Rare Severe Winter Storm Pounds Central Texas

On Monday January 15 Central Texas residents were greeted with ice--lots of it and covering everything--thanks to an anticipated arctic blast which was preceded by days of heavy rain. All that was wet froze in the early morning hours when temperatures plunged into the 20s with wind chills in the single digits in many places.

The freezing temperatures from the arctic front met a huge storm system that moved in from the west, creating the perfect environment for winter havoc. On Saturday and Sunday there had been severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and a tornado which touched down in the city of San Marcos just South of Austin.

In the wake of such icy road conditions, residents were urged not to travel; prompting closures of area schools, businesses and government offices. Many road and overpass closures were forced as well.
While the Texas Department of Transportation was hard at work sanding roads and trying to ensure the safest possible driving conditions, the precipitation kept falling and freezing on top of the sand.

The residents of this area are certainly not accustomed to driving on icy roads, which is actually much more dangerous than driving on snowy roads. Downtown Austin was virtually deserted. Many events planned for Monday had to be cancelled or postponed, including parades and other celebrations honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.

On Tuesday, the sleet and freezing rain continued, accumulating on top of already frozen surfaces. The cancellations from Monday continued, which also affected ceremonies for the Inauguration of Governor Rick Perry.

Also on Tuesday was the even rarer sighting of snowfall. For about an hour in the afternoon, snow fell over a wide area, at times mixed with sleet.
In every neighborhood, children were seen having snowball fights and attempting to scrape together snowmen.

Though the message from authorities and meteorologists were very clear to avoid the roads, many drivers ignored this, resulting in hundreds of collisions between Monday and Wednesday in Austin and surrounding areas, some of them fatal.

As of Wednesday, thousands of Austinites are still without power. Tree limbs burdened by the weight of thick ice had broken and fallen on power lines. Austin Energy is working around the clock to get the service restored to residents.

Schools are expected to have delayed openings Thursday, and all businesses back to regular hours. This storm will certainly go down in Central Texas history as one of the most severe and debilitating to the area.