HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — As Texans wait for temperatures to drop below freezing this week, many can’t help but think about the historic freeze of February 2021. That said, ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith reports on how this upcoming freeze compares to the one that occurred four years ago.
The bitter cold and the extent of frozen precipitation across the state are not expected to be as extreme. In 2021, Houston experienced below-freezing temperatures for almost 48 hours and received an inch of snow during the event. This week, temperatures could fall below freezing for up to 12 hours at most, mainly Wednesday night into Thursday morning. No frozen precipitation is expected.
Since we know the weather conditions farther north across the state also affected the event in 2021, here’s a comparison for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In 2021, Dallas was below-freezing for nearly six days. Furthermore, there were two mornings when temperatures dropped below zero degrees in the city. This time around, the cold front will move through Dallas Tuesday and could drop temperatures below freezing for about two days, but no weather conditions with below-zero temperatures are expected. That’s a huge difference.
Not only are the weather conditions for this freeze going to be different, but the state of the grid has also changed. Specifically, how much backup power does the grid have access to? Supposedly, that number has been around 10,000 megawatts since 2021. This is done by investing in both solar power and battery storage sites. A report from energy journal Factor states that battery storage for the Texas grid has nearly doubled every year since 2021. These battery storage sites act as a backup during times of high demand or when other power sources, like natural gas, solar, or wind, are low.
So, when comparing this week’s freeze to that of 2021, the overall impact is not expected to be as significant. Nothing’s guaranteed, so preparing plants, pipes, and pets for the cold is advised. As for power, outages are not expected, but they can never be ruled out. In a press conference earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbot said he is “100% confident in the power grid” ahead of this freeze. The governor said this could be “the coldest weather event of the year” for Texans, even though the Houston area already faced its winter weather event last month with the January snowstorm.
This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.
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