CenterPoint Energy has good news and bad news for its 2.9 million customers. The good news is that outages have remained minimal, with about 1,200 customers affected as of 9 a.m. Monday. The bad news is that while Houstonians will see a reprieve from freezing temperatures Monday afternoon, the “bone-chilling cold” weather is slated to return around 8 p.m.
Widespread outages impacting 30,000 people were swiftly restored over the weekend, prompting CenterPoint officials to release 500 contractors from nine states to serve in other areas that have been hit harder.
“We know how important it is for our customers to have electric service to power their daily lives, especially during cold weather and freezing conditions like we’ve seen this weekend,” said Nathan Brownell, CenterPoint’s vice president of resilience and capital delivery. “Our system continues to perform well but [Monday night is] forecasted to be a hard freeze around 20 degrees, which may impact our equipment in some places. “
CenterPoint held its final press briefing for Winter Storm Fern on Sunday evening, signaling that they expect the weather event is coming to an end.
“We are currently responding to any outages safely and as quickly as we can, and we will continue to monitor our system diligently as winter weather conditions are exiting our service area,” Brownell said. “We want to thank our dedicated crews for braving this weather and supporting our community through this event, and we want to thank our customers for their continued patience.”
CenterPoint’s outage tracker is updated about every three minutes, and the situation remains ever-changing, but as Space City Weather meteorologist Eric Berger pointed out, “Houston never received the amount of freezing rain necessary to present problems for power lines and other means of distributing electricity. “
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in a Sunday update that 940 people sought shelter over the weekend at the city’s 12 warming centers. The Houston warming centers and several throughout Harris County will remain open until Tuesday morning. Houston Food Bank, American Red Cross Houston and Islamic Relief have offered food and resources.
All the warming centers have generators donated by CenterPoint and all are accepting pets. Residents who need a ride to a warming center should call 311 and request a “zTrip.”
Berger reported early Monday morning that there were “no significant power issues [and] a few ice concerns, but mostly it’s just really cold in Houston.”
“We have one more cold night before a modest warmup ensues,” the meteorologist said.
And then there’s the coming weekend to contend with.
Another strong cold front is in the cards for this weekend, likely arriving on Friday, Berger said on his Space City Weather blog.
“This may bring some precipitation with it,” he said. “Although we cannot rule out some of this rain turning into snow or sleet, it looks like the colder air will arrive after the precipitation ends. We’ll be watching things closely, all the same. Friday will probably see highs in the 50s, but the weekend looks cold with high temperatures in the 40s. What of lows? It’s a good question, and I could see them falling anywhere in the 25 to 35 degree range for Houston. “
“So worst case, probably about what we’re experiencing this morning,” he added, referring to January 26 temperatures in the mid-20s. “But there’s still some wiggle room, so I want to wait for more clarity before making bold predictions.”
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.