4 warming sites to open today as icy weather hits
San Antonio will open four overnight warming centers at noon Thursday as city and utility officials braced for winter weather and assured residents they don’t expect blackouts of the kind seen during last year’s winter storm.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for San Antonio and South Central Texas ahead of a strong cold front expected to hit the area late Wednesday night. The advisory is in effect from 3 a.m. Thursday through 6 a.m. Friday.
Meteorologists from the NWS say precipitation will be light — less than a quarter of an inch — but may cause light icing and a possible wintry mix and snow precipitation in some areas.
“I know these events create anxiety and concern for our community and our customers,” said Rudy Garza, interim CEO of CPS Energy, in a call with reporters Wednesday evening. “We do not anticipate any gridrelated outages associated with this winter weather.”
While the cold is expected to move in Wednesday night, the city is opening the warming centers Thursday because officials are concerned about the combination of freezing temperatures, precipitation and possible electric outages, Deputy City Manager María Villagómez said.
The city’s overnight warming centers will open at:
• Garza Community Center, 1450 Mira Vista, 78228
• Harlandale Community Center, 7227 Briar place, 78221
• Hamilton Community Center, 10700 Nacogdoches Road, 78217
• Denver Heights Community Center, 300 Porter Street, 78210
Officials will watch the weather to determine how long they need to keep the warming centers open, Villagómez said. She added the city will observe social distancing between cots and offer masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
People who want to go to a warming center but don’t have transportation can call the city’s 311 line. San Antonio has worked with VIA to ensure transit directly to those locations, Villagómez said.
Pets are also welcome at the warming centers. San Antonio’s Animal Care Services will have kennels, food and supplies available.
In light of the freezing temperatures, Animal Care Services also advised people to bring their pets indoors away from the winter weather. The city department will cite or impound if it sees animals left outside, Villagómez said.
City-operated COVID-19 testing at the Alamodome will continue Thursday, but officials will reassess hours Friday as needed. Community Labs, which contracts with the city for COVID-19 testing, announced it will close its public collection sites Thursday in response to the cold front.
San Antonio will extend the hours of operation for its 311 customer service line. It will be available until 12 a.m. Thursday night and open early at 6 a.m. Friday. But officials said if there’s an emergency, you should still call 911.
Police Chief William Mcmanus said officers are ready to shut down any roadways that ice over, adding that he’s coordinating with the Texas Department of Transportation. “We don’t want the litmus test of when to shut down interchanges to be a first car crash,” Mcmanus said.
Any power outages Thursday through Sunday are more likely to stem from high wind gusts than issues with the electric grid, said Garza, with CPS Energy. The utility will stay in touch with customers through its outage site at outagemap.cpsenergy.com.
The difficulty during last year’s winter storm was that temperatures dropped below freezing and stayed there for several days. CPS doesn’t expect that to be the case in the coming days, Garza said. Daytime temperatures are expected to climb back above freezing with an expected high of 48 on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
CPS has learned in the last year and made changes to better prepare for winter weather, Garza said. That includes a revamped system to handle controlled outages in case they are asked to reduce demand through rolling blackouts — which Garza and others said they don’t expect in the coming days.
“We are in a much different place now than we were back in February,” Garza said.
Officials also began engaging with people experiencing homelessness on Tuesday, Villagómez said, and will continue that outreach through Sunday. The city is working with five nonprofits that have opened temporary overnight shelters, including Haven for Hope.
“We don’t anticipate this event to be what we experienced last year with Uri,” Villagómez said. “Nonetheless, it’s always important to be prepared.”
San Antonio created a winter weather preparedness guide in English and in Spanish accessible online.