North Texas Could See a Freezing Start to 2022

It’s been questionably warm in North Texas over the last couple of weeks, with Christmas Day reaching the 80s and 90s. But, that’s expected to change as we roll into the new year.

A strong cold front is expected to hit North Texas Saturday afternoon, according to NBC. The next couple of days after that could be freezing. Temperatures on Sunday morning are predicted to range between the upper teens to the mid-20s.

Some are also hinting at possible snowfall in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“Yes, it could snow even in Dallas-Fort Worth but again, timing is everything. Right now, we are holding off on the chance of snow in the official forecast,” Blake Matthews, a CBS 11 meteorologist, wrote. “However, if the timing is right and a piece of energy lags behind the arctic cold front far enough, then the atmosphere will absolutely support widespread snow showers across North Texas.”

In February last year, Winter Storm Uri slammed Texas causing long outages across the state.

Around that time, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state’s power grid, warned Texas residents that there could be rolling blackouts. Except, they weren’t exactly rolling. People lost power for days and more than 200 people died, according the the official tally kept by the Texas Department of State Health Services. However, an analysis by BuzzFeed estimates the number of fatalities is actually somewhere closer to 700.

When the unexpected temperatures hit Texas, the power grid saw an unexpected level of demand. This, and the fact that winterization guidelines for energy providers were voluntary, helped lead to the perfect storm.

In a press release on Thursday, ERCOT said it’s ready for winter weather in Texas. The agency said it completed onsite inspections of mandatory winterization protocols at more than 300 electric generation units and 22 transmission station facilities. ERCOT found that six of the 22 transmission station facilities and 10 of the electric generation units had potential deficiencies, but said many have since been corrected.

“Texans can be confident the electric generation fleet and the grid are winterized and ready to provide power," Woody Rickerson, vice president of grid planning and weatherization, said in a press release. “New regulations require all electric generation and transmission owners to make significant winterization improvements and our inspections confirm they are prepared.”

With all due respect to Rickerson and ERCOT, we're still going to lay in a supply of candles and maybe invest in some long underwear.