Austin-area school districts are canceling classes Monday after Central Texas woke up to an icy crust coating roads and surfaces, making travel dangerous.
At least one person is confirmed to have died from the extreme cold, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said during a press briefing Sunday morning. A man was found dead early Sunday in the parking lot of a Shell station along the southbound I-35 service road near 38 1/2 Street.
One of two runways is closed at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport so crews can focus their snow removal efforts on a single runway. More than 200 flights are canceled.
Because of ongoing wintry weather conditions, the University of Texas at Austin announced it will be closed through Monday. All classes and events are canceled.
Austin ISD announced it has canceled classes and all school activities Monday. All AISD offices and schools will be closed as well. Eanes, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Round Rock and Wimberley ISDs and Hays and San Marcos CISDs are also closed Monday. Check your school district's website for the latest closure updates.
The National Weather Service said frozen precipitation has ended across most of the area, but hazardous road conditions are expected to continue as temperatures remain in the 20s and low 30s throughout Sunday
The city of Austin said much of the region received up to about a quarter-inch of ice and sleet overnight, with some areas west of I-35 and in the Hill Country seeing even higher amounts. The accumulation left roads, bridges and overpasses extremely hazardous. Public safety officials continue urging people to stay off the roads unless travel is absolutely necessary.
Travis County Fire Rescue reported about an eighth-inch sheet of ice covering parts of U.S. 183 south of ABIA. The Round Rock Police Department warned that even short trips could be dangerous due to icy roads.
An extreme cold warning remains in effect through noon Monday, with wind chills expected to dip into the teens and single digits, and potentially below zero in parts of the Hill Country.
Austin Energy said crews responded overnight to isolated outages related to the storm. By mid-morning Sunday, the public utility's outage map showed about 1,670 customers without electricity. Austin Energy said outages could increase in the coming days as ice melts.
Capital Metro service is suspended all day Sunday and will delay the start of service until noon on Monday.
City officials also addressed rumors circulating online about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations connected to cold weather shelters. In a statement, the city said they were told by regional ICE representatives that there are no operations focused on warming centers and that agents are not staging in Austin for special enforcement actions. KUT News has asked an ICE spokesperson to verify the city's statement.
Watch Sunday's city and county news conference below:
