AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- An Arctic front expected to move through Central Texas Saturday morning will bring the coldest air so far this season to the Austin metro, and confidence is increasing in the possibility of wintry precipitation impacting the area by Monday evening.
That front is expected to move through the area during the morning hours Saturday, bringing blustery north winds for much of Saturday afternoon and evening. Lows are expected to fall to just below freezing by Sunday morning.
Monday will mark the first of three expected days of hard freezes at night, with lows falling into the mid 20s Monday and Tuesday mornings and possibly into the upper teens to near 20 for Wednesday morning.
Confidence is also increasing in the potential for some form of wintry precipitation, particularly between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. As of Friday afternoon, forecast models were trending towards snow blanketing much of the Austin metro - with some estimates of 2 to 4 inches possible. South of the metro area, towards San Antonio and South Texas, freezing rain and a wintry mix are possible.
Forecasters say it's still too early to rely on the model predictions of the type or amount of precipitation - that clarity will come with higher resolution model data later this weekend.
At least one area school district has already made the decision to close Tuesday; others are expected to wait until Sunday or Monday to make their decisions.
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TxDOT said its crews were beginning to pretreat roadways across the metro in advance of the expected winter weather. The agency will have crews on standby once the weather hits to try and keep roadways passable.
Several area events honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday have already been postponed or canceled due to the expected weather, including Austin's MLK march - the second year in a row that event has been canceled due to inclement weather. Bastrop, Leander, and Manor were also canceling outdoor events but continuing with indoor celebrations.
ERCOT, the state's electric grid operator, has issued a Weather Watch for January 20-23, due to the extreme cold temperatures that will grip much of the state. Officials say grid conditions are expected to be normal with no expectations of emergency operations.
The City of Austin said Friday that it would be activating its Cold Weather Shelter program beginning Saturday night and running through at least Wednesday night. Those shelters will operate all day on Monday due to the MLK holiday.