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Day 1 of freeze:Road travel turns deadly, Central Texas schools shuttered amid freeze that could strain power grid
Day 2 of freeze:Thousands remain without power; Valentine's Day snow possible
Day 3 of freeze:Power outages, road closures continue; Austin Public Health cancels vaccine appointments
Day 4 of Central Texas freeze
Evolving forecast
As of 8 p.m. Sunday, National Weather Service observations at Camp Mabry, site of the Austin's main weather station,continued to report light snow as temperatures sank to 18degrees.
The historic chill also had some bite to it, asnorthwinds of 9 mph included gusts as strong as 29mph. The wind chill produced a "feels like" temperature of 7 degrees.
Although Austin remains under a winter storm and a wind chill warning until noon Monday, the weather service revised its outlook for Sunday night, insteadcallingfor a low of 9 degrees — still a potential daily record. But the wind chill will make the air feel more like 5 degrees below zero.
Forecasters also revised downward its projections for total nighttime snow accumulation of 2to 4inches.
Snow makes 2nd visit to Austin in 2021
For the second time this year, Austin reported snow in the city, according to National Weather Service observations at Camp Mabry, site of the city's main weather station.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, the station reported light snow amid subfreezing temperatures —21 degrees to be exact — and northerly winds of 15 mph with gusts as strong as 28 mph. The wind chill produced a "feels like" temperature of 7 degrees.
Austin remains under a winter storm and a wind chill warning until noon Monday. The weather service outlook for Sunday night calls for a daily record low of7 degrees. But the wind chill will make the air feel like 7 degrees below zero.
Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches is possible, forecasters said.
3 to 5 inches of snow projected
Meteorologist Troy Kimmelupgraded his snow projections for the Austin area to 3 to 5 inches with patches of the area seeing as much of 8 inches of snow.
Throughout the day, very light snow has been falling across the area along with some freezing drizzle. But a winter storm system to the west is approaching. It will bringsignificant snowfall likely beginning this evening with the heaviest potential for snow between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Monday, Kimmel said.
A winter storm warning from the National Weather Service is in effect until noon Monday. A winter chill warning also will activate at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Winds gusting up to 35 mph will make the conditions feel as cold as 15 degrees below zero, according to the weather service.
Travel will likely be very difficult. And the wind chill could result in hypothermia is precautions aren't taken, the weather service said.
Power restored to most Austinites
After as many as 50,000 customers were without power, conditions have greatly improved from Austin Energy’s perspective. As of 9 a.m. Sunday, the utility was responding to outages reported to 450 of its customers. At 1:30 p.m., about 135 customers were without power, according to Austin Energy’s outage map.
“We were able to restore an extremely high percentage of those customers that had experienced long duration outages,” Austin Energy Chief Operating Officer Sidney Jackson said. “This is a significant milestone, because we have to prepare for another wave of bad weather.”
To prepare for forecast conditions that show extended freezing temperatures, Jackson said the utility has been in contact with neighboring utilities in case they need to share resources. Some staff have been sequestered in hotels and Austin Energy facilities to ensure that they are available in the city start experiencing large-scale outages.
“Austin Energy continues to bring in additional crews well above our normal baseline in advance of worsening environmental conditions,” Jackson said.
Jackson urged customers to reduce their electricity usage as state officials have warned that Texas’ power grid could face extreme stress in coming days. To help, people should avoid using large appliances, lower thermostats and reduce the amount of lights being used.
For anyone who does experience a longer outage, utility officials warned that when the power comes back on they could experience a circuit overload leading to a second outage. To prevent that from happening, those without power should unplug any fixtures or appliances, lower thermostats and leave on only one light to indicate when the power comes back on.
Slick roads lead to closures
Austin-Travis County EMS crews will now be taking patients to the closest hospital.
Austin-Travis County EMS on Sunday said they have activated their 4x4 vehicles and will be using fire department vehicles to access patients on 911 calls.
"We are responding to an increasing number of slips and falls due to icing," officials said via Twitter. "Help from 911 may be delayed due to winter driving conditions."
Austin-Travis CountyEMS crews are reporting icing on all road surfaces throughout the area theyalso warned of delayed responses.
"Travel is treacherous & expected to worsen. Avoid travel!"officials said via Twitter. "Understand crews are taking precautions while responding, their arrival may be delayed. Rest assured, help is on the way!"
