AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- An arctic blast is set to bring some of the coldest temperatures in more than a year to the Austin area early next week.
The National Weather Service says lows Monday night into Tuesday morning could fall into the mid to upper teens; temperatures will fall below freezing Sunday evening and struggle to rebound into the mid 30s by Monday afternoon. Highs will gradually rebound later in the week, hitting the lower 50s by Thursday afternoon.
As of right now, the NWS forecast does not call for precipitation - though some forecast models are not completely ruling out the possibility.
ERCOT, the state's electric grid operator, issued what it calls an OCN - an Operating Conditions Notice - for the period between Monday and Wednesday. An OCN is the first of four levels of notifications ERCOT issues to grid participants when potential emergency conditions are forecast.
Wednesday morning, ERCOT officials issued a "Weather Watch" as well, beginning on Monday and running through Wednesday, Jan. 17.
Officials with ERCOT say despite the cold temperatures expected across the state, the state's electric grid will have sufficient power reserves to meet the demand and be operating normally.
