Winter storm descends on wary Houstonians

Left frozen, powerless and reeling by an arctic blast nearly one year ago, Houston-area residents and officials girded for a winter strike that — while packing less of a punch — was set to make the coming hours a teeth-chattering February freeze.

Temperatures overnight were expected to drop below 30 degrees across much of the area, which the National Weather Service placed in a winter weather advisory through at least noon Friday. It was unlikely large swaths of the area would reach 40 degrees until midday Saturday, forecasters said.

For northern and northwestern parts of the region, the combination of wet weather and rapidly falling temperatures could leave a blanket of ice on roadways and yards, making travel tricky and potentially felling trees and knocking down power lines.

On Thursday night, road conditions were getting slicker in some areas — the Westpark Tollway had a crash involving up 10 vehicles and was closing because of ice, according to authorities. Overpasses leading up to Hobby Airport were closed, with the airport advising that drivers should access the terminal by going on Airport Boulevard.

Preparations heated up earlier Thursday, as residents emptied store shelves, wrapped exposed pipes and readied for the possible loss of power. Officials did the same with supplies of ice-melting materials and portable generators for local utilities, though they said the dark, frigid calamity of last year’s freeze is unlikely.

“Our expectation, our hope, is power outages will not be a major concern this time around,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

Few were taking chances, however, as major school systems called off classes and assistance groups prepared to offer shelter for the area’s homeless population. The city’s Homeless Outreach Team handed out blankets to those who declined shelter.

Neither Houston nor Harris County had plans to open warming shelters, but they were monitoring the weather and were ready to, if necessary.

Residents meanwhile made their own preparations with last-minute trips to the grocery or hardware store, or took aim at selling rather than buying.

Robert Garcia parked along FM 2920 around 9 a.m. and began offering firewood, 30 pieces for $20. He’d made about $250 by 2:30 p.m.

“Normally when the weather is not as cold, then I probably would sell half of what I’m selling today,” the 38-year-old Spring resident said. “But with it being so cold outside, I guess people need it for fire pits, fireplaces.”

Garcia chops the firewood from his own property and will sometimes sell it on his days off work as a painter and power washer.

On Thursday, people told him about their concerns and how they wanted to be prepared — just in case this cold snap should be a repeat of last year.

Last year by most measures was a disaster, killing at least 246 people statewide, 65 in the eight-county Houston area. Millions shivered in cold homes in the dark, while untold thousands scrambled to address broken water pipes, especially in southern parts of the Texas never built for the prolonged chill.

This cold snap is the first real test of the grid since last year’s blackouts, after which state legislators implemented several regulatory changes. Energy experts say many of those do not go far enough to prevent future blackouts, and have pushed for more stringent oversight of the natural gas industry, which fuels a majority of the power grid.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that the state power grid was holding up well, with about 10,000 megawatts of excess supply expected early Friday, when the storm is set to peak demand.

About 70,000 households lost power Thursday morning statewide, mostly from downed power lines and icy local conditions. While projected peak electricity demand had risen from earlier estimates, Abbott said there should still be plenty of power to avoid a systemwide failure as happened last year.

Peter Lake, the newly appointed chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said regulators were using an “abundance of caution” this year to avoid outages and stressed many electricity generators had excess fuel on hand in case of unforeseen shortages.

Despite the confidence, Abbott said the state is “dealing with one of the most significant icing events that we’ve had,” and urged drivers to stay off the roads.

Icy conditions were expected in the Houston area, notably on the northwestern and northern fringes of the metro area. Texas Department of Transportation crews treated most bridges and overpasses in the region Thursday afternoon, with plans for more de-icing through the night and into Friday if necessary. Local crews with Houston and Harris County anticipated an active night and hope of a better Friday.

“Our primary concern remains the potential for rainfall to turn into wintry precipitation,” Fort Bend County Judge KP George said in a social media post.

Hidalgo also advised residents of various safety precautions, such as keeping an eye on the forecast, monitoring road conditions and not going out overnight unless necessary, noting the risk of invisible ice on highways, overpasses and bridges.

Residents should also check on their vulnerable neighbors, ensuring that they have contact information and what they need, she said.

They should also operate their heaters safely, she said, keeping objects at least 3 feet away from them.

“Remember the stories from last year — in so many families and so many people who were trying to stay warm with carbon monoxide-emitting appliances and grills and ended up being poisoned by that,” she said. “So please be careful with that and spread the word as well, because many folks still don’t know about that danger and that threat.”

Jeremy Blackman in Austin contributed to this report. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com leah.brennan@chron.com dug.begley@chron.com