The Austin area is under a hard freeze warning and a wind chill advisory until 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Wind chills as low as zero degrees are expected across parts of Central Texas — including Travis, Williamson and Hays counties. The coldest temperatures of the week are expected Tuesday night into Wednesday. Some areas might see their lowest temperatures since February 2021, according to the National Weather Service.
NWS advises people to bundle up when traveling outside to protect against hypothermia, and to wrap pipes and drip faucets to prevent them from freezing.
Here's what we know.
Schools
Many schools in the Austin area canceled classes or had a delayed start on Tuesday. Here are the schools that have announced a two-hour delay for Wednesday:
We'll continue to update as announcements come in. Check your school district's website for the latest information.
Boil water notice for parts of Hays County
People in the Belterra subdivision are under a boil water notice after freezing temperatures led to a mechanical failure at a water plant. A boil water notice means people should bring all tap water they plan on using for drinking and cooking to a rolling boil for two minutes.
The boil water notice will continue until water officials announce it's over.
City of Austin resources
Austin's cold weather shelters are open without closure until Thursday morning. People can register for shelter from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at One Texas Center at 505 Barton Springs Rd. They can call the cold weather shelter hotline at 512-972-5055 for more information on how to get there, or 311 or 512-974-2000 for the city's nonemergency services line.
Austin's parks and library facilities serve as warming centers during their regular hours. Anyone can stop by to get warm; here's a map of the locations.
For the latest updates on cold weather shelters and warming centers, visit the city's alerts page.
Austin Resource Recovery said curbside collection might be delayed because of the weather. Leave your carts on the curbs so crews can get them later in the week.
The Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility is closed Tuesday because of water damage from a burst water valve. All in-person and remote court proceedings will need to be rescheduled.
City of Austin updates
Austin Homeland Security and Emergency Management held a press conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday with the latest on how the city is responding to the winter weather. Mayor Kirk Watson, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Austin's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shared updates.
You can watch it below. If the video doesn't appear, try refreshing your screen.
The grid
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) asked people to conserve electricity for a few hours on Monday and Tuesday morning because of increasing energy demand from the cold weather.
So far, ERCOT hasn't called for any more conservation measures.
Here's where you can look at ERCOT's energy forecast.
Follow the latest updates from the National Weather Service below:
