AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A "significant" ice storm is underway in Central Texas, adding insult to injury as an unprecedented winter storm continues to wreak havoc on the Austin area, with many suffering through bitter cold with no electricity.
A WINTER STORM WARNING continues until 6PM Thursday...
Overnight freezing rain and drizzle across much of the Hill Country and the I-35 corridor has made travel virtually impossible, with ice accumulations of anywhere from one quarter of an inch to three quarters of an inch, even an inch.
Forecasters say the freezing precipitation should clear the area for the most part by mid-morning, hopefully providing a chance for the sun to once again melt some of what's been left on Austin roadways.
TxDOT officials were urging everyone to avoid travel Wednesday morning if at all possible, with many roads across Austin and the greater Central Texas area becoming impossible to traverse with the glaze of ice on them.
Yet another round of winter precipitation is expected late Wednesday night, with another chance of accumulating snow into Thursday morning.
With temperatures across the Austin metro remaining below freezing for more than 100 hours, even the lightest amount of freezing precipitation will immediately cause significant issues on roadways across the area.
As of 5:45 a.m. Wednesday morning, more than 178,000 Austin Energy customers were without power, and roughly 262,000 across the five county metro area.
Temperatures on Thursday are expected to finally warm above the freezing mark, though lows Friday morning will fall back into the lower 20s.
Winter's grasp will finally release on Friday and into the weekend, with temperatures gradually warming into the 60s by Sunday with overnight lows in the 40s and 50s.