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Austin weather: Cold returns, city prepares
After one day of warm weather, the cold is back again for the weekend. Once again, it's important to prepare.
AUSTIN, Texas - After Wednesday's spring-like temperatures, the next few days in Central Texas are expected to drop.
"We could have freezing weather eight to 12 straight hours, lows in the upper teens to low 20s, and this chill is going to be locked in all the way through the weekend," said FOX 7 Austin Meteorologist Zack Shields.
Shields says these next few days will not be as bad as earlier this week, but it is still going to be cold. He says it is just part of the unpredictable Texas weather.
"Sometimes that's going to happen here in Texas: huge swings in temperatures at the airport. We had a record low of 11 degrees on Wednesday morning and by yesterday afternoon we soared to 78 degrees, so that's a 67 degree swing in temperatures. That's pretty rare," said Shields.
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Austin weather: Hard freeze overnight
It's looking to be a bitterly cold weekend as temperatures fall below freezing overnight on Friday. Zack Shields explains in his full forecast.
To prepare, the City of Austin has reopened its cold weather overnight shelters for Friday.
To register, go to the One Texas Center on 505 Barton Springs Road from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. or call 311.
The city plans to open these shelters every time the weather is set to drop into freezing temps, and this weekend is no exception.
"Not as bad as what we had earlier in the week, but you're going to have to bundle up with the cold days and freezing nights continuing," said Shields.
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It is just as important to protect your home during the cold. Austin Water says to prepare your home by locating your water shut off, keeping out cold air, and protecting exposed pipes and outside faucets.
Austin Water also advises residents to have a few tools on hand to protect your home from the cold, like a water meter key, insulation for pipes, and a hose bib cover for outdoor faucets.
It is important to start winterizing your home now, because Shields says this could be just a taste of what we can expect these next few weeks.
"Some of our worst arctic outbreaks happened in February, so I think this is just the beginning," he said.