Winter Storm Warning Issued for Much of Central Texas

Austin, Texas – * A winter storm warning was issued for Hill Country, along with Travis and Williamson counties, from 9 am Monday through 12 pm Wednesday. A winter weather warning is now in effect for Hays, Caldwell, Bastrop and Lee counties for the same period.*

A week very much like winter is ahead of us here in central Texas. This will include a big drop in temperatures and also the chance of freezing rain and icing issues. We have a busy forecast, so let’s dive in game by game.

Behind the Sunday afternoon cold front, temperatures will drop by 30-40 degrees on Monday morning, and in many areas those temperatures will continue to drop throughout the day.

Scattered light showers will also develop throughout the day on Monday, but with temperatures still just above freezing this should mostly be just ordinary rain.

However, when the sun sets on Monday night, temperatures will drop below freezing across much of the Hill Country and parts of the Interstate 35 corridor. This will sync with another round of precipitation, and that’s when the likelihood of freezing rain for Hill Country increases.

Through Tuesday morning, we’ll have to keep an eye out for the potential for icing on Hill Country roads, especially on bridges and elevated surfaces.

Temperatures drop further overnight Tuesday into Wednesday as another round of more widespread precipitation approaches. By Wednesday morning, there could be widespread freezing rain in many areas along and west of the I-35 corridor.

We will continue to watch for this potential through the day on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning the last precipitation will pass and the risk of winter troubles will be over.

We have several rounds of possible freezing rain and drizzle to monitor. With each, the highest likelihood of ice issues will be throughout the mountain region. However, even on the Austin Metro and I-35 corridor, we’ll need to keep an eye on things closely, especially with the round starting on Wednesday.

As of now, concerns about icing on the subway appear to be mild, meaning some slip spots on bridges and viaducts will be possible, but not necessarily widespread.

For Hill Country, the models continue to suggest the possibility of some more significant icing, where travel could be more substantially impacted and sporadic power outages could even be possible due to downed power lines.

The KVUE Weather team will continue to closely monitor this evolving forecast and will have frequent updates.

Meanwhile, the extended forecast can be found below:

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