Pablo Vegas, president of the grid-managing Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said as many as 200 power plants have been inspected for proper weatherization and that all of the fuel supplies - natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind and solar - are expected to be available. "And maybe up to minus 30 in the Panhandle. Minus 10 degrees is the wind chill in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (that) is expected," he said. The temperatures will be extremely cold and the winds will be high, which will generate some very dangerous wind chills," said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. "This is a dangerous storm coming our way. That means solar power plants will be up and running, and roads should be passable, even as outdoor activity is inadvisable. The bright spot - literally and figuratively - Abbott said, is that no rain, sleet, snow or even cloud cover is expected in much of the state. More: Flight cancellations expected to mount as winter storm moves across the Plains and Midwest The cold front is expected to barrel into Texas on Thursday and keep temperatures and wind chills well below freezing across much of the state into the Christmas weekend. “Arctic sea ice loss is probably making these cold air weather patterns more common, but the cold air itself is becoming milder due to climate change, leading to less extreme cold overall.His remarks came after Abbott presided over an extended closed-door meeting with state agency officials who will be tasked with managing the fallout of what is forecast to be a nationwide deep freeze. Nielsen-Gammon also stressed the impact the global climate crisis has on these severe weather patterns. Barnes said wrapping up pipes is the “main key” to preventing damage. This was also the case in the winter storm of 2021. The damage caused from burst pipes can cost homeowners many thousands of dollars to repair. In extremely cold weather, pipes are susceptible to freezing and bursting in Texas, where homes are not as insulated like those in the north of the US. “The main thing you want to do is protect your pipes - like any outdoor, unprotected pipes will be threatened by the cold because it is expected to last so long and drop into the single digits in many areas.” In order to prepare for the hard freeze, Barnes urged Texans to follow the “four Ps: pipes, pets, people and plants”. San Antonio’s transit authority, VIA, announced plans to offer free transportation to these shelters. Other cities like Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, are setting up similar shelters for the homeless and vulnerable. Houston mayor Sylvester Turner announced five warming shelters will be set up across the city in preparation for the freeze. Unlike the 2021 winter storm Uri, the forecast for the coming harsh winter weather does not show snow or icy roads – conditions that proved devastating last time for a state usually unprepared for such weather.īut some fears that the state’s grid will fail again are creeping up as Ercot later predicted demand will exceed previously forecasted levels. But steps have been taken to improve the resilience of natural gas power generation operations, and wind power generation should be close to maximum Thursday night and Friday.” “This cold air outbreak will be milder than the one in February 2021, but we will still see temperatures colder than in any December of the past 32 years. The Texas state climatologist, Dr John Nielsen-Gammon, said he did not expect widespread power outages. After the disaster in 2021, the grid came under harsh scrutiny for not being properly ‘weatherized’ and ‘winterized’ in preparation for such cold events.īut the state power grid’s governing body, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot), issued a statement that said it “expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand and will continue to provide updates”. Texas, unlike the rest of the US, owns and operates its own power grid. The storm in 2021 hit lowest temperature of -2F (-18C), but this year, the expected minimum temperature is around 10F (-12C), which will make a huge difference, according to Barnes. Sarah Barnes, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service based in Dallas-Fort Worth, told the Guardian: “Temperatures aren’t going to get quite as cold as they did in 2021 and they’re also not going to be cold or subfreezing for as long.” But experts think this storm will not hit Texas quite as hard.
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