Scott Flannigan/Houston Public Media
Someone jogs in Cypress, Texas, as ice covers trees and rooftops on the morning of Jan. 25, 2026.
Houston-area residents woke up to a cold, rainy, stormy and in some cases icy Sunday – with reports of thunder sleet in some locations – as temperatures plunged toward freezing and a winter storm warning remained in effect.
Freezing conditions were setting in north and west of the city, where there have been reports of freezing rain and sleet as well as slick roadways, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Davis. He said there had been “quite a bit of lightning” reported, along with thunder sleet, a rare phenomenon in which a thunderstorm coincides with freezing precipitation.
Rain fell across greater Houston early Sunday, where temperatures remained above freezing as of about 8 a.m.
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“Temperatures are just starting to drop below freezing at this moment in Houston,” Davis told Houston Public Media. “We’ll see conditions there deteriorate now and in the next hour or two.”
About 5,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area were without electricity as of about 8 a.m. Sunday, according to CenterPoint Energy’s online outage tracker. The utility company that serves much of the region had reported more than 8,400 customers without power earlier in the morning.
Paul Lock, CenterPoint’s director of local government affairs, said Saturday that crews were stationed at two different sites ready to respond to power outages. Officials with the company warned that freezing rain is the biggest threat to local electricity infrastructure.
There were several hundred additional outages Sunday in Montgomery County, north of Houston, according to Entergy’s online outage tracker.
Warming centers are open across the Houston region – including in Harris, Fort Bend, Galveston and Montgomery counties – for residents who are without power or need to escape the cold.
Scott Flannigan/Houston Public Media
Ice can be seen on tree branches in Cypress, Texas, on Jan. 25, 2026.
Local elected officials have urged residents to avoid roadways if possible.
RELATED: Transportation crews are treating Houston-area roadways ahead of winter weather
The toll lanes on State Highway 288 were closed between downtown Houston and the Harris and Brazoria County line to the south, according to the Texas Department of Transportation’s Houston office. The main lanes remained open.
The winter weather also is impacting the special election runoff in the 18th Congressional District, where former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards and former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee are vying to complete the term of late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner. Early voting had been scheduled to continue Sunday and Monday for the Jan. 31 election, but the polls are being closed on those days by the Harris County Clerk’s Office.
“The safety of voters, elections workers, and stuff must come first,” Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said in a Saturday night statement. “This decision was made in close coordination with state and local emergency management officials.”
Early voting is scheduled to conclude Tuesday, and the Houston area is under an extreme cold warning until noon Tuesday.
RELATED: Houston-area school districts announce Monday closures ahead of incoming winter storm
Davis with the National Weather Service said “dangerous wind chills” in the teens and single digits are expected Sunday night.
Scott Flannigan/Houston Public Media
Ice blankets a garden in Cypress, Texas, on Jan. 25, 2026.
“The precip’s going to come to an end by mid-morning, but the clouds are going to hang around and the temperatures are going to remain pretty cold,” Davis said. “The south and eastern (parts of the area) will only briefly rise above freezing this afternoon, while areas to the north and west will actually remain below freezing all day into tonight. So conditions aren’t really expected to improve much during the day today. We have some very cold temperatures arriving tonight.”
RELATED: Officials, experts offer advice on how to prevent frozen pipes as winter storm approaches Houston
Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said Saturday night that residents need to be aware of carbon monoxide threats as they attempt to warm their homes during the freezing temperatures. Residents should make sure they have batteries in their smoke detectors and talk to family members about exit routes from their homes in case of an emergency, she said.
“Safety and preparedness is about getting through this event,’ Christensen said. “We are well skilled at this in Harris County. We can’t say enough about our residents and the preparation that we make. That being said, every event is different.”
Houston Public Media’s Sarah Grunau and Thomas Perumean contributed to this report.