AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than half a foot of snow has fallen in areas around Austin and rolling blackouts are in order to help conserve power Monday in the entire state of Texas.
This is the first-ever wind chill warning issued by the Austin/San Antonio National Weather Service Office. Our KXAN team is tracking the latest updates on this storm which will likely cripple the City of Austin and surrounding areas for days.
A Winter Storm Warning issued by the National Weather Service continues in the Austin metro area through noon Monday at least. A dangerous period of icing and sleet began Saturday and continued Sunday with snow accumulating across the area Sunday night.
We will include all the notices we receive from law enforcement or other traffic officials about crashes in this post.
Check our list of school closures and postponements with potential dangerous driving conditions on deck.
4 a.m. Monday
Austin Energy now says power outages due to rolling blackouts across Texas may last longer than originally planned.
Austin Energy says the controlled outages may last longer than 40-45 minutes they mentioned earlier due to “the severity of weather and the condition of the grid.”
Here’s how the rotating outages will work.
KXAN’s Jim Spencer measured about 6.5 inches of snow outside his home Monday morning.
2:40 a.m. Monday
KXAN photojournalist Andrew Choat’s camera was rolling as the winter storm pushed through Round Rock Sunday night.
Check out the time lapse video above.
1:30 a.m. Monday
Early Monday morning, the ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) moved the Energy Emergency Alert to level three, the highest alert level for the state.
ERCOT, who manages the state’s power grid, said Monday around 1:30 a.m. that rotating outages are underway to reduce demand on the electric system.
Additionally, ERCOT said traffic lights and other infrastructure may be temporarily without power.
Monday, 12:17 a.m.
Early Monday morning, the ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) declared an Energy Emergency Alert 1 for the state of Texas, noting that energy conservation is needed statewide. ERCOT, who manages the state’s power grid, said Monday there are no rotating power outages at this time.
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