Houston airport operations remain suspended following snowfall

For the first time in nearly four years, residents across Southeast Texas woke up to yards blanketed in snow.

Emergency officials on Tuesday morning urged drivers to stay off the roads as a mix of snow and sleet continued to accumulate. People across Houston took to social media to rejoice in the weather rarity and then headed outside to enjoy a rare heavy snowfall.

“This morning the area is waking up with a mix of precipitation,” said Janet Maldanado, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We have received reports of freezing rain, sleet, but also snow. So some areas, mostly north of I-10, they are seeing mostly snow.”

According to Houston Transtar, roadways and elevated highways stretching all the way from Brazos Valley down to Galveston County were closed as heavy sleet and snow stuck to the roads. A full list of roadways affected by ice accumulation can be found here.

Death related to cold weather

Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies before 11 a.m. Tuesday responded to a Katy parking lot, where a man was discovered dead.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the death, at 307 S. Fry, was likely weather-related. The man was believed to be homeless, Gonzalez said.

Houston Public Media reached out to the sheriff’s office for additional information. It wasn’t immediately clear why the death was believed to be cold-weather related.

Flight operations remain suspended

Flight operations at Houston’s two major airports remain suspended as ice lines the roadways on Tuesday, according to the airports system.

The George Bush Intercontinental Airport and the William P. Hobby Airport are still coordinating with airlines and monitoring weather conditions to reopen as soon as weather permits, according to a post on X.

Please be aware that flights are temporarily suspended due to the weather conditions.

We’re coordinating with airlines and closely monitoring the weather as our dedicated teams work to prepare for a safe resumption of service as soon as the weather permits. pic.twitter.com/k3nj3f9pFR

— Hobby Airport (@HobbyAirport) January 21, 2025

“We’re coordinating with airlines and closely monitoring the weather as our dedicated teams work to prepare for a safe resumption of service as soon as the weather permits,” according to the Hobby Airport.

The flight suspension orders first went into affect around 12 a.m. Tuesday. Snowplows and heavy machinery were deployed at Houston airports to clear the airfield and prepare for a safe return to operations as soon as weather conditions improve.

99 percent of CenterPoint customers have power, company says

CenterPoint Energy around noon Tuesday said that 99.9 percent of customers have power as the historic Winter Storm Enzo continues to push through Southeast Texas.

More than 3,000 CenterPoint frontline workers, contractors and mutual aid personnel were on standby prepared to respond to scattered outages across the 12-county area.

“CenterPoint marshaled thousands of critical resources to prepare for this historic winter weather event that's still impacting the Greater Houston area,” Darin Carroll, a spokesperson for the company said. “While it is very positive that outages remain low at this time, our teams are responding quickly to scattered outages as they occur.”

Thousands of Houston-area residents were out of power on Tuesday morning.

More than 8,500 power outages were reported across Southeast Texas around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday, according to CenterPoint Energy’s power outage tracker map.

Power has been restored to more than 19,000 CenterPoint Energy customers in the past 24 hours.

Mayor John Whitmire announces city will remain closed Wednesday

While speaking on Houston Public Media’s special winter storm coverage, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced that city services will remain closed on Wednesday.

“We have already contacted our human resources department … the municipal court city service will be closed tomorrow,” Whitmire said. “Essential services, first responders, the health department, our mental service center [and] warming centers will be open 24 hours into sometime Thursday. We’re monitoring things very carefully, but yes, city services will be closed tomorrow.”

HEB announces alternative hours due to winter weather

H-E-B representative Lisa Huffman told Houston Public Media that all of the locations in Houston had been opened by Tuesday morning.

"As of 10 a.m., we had 100% of our stores open in the Houston region," Huffman said while speaking to Houston Public Media during its special coverage of the storm. "I will tell you first and foremost safety is our first call, especially with our partners, which is what we call our employees."

As of early Tuesday afternoon, H-E-B said its Houston locations would be closing at 8 p.m. The company has not yet announced when the locations will be opening on Wednesday, but live updates can be found on the H-E-B Newsroom website.

Galveston experiences snow, sleet

Nic Morrow

The City of Galveston opened warming centers after an unprecedented amount of snow and ice was dumped on the island overnight.

“CenterPoint Energy has notified us that they are having load capacity issues, specifically impacting areas west of 61st,” Marissa Barnett, a public information officer for the city said. “They are asking all in Galveston to conserve electricity wherever possible through this event to aid in electricity distribution to the west end.”

There were about 170 meters without power across the island because of isolated issues. Crews are working on addressing outages.

The city at 11 a.m. opened McGuire Dent Recreation Center as a warming and charging center. The City of Jamaica Beach has opened their city hall building for residents seeking warmth.

“This is being done out of an abundance of caution, not out of certainty that power will be lost,” Barnett said. “These centers will be available until the threat of power outages is reduced.”

Houstonians on sleds

Outside of the Miller Outdoor Theatre, eager weather watchers reveled in the snowfall. Patrick Van Pelt and his two children slid down the snowy hillside on sleds as wintry wind whipped across the Texas air early Tuesday.

“There’s something really remarkable walking out your front door and stepping out into snow,” Van Pelt said.

He’s been in the state since 1991— but never recounted a snow incident as significant as this one.

“Nothing like this. It seems like every 10 or 12 years we’ll get some snow but never where I would contemplate going sledding,” Van Pelt said. “I got some snow shoes to walk around in later today, so maybe one day of pure snow fun.”

“I feel great because I grew up up north and when I was a kid, we could just walk outside in winter and there were snow days all the time,” he said. “We tried to order sleds on Amazon and they wouldn’t come in time, so we figured out that eBay would get to us on time.”

Warming centers

Warming centers across Houston remained open as snow continued to fall Tuesday morning. The winter weather also prompted closures of schools, government offices and medical facilities across Southeast Texas.

Speaking live during Houston Public Media’s special winter storm coverage, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said residents should call 311 if they need to be transported to a warming center.

“We have 23 total warming centers and they’re open in collaboration with the City of Houston, with the Harris County Commissioners and with the Red Cross,” Hidalgo said. “Folks can call 311 from anywhere in the county, whether you live in unincorporated Harris County, Cypress, Hockley, etc.”

Hidalgo said that not all warming centers were offering the same services.

“So some are open 24-7, some are open only during the day,” she said. “Some will welcome pets, some don’t have that capacity, some have cots, some don’t. … We did see around 1,100 people across the 23 warming centers last night.”

Here is a rundown of the facilities that are opening in Houston and its surrounding areas, with available resources:

WARMING CENTERS: Here's where you can escape the cold in the Houston area

Stay off the roads, CenterPoint says

Harris County officials and CenterPoint Energy are encouraging people to stay off the roads as the winter storm blankets the Houston area.

“As Winter Storm Enzo continues to make its way through the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint wants to urge our community to heed the calls from city and county leaders to stay off the roads,” a spokesperson said in an email Thursday morning.

CenterPoint has already experienced a car impacting a pole since the snow and ice began, according to the email.

“Cars, trucks, vehicles and power poles are not a good mix,” the company said. “These impacts can cause wires down and power outages. Safety is our top priority, and we urge everyone to use a safety-first mindset. Stay home. Don't drive today.”

The company, which supplies electricity to much of the Houston region, is taking steps to keep the lights and heat on.

RELATED: CenterPoint prepares for possible power outages from winter storm in Houston

1,200 additional mutual aid workers arrived to Houston on Monday at three staging areas to help with potential power restoration efforts. That essentially doubles the company’s response workforce, officials said on Monday.

Matthew Harab and Lucio Vasquez contributed to this report.

This is a developing story.