Houston Weather: Hard Freeze Warning In Effect; Relief On Its Way

HOUSTON, TX — No sign of an immediate reprieve is in sight for Houstonians who've spent this week battling power outages, water boil advisories and unusually cold temperatures following a winter storm that hit the southern United States earlier this week.

Portions of southeast Texas including Houston will be under a hard freeze warning starting at midnight and continuing through 9 a.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures are expected to fall between 20 and 25 degrees Thursday night and could remain there for up to five hours.

Wind chills are expected to remain at or below freezing through Friday afternoon. The Houston area will see wind chills briefly rise above freezing Friday afternoon and again by noon on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

By Saturday, southerly winds are expected to bring warm temperatures back to the area. Overnight lows on Saturday are forecast to be above freezing, the first time in several days.

While another cold front is expected to move into the area Sunday night into Monday, National Weather Service forecasters predict this bout will be milder and overnight lows are expected to remain above freezing.

As temperatures increase, the National Weather Service is also warning of falling icicles. Texans are encouraged to be aware of their surroundings as large icicles have formed on elevated surfaces and will become a hazard as they melt and fall.

Meanwhile, winter storm warnings and advisories have been issued in counties southwest of Houston.

San Antonio saw a period of heavy snowfall on Thursday, creating dangerous driving conditions as a winter storm system dumped between 3 and 6 inches of snow on the area.

While snow is expected to taper off Thursday evening, an additional half-inch of accumulation is expected before the system moves westward.