Austin live weather updates: Boil water notice rescinded in Hays County neighborhood

Lingering effects of the arctic blast are still being felt throughout Central Texas, as residents have juggled record-setting temperatures, local power outages and a boil water notice.

Thus far, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90% of the state’s power grid, has not experienced statewide outages, and the electrical grid has maintained regular conditions amid abnormal weather patterns. The council issued a power conservation appeal on Monday and Tuesday mornings, which ERCOT said helped the grid get through peak demand times.

Memories of the winter storm of 2021 left many feeling nervous about the current cold snap. Almost three years ago, 4 million Texans were left without power after nearly half of the state's generation capacity was knocked offline because of frozen equipment and other weather-related problems across the system.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson recommended residents sign up for Warn Central Texas emergency alerts.

Power outages: Track outages from arctic blast in Central Texas. See Texas power outage map.

Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility cancels in-person proceedings after water valve burst

A water valve at the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility burst this week, halting all in-person proceedings for at least the remainder of this week as crews work to determine the extent of the damage and make repairs.

A press release sent Tuesday said remote proceedings will continue. Hector Nieto, a spokesperson for Travis County, said it's unclear at this time how long the in-person actions will be postponed and if this week's arctic blast caused the water valve to burst.

Pflugerville community center closed due to water main break

Travis County officials announced that the community center located at 15822 Foothill Farm Loop would be closed Wednesday due to a water main break.

Community centers in Del Valle, Manor, Oak Hill and Central Austin are open Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are serving as warming centers, according to the news release.

Travis County public information officers could not be reached for comment on the cause of the water main break.

Boil water notice rescinded in Hays County neighborhood

Residents of Belterra and adjoining neighbors no longer have to boil their water, per a news release from the Hays County Water Control and Improvement Districts Nos. 1 and 2.

The boil water notice was issued Tuesday morning after a mechanical failure caused by plummeting temperatures at the West Travis County Public Utility Agency, which led to unstable system pressure in the Hays County subdivision.

Cold weather shelters extended until Thursday

Overnight cold weather shelters will be open through Thursday morning due to another wave of below-freezing temperatures. A record low of 16 degrees was set on Monday, and matched on Tuesday.

Austin city officials said another weather-related record was set: More than 600 people used the city of Austin's overnight cold weather shelters this week. The shelters are only open when the temperature drops to 32 degrees or below overnight, or to 35 degrees when accompanied by rain or strong wind.

Those who want to seek shelter must register at One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road, between 6 and 8 p.m. The city will provide transportation from the center to shelters. Transportation to a shelter after 8 p.m. can be arranged by calling 311 or 512-974-2000.

Outside of nighttime operations, people can use Austin Public Library branches and Parks and Recreation Department facilities as warming centers during normal business hours.

Weather updates: School districts, including AISD, announce delays, closures Tuesday

Another cold front to roll in Thursday

A hard freeze warning remains in effect for most of Central Texas through Wednesday morning as low temperatures dip into the teens, with wind chills of -10 to 10 degrees expected across the region.

The National Weather Service said another cold front will make its way to Central Texas on Thursday night into Friday morning. However, this cold front is expected to be milder. Lows will reach into the low 30s by Friday morning, before inching into the low 40s by afternoon. Colder temperatures are projected to return early Saturday morning, with lows in the 20s and wind chills in the teens, before warming up into the low 40s by afternoon. Chances of precipitation and snow remain unlikely.

Road conditions: See live map of Texas road conditions, closures as state sees freezing temps, rain

Local power outages reported in Williamson, Bastrop counties; few outages in Austin

Power outages in Travis County and surrounding counties remain minimal Wednesday morning, with the majority of outages reported in Williamson and Bastrop counties, areas serviced by Oncor.

Travis County has no reported outages as of Wednesday morning.

Austin Energy reported that 99.89% of its customers had power as of 11 a.m. Wednesday. At that time, there were 14 active outages, affecting approximately 594 customers, with the majority in West Campus.

Matt Mitchell, a spokesperson for the city of Austin, said damage to overheard wires was the cause of the outage, causing the wire to fall to the ground. Crews were able to remove the live wire and are slowly restoring power to the area, with care taken to not overload electrical breakers.

Austin Energy customers who do not have power but are not appearing on the outage map should call the utility at 512-322-9100.

According to Oncor, about 571 customers in Williamson and Bastrop counties had no power as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the utility's outage map. Oncor customers can report a new outage by calling 888-313-4747 or visiting https://stormcenter.oncor.com/ or by texting"REG" to 66267.

Nearly 30 customers are experiencing power outages in areas serviced by the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, which includes Buda, Lake Travis, and Leander. Customers can report outages by calling 888-883-3379, or texting "outage" to 25022 or visiting their website https://www.pec.coop/reportoutage.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin live weather updates: Boil water notice lifted in Hays County