Heading into Thursday, Texans braced themselves for a new winter storm nearly a year after a deadly freeze caused a barrage of widespread power outages and infrastructure failures that left millions without electricity and water for days.
But while most of the state started the day with below-freezing temperatures, there weren’t any widespread outages or traffic crashes reported as of early Thursday.
On Thursday morning, there were around 70,000 scattered local power outages across the state, according to PowerOutage.us, a site that aggregates power outage data from utility companies. That number represents about 0.6% of customers in Texas that the website tracks.
“Resources and personnel are being pre-positioned ahead of the severe weather arrival to ensure any necessary restoration work can begin as soon and as safely as possible,” Oncor, one of the state’s largest transmission and delivery utilities, said on its website.
Brad Jones, CEO of Texas’ power grid operator, told The Texas Tribune he expects electricity demand to peak around 8 a.m. Friday and set a new record for demand during the winter. However, he says this year, the state has a much larger cushion of power and that there shouldn’t be widespread outages.
Much of Texas is expected to see freezing rain, sleet, ice and dangerous wind chills as the cold weather continues through Saturday.
The Texas Department of Transportation was showing hundreds of reported snow and ice patches on roads Thursday morning, with many local agencies heeding residents against travel.
Experts project a much less catastrophic cold snap this year compared to 2021’s Winter Storm Uri. Still, many Texans expressed anxiety as the cold front approached and took several precautions that they learned from last year’s storm. Many counties remain under winter storm warnings or advisories.
Ahead of the storm, some schools and universities closed for the rest of the week. Hundreds of Texas flights were canceled. Crews pretreated roads to mitigate freezes. Texans emptied grocery store shelves as they hurried to stock up on items in the days prior to temperatures dropping.
State officials have cautioned Texans to avoid potential exposure to carbon monoxide, including by running cars in enclosed spaces or using charcoal grills indoors. At least 11 people died last year from carbon monoxide poisoning during last year’s weeklong power outages.
By Reese Oxner with Texas Tribune.
