the National Weather Service.
The area could see possible ice accumulations of a quarter inch and isolated totals of half an inch. This is expected to cause roads, especially bridges and overpasses, to become slick and hazardous, prompting the weather agency to strongly discourage any travel. If people must travel, they recommend keeping a flashlight, food and water in the vehicle.
Because of ice accumulation, power outages and tree damage are also possible
— Berenice Garcia
Dallas County says official’s out-of-state trip won’t hinder storm response
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ office said Saturday that the county’s emergency response to the storm won’t be affected by his departure from the state after Fox 4 KDFW reported he was seen boarding a plane to Costa Rica on Friday as North Texas braced for the winter storm.
In Texas, elected county judges oversee county government and act as emergency managers during disasters.
In a statement to The Texas Tribune on Saturday morning, Jenkins’ office said he “prepared in advance ensuring emergency operations and coordination were in place” before flying out, and that his trip was scheduled months ago.
The county’s chief of emergency services, Scott Forster, is leading the county’s winter storm response efforts, and Jenkins’ chief of staff has been “empowered to sign emergency orders,” according to the statement.
The county has not confirmed when the judge is expected to be back in Texas, and whether his trip is for personal or work reasons.
In 2021, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was fiercely criticized for taking a trip to Cancún, Mexico during Winter Storm Uri when Texas’ power grid failed, leading to massive power outages and nearly 250 deaths.
Afterwards Cruz said that his trip was “obviously a mistake.” Ahead of this week’s winter storm, Cruz was seen on a plane headed to Laguna Beach, which spurred a new round of questions and a bevy of social media memes. But in a Friday post on X, Cruz confirmed he was back in Texas.
— Colleen DeGuzman
Winter precipitation has already fallen in northern swaths of Texas with more expected
The Dallas-Fort Worth area was already seeing a mix of sleet and freezing rain Saturday with more on the way as temperatures will remain below freezing through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Fort Worth NWS meteorologist David Bonnette said there will be a break in precipitation in the early afternoon, but even more will fall later in the day.
“There’s going to be another more widespread, a more robust, round of winter precipitation this evening and overnight,” Bonnette said.
Meanwhile, the Panhandle saw a break in precipitation Saturday morning after snow fell overnight, according to Amarillo NWS meteorologist Peter Vanden Bosch. More snow was expected later Saturday afternoon into the evening.
It’s -1 degrees in Amarillo, but Bosch said wind will make it feel around -20 degrees.
Temperatures weren’t as cold in Central Texas where the high Saturday is an estimated 36 degrees, but that’s going to fall to around 27 degrees by 5 p.m.
In the Austin and San Antonio regions, it was expected to rain until noon. Central Texas NWS meteorologist Eric Platt said that freezing rain is expected to fall near the Interstate 35 corridor in the afternoon as temperatures drop and the winter storm heads south.
Texans in the Hill Country are already seeing freezing rain, he said.
As of Saturday morning, nearly 46,000 households and businesses were experiencing power outages, according to PowerOutage.com. Most of the outages were concentrated in the northeast corner of the state.
— Colleen DeGuzman
Winter storm makes its way into Texas
After days of forecasts warning Texans of a winter storm that would blanket the state with ice, sleet and freezing temperatures, the massive system crossed the state line Friday evening.
While most of Texas braced for the impending frost that was expected to make travel hazardous and shut down businesses, residents in northern regions of the state began experiencing sleet and ice accumulation Friday night. Temperatures in Amarillo and across the Panhandle also dipped into single digits late Friday.
The National Weather Service warned of wind chills in the northern tip of the Panhandle reaching lows of -17 degrees early Saturday. Wind chill is the combined effect of cold temperature and wind speeds on exposed skin.
Freezing rain and sleet could be seen in Wichita Falls that gradually increased through the evening. However, NWS forecasts expected the intensity of the precipitation to lessen into Saturday afternoon.
Officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region said that precipitation, combined with freezing temperatures, would also develop into sleet through Friday night and warned residents of the growing potential for ice accumulation on trees and power lines that could cause localized power outages.
For Houston and the southeastern regions of the state, the more intense elements of the winter storm are expected to begin Saturday evening and develop through Monday morning. Several cities including Waco and San Antonio have winter storm warnings scheduled to go into effect at 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the NWS.
— Ayden Runnels
The electrical grid is ready, officials said
Ahead of the storm, ERCOT issued a weather watch from Saturday to Tuesday, citing the weather forecast, higher electrical demand and potentially lower reserves. Though it said the grid is still expected to operate as normal under this designation.
State leaders have similarly assured Texans that they can depend on the electrical grid through the winter storm.
“The ERCOT grid has never been stronger, never been more prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm,” Abbott said Thursday.
The governor added that there is an “abundance” of natural gas, the source of more than half of the state’s power. And since Uri, Texas lawmakers have pushed natural gas plants to harden their facilities against severe cold.
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas also said the operator has increased the reserve margins held during these severe weather events in case it needs to call on those backup supplies.
“If there were to be an interruption of the gas supply, more than 30 power-[generating] facilities can draw on that on-site fuel to keep operating during an event like this,” Vegas said.
— Alex Nguyen
Utilities have learned lessons from previous storms
On the ground, a major issue to watch is ice accumulation.
While state officials say the electric grid is prepared, Texans could still see local outages if ice buildup or fallen trees topple power lines or utility poles. This was a major reason why tens of thousands of households and businesses in Austin went without power for days during the 2023 winter storm.
In turn, utilities in Austin and Houston have buried power lines in targeted areas.
More efforts to prevent falling trees from knocking out power are also underway. For instance, Public Utilities Commission of Texas’ Chair Thomas Gleeson on Thursday said Oncor did vegetation management on 8,000 extra lines and replaced almost 20,000 additional distribution poles, following the passage of House Bill 2555 in 2023.
And in case of local power losses, utilities’ outage trackers are currently all “up and running,” Gleeson said. The lack of a local outage tracker was an issue during Hurricane Beryl in 2024, leading some Houstonians to turn to the Whataburger app for information on where power had returned.
Check the PUCT’s map to see which utility operates in your area.
— Alex Nguyen
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