textproduct: Austin/San Antonio

KEY MESSAGES

- Cloudy skies and patchy to areas of fog are possible along and east of Highway 281 overnight through this morning

- Today's highs ranging from the upper 60s across the Hill Country to mid 70s along the Coastal Plains

- A strong arctic front is forecast to push across our area Friday night into the overnight hours, bringing dangerous cold temperatures and a prolonged freeze this weekend into early next week.

- A Winter Storm Watch and Extreme Cold Watch have been issued as confidence in a mix of freezing rain and sleet event increases for this weekend, especially for our northern areas.

- Minor to moderate impacts are possible but not limited for the southern Edwards Plateau and Hill Country on Saturday and Sunday creating hazardous driving conditions

UPDATE

Issued at 755 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

We have issued a Dense Fog Advisory for Atascosa, De Witt, Karnes, and Lavaca Counties until 10 AM this morning. Dense fog with visibilities under a 1/4 of a mile have recently been noted across these counties. We expect the fog to lift later this morning as temperatures rise and winds pick up slightly causing the fog to disperse.

SHORT TERM

(Today through Friday) Issued at 1214 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

A back door front moved across most of South Central Texas throughout the day and evening on Wednesday. As of 12 AM Thursday CST, the boundary sits and extends eastward from the southern Rio Grande into the Coastal Plains with a surface low pressure system over the Corpus Christi area. There is also a warm frontal boundary to the east of the low and extends to east Texas. With that said, the Coastal Plains and areas along and east of I-35 corridor have plenty of moisture to work with for clouds to develop overnight into Thursday morning. Also, with increased moisture in place, patchy to areas of fog are forecast to develop and models favor areas along and east of Highway 281. Clouds are forecast to break with time during the day but partly cloudy skies are likely to persist with highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s and dry conditions. Southerly winds are forecast for the entire local area in the afternoon and the frontal boundary mentioned above pushes to the north into central Texas. Overnight lows are forecast to stay in the 50s areawide.

Big changes are on the way for Friday with a strong arctic front and airmass spreading across the local area this weekend. Ahead and along the front, scattered to numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms are forecast to affect most of South Central Texas. Friday's highs are expected to reach the upper 50s to lower 60s across the Hill Country to mid 70s across the Coastal Plains.

LONG TERM

(Friday night through Wednesday) Issued at 1214 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

The strong arctic front pushes across the Hill Country Friday night and over the rest of the local area through the overnight period. The cold airmass spreads quickly overnight across the Hill Country with temperatures reaching the lower 30s by day break. Some locations (especially parts of the Hill Country) are likely to reach the freezing mark around 6 AM to 8 AM CST Saturday and can't rule freezing rain. Temperatures do go up several degrees late Saturday morning through early afternoon, but the coldest airmass of this season takes over and temperatures quickly begin to go down to the 20s and 30s from late Saturday afternoon into the evening. With this cold airmass in place, we are dealing with plenty of moisture above the shallow frontal boundary thanks to an upper level system moving over Baja California into northern Mexico.

This scenario calls for freezing rain and sleet mainly from Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. We are expected minor to moderate impacts for roadways as far as ice accumulations especially for the Hill Country and southern Edwards Plateau. Also, dangerous cold and wind chill values are forecast for late Saturday into Sunday morning with some areas in the single digits and feel like temperatures below zero.

The frozen precipitation comes to an end on Sunday afternoon, but the cold stays for several days into early next week. There will be areas across the Hill Country with temperatures at or below the freezing mark for more than two days (48+ hrs).

The next forecast package will have more details as far as timing and accumulations as we enter the hires model cycle.

We urge residents and visitors to closely monitor the weather forecast for latest updates. There are winter storm watch and Extreme cold watches in effect for the upcoming winter event. Now is the time to prepare for this winter event.

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 517 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Low ceilings and areas of fog continue to build over the eastern half of the area including at I-35 terminals. Ceilings are generally IFR to LIFR expected to remain in place through late morning before VFR conditions return for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Wind will be generally be light from the south to the east this afternoon into Friday. Low ceilings and areas of low visibility redevelop tonight into Friday morning for all of South Central Texas. Light showers may develop as early as Friday morning near KAUS.

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)

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Austin Camp Mabry 70 55 65 35 / 0 10 50 90 Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport 71 55 67 34 / 0 10 50 90 New Braunfels Muni Airport 72 55 69 38 / 0 10 40 90 Burnet Muni Airport 67 52 59 31 / 0 10 50 90 Del Rio Intl Airport 72 53 71 44 / 0 0 20 70 Georgetown Muni Airport 68 53 63 30 / 0 10 50 90 Hondo Muni Airport 74 54 71 39 / 0 0 30 80 San Marcos Muni Airport 73 55 69 36 / 0 10 50 90 La Grange - Fayette Regional 72 57 69 39 / 0 10 40 80 San Antonio Intl Airport 73 57 70 41 / 0 10 40 90 Stinson Muni Airport 74 58 72 43 / 0 0 40 90

EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Winter Storm Watch from Saturday morning through Sunday morning for TXZ171>173-183>194-206-208-209.

Extreme Cold Watch from Saturday evening through Monday morning for TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228.

Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM CST this morning for TXZ220-222- 224-225.