A significant winter storm is developing<\/a> and Texas will be among the first states to be impacted by it; as a result, state government is preparing for the imminent weather emergency as the National Weather Service issues Winter Storm Watches for most of the Lone Star State including the major metropolitan areas of Dallas, Houston, and Austin.<\/p>\nA significant intrusion of Arctic air and impactful wintry precipitation will affect all of North and Central Texas from Friday afternoon\/evening through the upcoming weekend. Impacts to travel and infrastructure are expected across all of North and Central Texas due to a combination of freezing rain\/ice as well as sleet and snow, while temperatures stay below freezing for an extended period. A Winter Storm Watch is now in effect for the entirety of North and Central Texas starting Friday afternoon and continuing through Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SIGsnowIceA-300x200.jpg\")
The red areas are zones in which heavy snow or ice is expected as a major winter storm develops and moves into the eastern U.S.. Image: NOAA WPC<\/p>\n
\u201cPlan ahead for travel impacts and power outages, and monitor forecasts in the coming days for up-to-date information,\u201d the National Weather Service warns.<\/p>\n
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to activate state emergency response resources ahead of potential winter weather impacts expected across the state beginning Thursday.
\u201cBased on current forecasts, the State of Texas is acting to ensure Texans have the resources they need before severe winter weather impacts communities across Texas,\u201d said Governor Abbott. \u201cAs temperatures could drop below freezing and regions of Texas face snow, ice, and freezing rain, it is crucial that Texans remain weather-aware, check DriveTexas.org before traveling, and heed the guidance of state and local officials. I thank emergency management personnel and first responders for working tirelessly to keep Texans safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the direction of the Governor, TDEM has activated the following state emergency response resources to support weather response operations:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Texas Department of Transportation:\u00a0Winter weather roadway equipment and crews pre-treating and treating roadways; personnel and equipment to assist with traffic control and road closures
\n\u2013 Texas Division of Emergency Management:\u00a0The State of Texas Incident Management Team; personnel working with local partners to update warming center maps
\n\u2013 Texas National Guard:\u00a0High-profile vehicles and personnel to support stranded motorists
\n\u2013 Texas A&M Forest Service (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System):\u00a0All-Hazard Strike Teams consisting of firefighters, engines, and equipment such as motor graders to assist with snow\/ice clearance; saw crews
\n\u2013 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department:\u00a0Game Wardens to support local law enforcement; high-profile vehicles to assist stranded motorists
\n\u2013 Public Utility Commission of Texas:\u00a0Power outage monitoring and coordinating with utility providers across the threat area
\n\u2013 Railroad Commission of Texas:\u00a0Monitoring of the state\u2019s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
\n\u2013 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality:\u00a0Air\/water\/wastewater monitoring
\n\u2013 Texas Department of Public Safety:\u00a0Texas Highway Patrol Troopers to patrol Texas roadways
\n\u2013 Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Public Works Response Team): Personnel to assist with public works needs
\n\u2013 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service:\u00a0Disaster Assessment and Recovery Agents
\n\u2013 Texas Department of State Health Services (Emergency Medical Task Force):\u00a0Winter and Severe Weather Packages including medics and ambulances
\n\u2013 Texas Health and Human Services Commission:\u00a0Personnel to provide information on available services through the 2-1-1 Texas Information Referral Network
\n\u2013 Texas Education Agency:\u00a0Monitoring school district needs across the state
\n\u2013 Texas Department of Information Resources:\u00a0Monitoring technology infrastructure<\/p>\n
![\"Many](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20250121_1257170_resized-1024x768.jpg\")
Many roads around Houston are elevated, such as this overpass near Sam Houston Parkway and I-69. This was the scene last January when a light snowfall shutdown the region for 2 days; significant ice and\/or snow is possible here again this weekend. Image: Weatherboy<\/p>\n
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for most of the state including the major metro areas of Dallas, Houston, and Austin. There the National Weather Service is urging people to be prepared for a variety of wintry weather conditions and hazards.\u00a0 Moderate to heavy mixed precipitation is expected from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoads, especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become dangerous. Significant ice accumulation on power lines and tree limbs may cause power outages. Extreme cold will become life threatening and likely damage unprotected pipes and put livestock at risk,\u201d the National Weather Service said in Winter Storm Watch bulletins issued today. \u201cMake winter preparations to homes and businesses today or tomorrow! Have an emergency kit ready. Check on vulnerable friends and family. You should consider altering or delaying all travel plans. If travel is absolutely necessary, drive with extreme caution,\u201d they add.<\/p>\n
In addition to snow and ice, extreme cold in the forecast has also prompted the National Weather Service to issue an Extreme Cold Watch which is in effect for all of southeast Texas including Houston and the Gulf of America Coast around Galveston for Saturday night through to Monday. Dangerously cold wind chills of 5-15 are expected with prolonged hours of sub-freezing conditions possible. Coldest conditions will be Sunday night into Monday.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forecast models, like this American GFS, are projecting a wintry mess across Texas with heavy snow, accumulating ice,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,102,9975,56864,5055,56,1829,1971,12326,27,56865],"class_list":{"0":"post-132852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-emergency","13":"tag-extreme-cold-watch","14":"tag-governor","15":"tag-houston","16":"tag-ice","17":"tag-national-weather-service","18":"tag-snow","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-winter-storm-watch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Forecast](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasMess.png\")
Forecast models, like this American GFS, are projecting a wintry mess across Texas with heavy snow, accumulating ice, and a wintry mix between the two. Frozen or freezing precipitation is expected deep into Texas including the major metro areas of Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Image: tropicaltidbits.com<\/p>\n