The coldest air of the season has moved into Central Texas ahead of a storm system that looks to give the Austin area its first accumulating snowfall in four years.
Precipitation isn’t supposed to arrive until late tonight but extreme cold has already settled in thus prompting both a Winter Storm Warning and a Cold Weather Advisory.
The City of Austin has its warming centers and shelters open each night through Wednesday.
ERCOT is monitoring power usage and demand.
Most area school districts do not have classes today due to the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday but some systems are already looking ahead to tomorrow’s schedule in anticipation of travel problems in the morning.
Due to freezing temperatures in the forecast, several outdoor Austin-area Martin Luther King Jr. Day events have been canceled, delayed or moved indoors.
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in Austin scheduled for today has been canceled. This marks the second consecutive year the march has been called off because of expected inclement weather.
The planned MLK Walk in Bastrop today has been canceled due to concerns about frigid temperatures, however, the 36th annual Bastrop County Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission will hold a tribute celebration for Dr. King at 11 a.m. this morning in the Bastrop Convention Center.
The city of Leander has moved its MLK Day celebration indoors due to the weather forecast. The event will now take place in the Leander Activity Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.
The city of Manor has canceled its Freedom Walk scheduled for Monday and moved its celebration indoors. The ceremony will now be held indoors at the Manor New Tech High School Gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. this morning.
Travis County and City of Austin elected officials will provide an update on their final winter weather preparedness at a media briefing at 10:00 a.m.
More on the Winter Storm Warning and a look at the extended forecast can be found further down this post in WEATHER.
Fallen power lines on E. Stassney Lane and Nuckols Crossing Road closed both roads for a while this morning.
A body was found after a fire in South Austin on Sunday afternoon.
The city of Pflugerville has broken ground on Phase One its new Downtown East Project
Despite the cold, thousands of runners turned out Sunday morning for the Austin Internationa Half Marathon.
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
This storm is affecting areas of the south that don’t normally see this type of weather.
How to protect yourself from frostbite.
Houston’s airports will be closing at midnight tonight in anticipation of the approaching winter storm.
Texas Hill Country farmers are bracing for this Arctic blast and are moving to protect livestock. (MySanAntonio)
Donald Trump is headed back to the White House…and he’s taking these Texans with him. (Texas Tribune)
PODCAST: This week’s episode of “State of Texas” which is produced by KXAN-TV.
In Milam County, outside Austin, SB Energy operates the fifth-largest solar project in the country. Solar farms are booming in the U.S. and Texas is no exception. (KXAN-TV)
On Friday, Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B doubled down on its commitment to extending a helping hand to Los Angeles wildfire victims by announcing a $1 million donation to nonprofits aiding in wildfire outreach and recovery efforts. (Lonestar Live)
The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo opened over the weekend…and it was a cold one.
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: A battle of top ten teams today in Newark, New Jersey as the 7-th ranked Texas Longhorns face the 8th-ranked Lady Terrapins of Maryland in the Coretta King Classic. (Texas Longhorns)
NBA: The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-107 on Sunday.
The Spurs have tonight off while the Dallas Mavericks are in Charlotte and the Houston Rockets host Detroit. (Yahoo! Sports)
NHL: The Dallas Stars defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at American Airlines Center Sunday. (Yahoo! Sports)
MLS: Austin FC has opened up its practice sessions to season ticket holders.
NFL: It’s down to four: Washington, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Kansas City.
The Houston area could very well see several inches of snow tonight into Tuesday…an event that doesn’t occur very often.
