Texas Winter Storm Updates: Live Freeze Updates For Houston, Rest Of State – Houston Chronicle

7:34 a.m. All Metro services, including bus, rail, and park and ride services, are operating normally Friday, officials said via Twitter. Riders are advised to remain weather aware and plan for possible delays along any routes. 

7:25 a.m. Mayor Sylvester Turner has delayed the opening of city offices today to give workers enough time to maneuver safely through the icy roads. City offices will now open at 10 a.m. today, per a spokesperson at the mayor’s office.

6:47 a.m. While the Houston area remained largely unscathed from the freeze as compared to last year’s devastating storm, other parts of the state saw more severe impacts. Road conditions across parts of central and north Texas are dangerous as of Friday morning and drivers are encouraged to stay off major highways and bridges. 

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a local disaster declaration for Bosque, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, Rains, Red River, Rockwall, and Williamson counties, according to a release. 

6:18 p.m. The water tower at I-10 east and Sheldon Road is flooding the roadway there due to main pipes that have burst, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales said in a tweet Friday morning. Drivers are advised to avoid the area.

6:10 a.m. A winter weather advisory is in effect for the Houston region through noon Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Rain has subsided, but temperatures will not move above freezing until later this afternoon, so any icy conditions on roads and bridges in some areas could persist through the day. 

Wind chills across the region are expected to stay in the teens to 20s all day and into the night, per the NWS. Temps will stay in the low 20s into tonight. 

A hard freeze warning is likely for areas north and west of Harris County tonight. 

6:08 a.m. A Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Deputy was involved in a crash Thursday night after hitting ice while traveling northbound on the Hardy Toll Road, according to OnScene. 

The deputy was transported by ambulance to an area hospital. Both directions of the toll road were closed down due to the ice, but have reopened as of Friday morning. 

5:50 a.m.  The power grid was operating normally this morning, with a healthy reserve of generating capacity, according to ERCOT. About 15,000 customers — out of 12.4 million — were without power across Texas, according to PowerOutage.US. The Houston utility reported about 900 outages among is 2.5 million customers.

5:20 a.m. Most Harris County roads are mostly free of ice as of early Friday morning, according to Houston TranStar, but officials say residents should remain cautious of any dicey roads. 

All main lanes of U.S. 59 through Sugar Land have been reopened as of 5 a.m. Friday after icy conditions led to a 12-car pileup that forced the highway to close last night. 

Ice was reported on the Westpark Tollway eastbound at U.S. 59 around 5 a.m. According to Harris County Flood Control District meteorologist Jeff Lindner, most roads and bridges have dried overnight, although ice is continuing to melt later into the morning as temperatures slowly tick above freezing. 

Hobby Airport closed overpasses leading to the airport until further notice. The airline said to use Airport Boulevard for access to the terminal and warned travelers to check their flight status as many flights have been canceled. 

So far 72 flights have been canceled today at Bush Intercontinental Airport and 30 have been canceled at Hobby, according to aviation data services company Flight Aware. Twelve flights are canceled for tomorrow at Bush, and one is canceled at Hobby. 

4:56 a.m. Road conditions across parts of western Harris County were deteriorating late Thursday as frigid weather settled into the region. 

In one instance, about 10 cars were involved in a wreck Thursday night on the Westpark Tollway.

4:52 a.m. Texas regulators expect record demand for electricity Friday as a winter storm blasts the state. However, they say excess power will help keep the lights on, writes Shelby Webb.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state’s power grid, raised its estimated power demand to 75,600 megawatts from Tuesday’s forecast of 71,200 megawatts. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a hot summer day, when demand is high.

School closures

Most Houston-area school districts and several local colleges are closed Friday due to the freeze conditions. See the full list here. 

Resources

Texas Power Outage Tracker: Interact with the map for real-time power outage updates across Texas counties.

Tips if the power goes out: Here’s how to stay warm and avoid carbon monoxide poisoning if you lose power.

Forecasts and radar: You can track the weather on our landing page here.