Austin-Travis County EMS on Saturday said it was mobilizing 45 ambulances and multiple four-by-four vehicles ahead of worsening weather.
A few minutes past noon on Sunday, Texas Department of Transportation officials reported that the southbound lanes of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) wereclosed at Lake Austin Boulevard because of acrash involving multiple vehicles.
Traffic was being detoured to side streets, TxDOT officials said.
In Williamson County, entrance ramps from Louis Henna Boulevardto Texas45 in Round Rock wereclosed around 10:30 a.m.
Round Rock police saidflyovers connecting Interstate 35 and Texas45 are being treated for icy conditions and should be avoided.
Police also said Sunday is the worstit has been in the past three days and encouraged the public not to drive.
To assist commuters, Capital Metro on Sunday announced that it had suspended fare collection until Tuesday.
The Austin-based transit agencyalso said bus service will be affected by severe winter conditionsand ridersmay see delays.
Coldest Valentine's Day ever in Austin?
Valentine's Day in Austin on Sunday isexpected tobe one of the coldestever. The coldest minimum temperature on Feb. 14 in Austin was 10 degrees in 1899.
Since then, the coldest Feb. 14 in Austin was in 1951 when the high was 33 and the low was 25 — and it snowed. Should we see snow Sunday, it would be only the third time that Austin got snow on Valentine's Day, the last time being in 2004.
At 9 a.m., the temperature at Austin's main weather station at Camp Mabry was 25 degrees with a wind chill that made it feel 10 degrees colder. The forecast called for a high of only 29, still well below freezing.
But amid an expected dose of snow and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain, temperatures could sink to as low as9 degrees, with gusty north winds of up to 20 mph making it feel more like 4 degrees below zero.
Sunday weather forecast for Austin
Bitterly cold air willkeep Sunday temperatures below30degrees as major winter freezepersists, according to the National Weather Service.
A winter storm warning is in effect until noon Monday for Central Texas, including Travis, Hays, Williamson, Bastrop and Caldwell counties.
The weather service outlook for Austin on Sunday calls fora slight chance of freezing rain and sleet between noon and 3 p.m., followed by a 90% chance of snow and freezing rain in the late afternoon and evening. Windgusts as strong as 30mph Sunday night could produce a wind chill, or a "feels like" temperatureof 4 degrees below zero.
"The system could lead to major stress on the region`s infrastructure as well as cripple travel," the weather service said in a Sunday morning bulletin."The coldest temperatures since 1989 will impact the region."
Anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of snow and ice is expected to accumulateSunday night, with accumulations ofup to 6 inches in some isolated areas.
As of Sunday morning, around 375 customers in Austinwere without power, according to Austin Energy. The largest outages occurred in Northwest Austin where 308 customers have been without power since 4:30 a.m., according to the utility's outage map.
OUTAGE UPDATES:Track the power outages affecting thousands in Austin and other parts of Central Texas
"This is an extraordinary and ongoing situation," the utility said."New outages are affecting customers as iced vegetation and freezing temperatures continue to interfere with power lines and electrical equipment."
Pedernales Electric Co-op is also reporting 55outages affecting more than800 customers in its service territory west of Austin and north of San Antonio.
H-E-B closes early:Grocery chain reduces hours, while Twitter reports long lines, empty shelves
Statesman deliveries delayed:Icy road conditions are slowing newspaper delivery
The weather service's extended forecast calls for another round of winter precipitation on Wednesday with temperatures reachingonly slightly above freezing:
Monday:The bitter conditions will carry into Monday morning with a 20% chance of snow and a wind chillthat will make the air feel more like 8 degrees below zero. The winter storm will gradually give way to sunnier weather in the afternoon, although that sunshine will only warm temperatures up to a high of21 degrees. But at night, temperatures could sink to as low as 5 degrees.
Tuesday: Mostly sunnywith a high near 29.At night, a 50% chance of freezing rain and sleet with a low around 21.
Wednesday: A 60% chance of snow, freezing rain, and sleet with a highnear 36. North winds of 5 to 10 mphwith gusts as high as 20 mph. At night, a40% chance of snow and freezing rain with a low around 22.
Thursday: A 30% chance of snow and freezing rain, otherwise mostly sunnywith a high near 37.Mostly clear at nightwith a low around 21.
Texas weather:Abbott asks for federal aid with statewide disaster declaration, warns drivers to stay home
