(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday issued a disaster declaration for 134 counties in Texas ahead of a winter storm that is supposed to plunge most of the state into subfreezing temperatures for several days.
“Whenever we go through any type of disaster, job number one is always protecting lives,” Abbott said at a weather briefing in Austin. “Because of the severity of this storm, right now I am making a disaster declaration covering 134 counties across the state of Texas to make sure that every possible resource can be made available to those communities so the state can respond quicker, faster, and better than ever before. We have an outstanding team that is already prepared, already responding, to make sure that, even though we’re going to go through a harsh winter storm, we’re going to make it through this process.”
The National Weather Service has forecast a “large, long-duration winter storm expected to bring widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies/Plains into the Mid-South beginning Friday, spreading eastward to the Mid-Atlantic and New England this weekend. An Arctic front will bring frigid temperatures and gusty winds that will lead to dangerous wind chills from the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest,”
Abbott encouraged Texans to stay off the roads over the next few days unless it is “absolutely necessary.”
He also directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to increase the readiness level of the Texas State Operations Center to Level II after already directing the agency to activate state emergency response resources earlier this week.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also issued a waiver allowing commercial truck drivers transporting goods like propane, groceries, and other essential products, to operate outside maximum driving hour requirements to ensure the delivery and availability of critical resources. The waiver will be active for five days; drivers are still subject to all commercial vehicle laws and regulations.
Abbott also said that with additional natural gas capabilities, Texas’ electrical grid is prepared to handle the storm.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the Texas grid, issued a Weather Watch from January 24-27 “due to forecasted below-freezing temperatures with the possibility of frozen precipitation, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves.”
Grid conditions are expected to be normal, it said.
ERCOT says it is closely monitoring weather conditions and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid. It says it already began coordinating preparation efforts with the Texas Energy Reliability Council, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, TDEM and other state agencies.
The NWS has issued an extreme cold watch and winter storm watch for most regions in Texas except the Rio Grande Valley and some areas in far west Texas.
It issued a winter storm warning for all of West Central Texas beginning Friday through Sunday, where moderate to heavy accumulations of snow, sleet and ice are likely across the region.
The Hill Country and Austin/San Antonio regions are projected to get up to half an inch of ice in some areas. A winter storm warning is in effect for portions of South-Central Texas from Saturday morning through Sunday morning, it said.
“An Arctic cold front arrives late Friday night, plunging temperatures well below average this weekend and bringing precipitation. Freezing temperatures start to spread across the area Saturday morning, leading to freezing rain and sleet. Icing from freezing rain and sleet may impact road surfaces, making them slick and hazardous. Temperatures will likely remain below freezing through the weekend over most of the Winter Storm Warning area, so there could be residual ice impacts on road surfaces even after the precipitation stops,” the NWS said.
A winter storm watch is in effect for Southeast Texas, Houston and Galveston where freezing rain and sleet is expected, the NWS said.
Several free resources are available to Texans, including the TDEM Disaster Portal, which includes winter weather information. Winter weather safety tips can be found at TexasReady.gov. Texans can find warming centers that are open and operated by local officials at tdem.texas.gov/warm. They can also check road conditions at DriveTexas.org.
Texans are encouraged to sign up for grid condition notifications through the Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS). They can also monitor real-time and extended grid conditions at ercot.com.
