An arctic storm is crawling throughout Texas, bringing frigid temperatures and frozen precipitation that’s anticipated to final into Monday.
A lot of Texas has or will fall underneath winter storm warning this weekend. In line with Gov. Greg Abbott, an unlimited swath of the state — from the Panhandle to round San Antonio — might be onerous hit. Even earlier than the storm’s arrival, Abbott had already issued a catastrophe declaration for greater than 130 counties, which he mentioned will guarantee native communities can entry each attainable useful resource.
This latest bout of chilly climate won’t be as extreme as Winter Storm Uri, which killed no less than 246 folks after {the electrical} grid failed in 2021.
Abbott and different state officers additionally confused that the ability grid, operated by the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, is at present well-equipped to resist extreme climate. Nonetheless, they mentioned there might be native outages if ice accumulation or fallen bushes deliver down energy traces or utility poles.
On the similar time, state and native officers urged Texans to keep away from touring in the event that they don’t must — because the anticipated snow, sleet and freezing rain can create harmful street situations.
Examine again for updates because the winter storm continues.
Winter storm updates
Jan. 23, 2026, 10:00 p.m.
Winter storm makes its means into Texas
After days of forecasts warning Texans of a winter storm that might blanket the state with ice, sleet and freezing temperatures, the large system crossed the state line Friday night.
Whereas most of Texas braced for the upcoming frost that was anticipated to make journey hazardous and shut down companies, residents in northern areas of the state started experiencing sleet and ice accumulation Friday night time. Temperatures in Amarillo and throughout the Panhandle additionally dipped into single digits late Friday.
The Nationwide Climate Service warned of wind chills within the northern tip of the Panhandle reaching lows of -17 levels early Saturday. Wind chill is the mixed impact of chilly temperature and wind speeds on uncovered pores and skin.
Freezing rain and sleet might be seen in Wichita Falls that progressively elevated by the night. Nevertheless, NWS forecasts anticipated the depth of the precipitation to minimize into Saturday afternoon.
Officers within the Dallas-Fort Value area mentioned that precipitation, mixed with freezing temperatures, would additionally grow to be sleet by Friday night time and warned residents of the rising potential for ice accumulation on bushes and energy traces that would trigger localized energy outages.
For Houston and the southeastern areas of the state, the extra intense parts of the winter storm are anticipated to start Saturday night and develop by Monday morning. A number of cities together with Waco and San Antonio have winter storm warnings scheduled to enter impact at 6 p.m. Saturday, in line with the NWS.
— Ayden Runnels
Jan. 23, 2026, 10:00 p.m.
{The electrical} grid is prepared, officers mentioned
Forward of the storm, ERCOT issued a climate watch from Saturday to Tuesday, citing the climate forecast, larger electrical demand and doubtlessly decrease reserves. Although it mentioned the grid continues to be anticipated to function as regular underneath this designation.
State leaders have equally assured Texans that they’ll depend upon {the electrical} grid by the winter storm.
“The ERCOT grid has by no means been stronger, by no means been extra ready and is absolutely able to dealing with this winter storm,” Abbott mentioned Thursday.
The governor added that there’s an “abundance” of pure gasoline, the supply of greater than half of the state’s energy. And since Uri, Texas lawmakers have pushed pure gasoline crops to harden their services towards extreme chilly.
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas additionally mentioned the operator has elevated the reserve margins held throughout these extreme climate occasions in case it must name on these backup provides.
“If there have been to be an interruption of the gasoline provide, greater than 30 power-[generating] services can draw on that on-site gasoline to maintain working throughout an occasion like this,” Vegas mentioned.
— Alex Nguyen
Jan. 23, 2026, 10:00 p.m.
Utilities have realized classes from earlier storms
On the bottom, a serious concern to observe is ice accumulation.
Whereas state officers say the electrical grid is ready, Texans might nonetheless see native outages if ice buildup or fallen bushes topple energy traces or utility poles. This was a serious motive why tens of 1000’s of households and companies in Austin went with out energy for days through the 2023 winter storm.
In flip, utilities in Austin and Houston have buried energy traces in focused areas.
Extra efforts to stop falling bushes from knocking out energy are additionally underway. As an illustration, Public Utilities Fee of Texas’ Chair Thomas Gleeson on Thursday mentioned Oncor did vegetation administration on 8,000 additional traces and changed virtually 20,000 extra distribution poles, following the passage of Home Invoice 2555 in 2023.
And in case of native energy losses, utilities’ outage trackers are at present all “up and working,” Gleeson mentioned. The shortage of an area outage tracker was a problem throughout Hurricane Beryl in 2024, main some Houstonians to show to the Whataburger app for data on the place energy had returned.
Examine the PUCT’s map to see which utility operates in your space.
— Alex Nguyen
Disclosure: Oncor has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.
This text first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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