Sophia Jozwiak/Houston Public Media
A strong cold front is expected to make its way into the greater Houston area.
Houston city officials are preparing for multiple days of freezing temperatures as weather forecasters track a winter storm descending on the city by Saturday.
During the city council meeting on Wednesday, Mayor John Whitmire said municipal departments “have been asked to have all hands on deck.”
“I’m here to emphasize, it is a serious storm,” Whitmire said. “We’re monitoring it by the hour.”
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The administration plans to open 12 warming centers from Saturday through Tuesday morning. Whitmire’s spokesperson and the city’s office of emergency management did not immediately respond to a request for a list of centers.
Whitmire’s interim director of resiliency and recovery, Brian Mason, warned residents to expect as many as 48 hours of “bone-chilling cold.”
“Take this with a little bit of a grain of salt, but if I had to compare this to something, this is looking more like the winter storm of 2021 then it looks like the winter storm of what we had last year,” Mason said. “You know, last year we had 2 to 4 inches of snow. People were able to go outside and play, enjoy the snow. 2021 was bone-chilling cold for 40 to 42 hours below freezing.”
RELATED: ‘Once in a generation’: Parts of Houston area report up to 6 inches of snow
The winter storm in 2021 caused statewide, rolling power outages for several days. As many as 246 people died — likely an undercount, according to researchers.
Eight of the warming centers slated to open in Houston this weekend lack permanent power generators, but Mason said the city will place temporary generators at those sites.
Dominic Anthony Walsh/Houston Public Media
Brian Mason, the city of Houston’s interim director of resiliency and recovery, speaks to the Houston City Council on Jan. 21, 2026.
Last year, Whitmire’s administration pushed through a $100 million “power protection initiative” using federal disaster recovery dollars to bolster the city’s network of generators. At the time, only one of the city’s 13 multiservice centers had generators.
RELATED: ERCOT, CenterPoint say grid is ready ahead of incoming winter storm
The forecast calls for possible freezing rain on Saturday and Sunday.
Houston Public Works director Randy Macchi said the department will engage in “very selective” road treatment, focusing on “critical areas so that first responders can get to places they need to go — that emergency access to places like hospitals and others are prioritized.”
“The most important thing is when the streets get dangerous, you just stay off of them,” Macchi said.
In the event of power outages, Macchi said the officials overseeing the city’s water infrastructure “feel really good about the position we’re in and being ready to go.”
RELATED: To drip or not to drip: Houston-area officials offer conflicting guidance on faucets during a freeze
He encouraged residents to not drip water facets to avoid dangerous drops in systemwide water pressure, which have previously prompted boil water notices during cold weather. For those concerned about pipe bursts, he said they should shut off the property’s water ahead of the storm and fully drain the pipes.
Houston officials declined to open warming centers during the first of two freezes in January 2025, putting strain on the region’s network of private shelters. During the snowstorm later in the month, about 1,300 people sought shelter across 10 public warming centers.