For the third year in a row, Greater Houston area residents are being asked to winterize this weekend in preparation for a cold front settling into the area starting Sunday night.
Unlike previous hard freezes, such as the one in December 2022 or, more notably, Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 – which left millions without power and more than 200 people dead – the upcoming significant low temperatures will last for a shorter time and should not pose significant threats to the state’s power grid.
According to Matt Lanza, meteorologist at Space City Weather, the shift toward chillier winters has yet to be considered a trend despite the recent years of subfreezing temperatures.
“There hasn’t been any real good, strong evidence to suggest that all of a sudden we’re going into this routine, maybe caused by climate change that allows us to get colder and stronger more often,” Lanza said.
“If you look back at Houston’s history, especially in the last 50 or 60 years, the years we get stronger freezing temperatures in the teens, they tend to come in the bunches,” he added.
Although conditions aren’t expected to be as severe as years prior, Lanza said people need to prepare for the wintery weather Saturday night before it settles into the area on Sunday night.
This includes ensuring any exposed pipes are protected, outdoor animals come inside or have a warm shelter and outdoor plants that can’t be inside are wrapped. If residents are getting a head start on these preparations, they should reinforce the covers on their plants as winds start picking up on Friday.
“Given the vulnerabilities that have been exposed here in the last few winters, it’s good for people to kind of prepare each winter for something like this, just in case,” Lanza said. “It’s similar to hurricane season. We don’t get hit by tropical storms and hurricanes yearly, but we still want people to prepare every year as if that’s going to be it.”
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas took to X, formerly Twitter, to issue a winter watch for Monday through Wednesday. ERCOT projects higher power demands, with the forecasted peak of more than 81,000 megawatts on Tuesday morning. This exceeds the January 2023 peak of roughly 66,000 megawatts.
ERCOT maintains that despite the demand and lower reserves, grid conditions should remain stable and can be monitored online.
Lanza said Monday – particularly Monday night – and Tuesday morning into the evening will see the worst conditions of the Arctic blast. Temperatures could drop to the upper teens to mid-to-low 20s in most of the Houston metro area.
Precipitation is more likely to fall in parts of North Texas, such as Dallas. However, Lanza added that local meteorologists will be monitoring it.
“There’s always a risk. I don’t think there’ll be a significant event, like inches of snow or a significant ice storm,” he said. “But, we’ll have to watch for a little freezing drizzle if it rains with the front or if we turn cold enough to get some black ice.”
The City of Houston Office of Emergency Management will open six warming centers at 8 p.m. on Monday for those who need to get out of the cold. This includes animals who can accompany their owners to the facilities and stay in kennels provided by the city’s animal shelter BARC.
Locations of the six warming centers:
Acres Homes Multi-Service Center
6719 W. Montgomery Road.
METRO: 44 – Acre Homes stop @ W. Montgomery & Wilburforce
Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center
6402 Market
METRO: 48 Market stop @ Market & Rouse
Downtown Recovery Center
150 Chenevert
METRO: 48 Market stop at Runnels & East Dr.
Fonde Community Center
110 Sabine
METRO: 30 Clinton/Ella stop at Memorial & Houston
Metropolitan Multi-Service Center at W. Gray
1745 W. Gray
METRO: 32 Renwick/San Felipe stop at W. Gray & Waugh
Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center
4410 Reed
METRO: 29 Cullen/Hirsch stop at Cullen & Wilmington
The city is also offering free rides to any of its facilities and the two local organizations that partnered to open along with the city’s locations:
Lakewood Church
3700 Southwest Freeway
Alief Family YMCA
7850 Howell Sugar Land Road
To arrange a ride to any of the eight warming centers, call the city’s service request number 3-1-1.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
