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AUSTIN, Texas — The winter weather has arrived. Here’s the latest information from CBS Austin meteorologists.
WEATHER ALERT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR WINTRY PRECIPITATION
-WINTER STORM WARNINGS are in effect for the I-35 Corridor points east until 6 pm Tuesday.
- Includes Williamson, Travis, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Lee, and Fayette Counties
- A mix of snow, sleet, and graupel could accumulate up to 1.5″ with isolated higher possible in Fayette County.
-WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES are in effect for the Hill Country until 6 pm Tuesday and for Milam County until 9 am Tuesday
- Includes Mason, Llano, Burnet, Gillespie, Blanco, and Milam Counties
- A mix of snow, sleet, and graupel could accumulate up to 1/2″
-COLD WEATHER ADVISORIES are in effect for all of our area until Wednesday at noon
- Temperatures and/or wind chills of 20 or below are expected
- Remember the 4 P’s – Protect People, Pets, Plants, and Pipes
WINTER STORM UNDERWAY – TRAVEL NOT ADVISED DUE TO SLICK SPOTS ON ROADS
Clouds rolled in early and held temps down to just 33 for a high in Austin on Monday. It didn’t take long for it to fall to freezing as light precipitation developed and moved in from the south Monday evening. That precipitation was a mixed bag across our area, with reports of sleet, snow, and graupel (snow pellets). Farther south, there were some reports of freezing rain.
Overnight, we’ll see the precipitation gradually move out from west to east. As colder air wraps in on the backside of this system, we’ll likely transition to snow since the column of air from top to bottom should be at or below freezing. The reason we started with mixed precipitation is that we had some layers of the atmosphere initially that were not saturated due to a lot of dry air, and then some warm pockets of air aloft that partially melted some of the snowflakes into sleet.
Because we saw more mix initially, the overall accumulations may fall a little short of what could’ve been if we didn’t see some sleet and/or graupel. Many areas had a light coating as of 10 pm Monday night, and most of the precip should be over before sunrise. The higher precipitation and better potential for more than 1″ of accumulation will be in our southeastern counties: Caldwell, Bastrop, Lee, and especially Fayette. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some 2″+ reports due to heavier bands of snow setting up there. The “jackpot” snow totals in Texas are likely to be to our east in the Houston area, while even higher totals are expected in Louisiana.
The biggest concerns will be travel impacts. Even with only a coating of sleet/snow/ice, some roads were reported as slick. Though precipitation will end Tuesday morning, temps will warm above freezing in the afternoon, and sunshine is likely for the second half of the day, any melting that takes place is subject to the refreeze Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, so be aware of black ice even after the storm is long gone.
RELATED | TxDOT tips for driving in ice/snow conditions
WEDNESDAY – THE COLDEST MORNING
After the storm, we’ll see temps drop to likely their coldest of this bitter week of weather. I’m forecasting 22 in Austin, and teens in many outlying spots. While we won’t set records, it will be dangerously cold, so please take precautions to protect yourself.
FREEZE TRACKER
Camp Mabry has had 5 freezes this season. The coldest so far: 24 on January 20th. The average per season (1991-2020) is 12.
The average last freeze is February 15th and the latest freeze on record is April 9th, 1914.
