textproduct: Austin/San Antonio

KEY MESSAGES

- Patchy to areas of dense fog and drizzle into this morning.

- Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop later today through tonight as a strong arctic front sweeps across the area. Locally heavy rain possible before precipitation transitions to a cold rain and freezing rain mix in the Hill Country.

- A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect north of the I-10/US HWY 90 corridor. The greatest icing impacts will be expected from Saturday evening through Sunday morning, mainly with a second wave of precipitation.

- An Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect for dangerous cold temperatures and wind chills during Saturday through Monday morning.

UPDATE

Issued at 239 AM CST Fri Jan 23 2026

Have issued a dense fog advisory across majority of the region with areas of drizzle and fog result in visibilities hovering in the 1/2 to 1/4 of a mile or less this morning. Drizzle has become enough to measure in several locations already as well. Tweaked the PoPs upwards as a result through mid-morning.

SHORT TERM

(Today through Saturday) Issued at 1233 AM CST Fri Jan 23 2026

As of 11:00 PM CST tonight, satellite images are showing clouds developing across the Coastal Plains while moving to the northwest into parts of the I-35 corridor and the Balcones escarpment. This trend continues overnight through Friday morning with ceiling lowering to only a few hundreds feet. Also, patchy to areas of dense fog are forecast to develop across portions of the southern Edwards Plateau and along and east of Highway 281 overnight through mid Friday morning. Can't rule out widespread dense fog over portions of the Coastal Plains by day break. If that happens, then we will issue a Dense Fog Advisory. Atop of all of these happening, light drizzle or rain is possible mainly along and east of Highway 281 through the period.

Clouds stay around throughout the day as plenty of moisture remains in place. Friday's highs are forecast to range from the mid 60s across the Hill Country to the mid 70s across the Coastal Plains. Rain chances remain across the local area throughout the day favoring areas along and east of Highway 77, Hill Country, and southern Edwards Plateau.

As the day comes to an end on Friday, a strong arctic front is forecast to arrive across the Hill Country between 8 and 9 PM in the evening. Several upper level pulses of energy moving from northeast Mexico into the Rio Grande in combination with a low level jet to intersect the frontal boundary as it pushes to the southeast. All of that to result in scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms with some strong storms possible capable of producing strong wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph and small hail. Also, heavy downpours could lead to ponding of water over roadways with the possibility of some locations of getting one to two inches of rainfall.

The frontal boundary continues to push to the southeast overnight with showers and storms along it until exit the local area by day break. Strong gusty winds are forecast in the wake of the boundary ranging from 25 to 35 mph and up to 40 mph over some locations. The cold airmass in the wake of the boundary pushes over overnight and reaches the freezing mark around 6 AM CST over parts of the Hill County. So, cold rain or a mix of cold rain and freezing rain could result there. Temperatures are only expected to rise several degrees during the late morning and early afternoon before going down into the upper 20s and lower 30s across the Hill Country and parts of the I-35 corridor including the Austin and San Antonio metro areas. As of this forecast, the Austin area could see freezing rain on Saturday afternoon while San Antonio experiences light cold rain.

These new set of models (00Z) keep things somewhat dry for parts of the afternoon on Saturday while temperatures drop like a rock with breezy north winds and gusty conditions. Late Saturday afternoon into the evening, an upper level short wave moves across northeast Mexico and then crosses into our area bringing increased moisture which is likely to result in precipitation. By that time all precipitation will be frozen in the form of freezing rain and sleet. Significant ice accumulations are forecast to affect the southern Edwards Plateau, Hill Country and portions of the I-35 corridor from Saturday morning into midday on Sunday. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect from 6 AM CST Saturday to Noon CST Sunday. New data suggests for increasing of ice accumulations over other areas such as Bexar County and locations to the southeast into the Coastal Plains. The morning crew will take another look at this scenario with the newest model data mid Friday morning to determine the expansion or not of the Winter Storm Warning.

LONG TERM

(Saturday night through Thursday) Issued at 1233 AM CST Fri Jan 23 2026

The cold continues to invade the local area this weekend into early next week with extreme cold temperatures. Wind chill values could be as low as 5 below zero over a few places over the Hill Country. Most areas likely experience wind chill values in the single digits and teens. Low temperatures are forecast to be as low as 5 to 25 degrees. Extreme Cold Warning is in effect for all of South Central Texas from Saturday evening through Monday morning. Some areas will not come up from the freezing mark for a period of 48 hours. Finally, warming on Monday to the upper 30s to near 50 along the Rio Grande but another cold night awaits for Tuesday morning with lows in the 20s.

By Tuesday, all areas get to experience a warmup with highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s. And guess what? Another cold front pushes through the area on Wednesday bring the temperatures down to the 20s for Wednesday morning. The good thing about this one is that is dry.

CLIMATE

Issued at 137 PM CST Tue Jan 20 2026

Record Low Temperatures Jan 25 Jan 26 Austin Bergstrom 19 (2014) 24 (2011) Austin Camp Mabry 20 (1940/1926)20 (1904) San Antonio Intl 16 (1894) 20 (1897) Del Rio 22 (1963) 27 (1966/1920)

Record Low Max Temperatures

Jan 25 Jan 26 Austin Bergstrom 33 (1961) 33 (1948) Austin Camp Mabry 28 (1940) 33 (1948) San Antonio Intl 24 (1897) 32 (1897) Del Rio 37 (1961) 37 (1940)

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Austin Camp Mabry 69 39 41 22 / 40 90 90 80 Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport 70 40 42 20 / 40 90 90 90 New Braunfels Muni Airport 72 43 45 24 / 40 90 90 80 Burnet Muni Airport 64 33 34 18 / 50 100 90 90 Del Rio Intl Airport 71 44 46 28 / 50 80 40 90 Georgetown Muni Airport 66 35 36 17 / 50 100 90 90 Hondo Muni Airport 73 46 47 22 / 40 90 80 80 San Marcos Muni Airport 71 42 43 21 / 40 90 90 80 La Grange - Fayette Regional 72 48 49 24 / 40 90 90 90 San Antonio Intl Airport 72 44 46 25 / 40 90 80 80 Stinson Muni Airport 74 47 50 26 / 40 90 80 80

EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM CST this morning for TXZ171>173- 184>194-202>209-218>225.

Winter Storm Warning from 6 AM Saturday to noon CST Sunday for TXZ171>173-183>194-206-208-209.

Extreme Cold Warning from 6 PM Saturday to noon CST Monday for TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228.