After a bitterly cold 24 hours, the temperatures have finally crested above freezing in San Antonio.
While local officials say the worst is over, power outages, road closures and wind chills persist. Here's the latest.
Power Outages
The lights did not stay on as Gov. Greg Abbott had promised. San Antonio and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex bore the brunt of the power failures as a combined 80,000 residents were left in the dark Thursday, according to a report from MySA. Although the number of outages continued to dwindle into this morning, 255 Alamo City residents remained with power, according to a CPS outage map at press time.
But, unlike last year's blackouts, which resulted from strain on Texas' power grid, this year's outages were caused by ice and strong winds, according to CPS officials.
"The majority of the issues that we're having is the ice that's weighing down the tree branches and causing some of them to snap," utility spokeswoman Christine Patmon told the Express-News. "The outages we're having today are not related to supply and demand — this is all weather."
According to ERCOT, the Texas electric grid never came under severe stress, and operated under "normal conditions" throughout the storm.
Cold will continue
Although the lights are back on in most of San Antonio, low temperatures and dangerous wind chills will persist throughout Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Residents woke up to temperatures in the teens and wind-chill in the single digits, causing school cancellations for most districts in Bexar County. Although the Alamo City's wind chill advisory expired at 9 a.m., strong winds will make it feel much colder.
Most roads reopened
Those suffering from cabin fever may be happy to hear that all roads have reopened except the U.S Highway 281-Loop 1604 flyover, which remained closed at press time. Residents can expect the interchange to reopen later Friday.
Airport problems persist
Although conditions have improved, San Antonio International Airport reported 45 flight cancellations as of Friday at noon. Still, the problems at San Antonio's airport pale in comparison to the issues at the Metroplex's DFW, which is reporting more than 400 cancellations, according to FlightAware. Airlines advise that flyers call their carriers before heading to the airport.
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