Central Texas Under Winter Weather Advisory Due To Icy Roads

AUSTIN, TX — The National Weather Service has placed much of the region, including Travis and Williamson counties, under a winter weather advisory Thursday in alerting to light icing on bridges and overpasses that could make driving treacherous.

The advisory covers a wide swath of the region stretching into the Hill Country. Other counties covered in the advisory are Llano; Burnet; Val Verde; Edwards; Real; Kerr; Bandera; Gillespie; Kendall; Blanco; Hays; Bastrop; Lee; Kinney; Uvalde; Medina; Bexar; Comal; Guadalupe; Caldwell; Fayette; Maverick; Zavala; Frio; Atascosa; Wilson; Karnes; Gonzales; De Witt; Lavaca; and Dimmit.

The winter weather advisory is in effect in Travis and Williamson counties until midnight, according to forecasters. Triggering the advisory is the possibility of freezing rain across the Hill Country and along the Interstate 35 corridor from San Marcos northward, according to weather officials. Total ice accumulations could range from a light glaze up to a tenth or two-tenths of an inch, especially on exposed and elevated surfaces, officials said.

Previous coverage: Brutal Winter Blast Headed To Austin Region

Already, a pair of regional school districts have canceled classes outright given ice on roadways. Burnet CISD and Llano ISD originally alerted to a two-hour delay before opting to cancel classes altogether as a result of ice accumulating on roadways. No school districts in the immediate area have taken such measures.

Check DriveTexas.org for real-time road conditions

Traffic accidents are being reported amid the Arctic blast. Emergency crews were dispatched to an area near the 13800 block of North FM 620 involving 26 vehicles that left one person hospitalized during the morning rush hour.

In Pflugerville, a mass text was sent to residents just after 10:20 a.m. alerting to the closure of the Heatherwilde Boulevard bridge over SH 45 following a collision and ice on the road surface. No details were offered as to the extent of injuries.

The cold weather is expected to continue in the coming days. The forecast calls for the possibility of a hard freeze Saturday morning across the Hill Country, expected to become increasingly widespread across South Central Texas Sunday. "Monday and Tuesday mornings will be bitterly cold," weather officials wrote bluntly. There is a slight chance for additional sleet or freezing rain on Saturday, officials added, but even better chances for snow, sleet, or freezing rain Sunday night and Monday, weather officials added.