San Antonio Faces Power Outages And Icy Roads After Storm

San Antonio found itself grappling with the dual challenges of hazardous winter weather and a dramatic highway accident over the weekend, as freezing rain and sleet swept through the city, causing widespread power outages and dangerous driving conditions. The series of events, beginning late Saturday, January 24, 2026, and extending into Sunday and Monday, tested the city’s infrastructure and emergency response systems, but also highlighted the resilience and preparedness of local officials and residents.

According to CPS Energy, the city’s main utility provider, the trouble began in the early hours of Sunday, January 25, 2026, when about 8,000 San Antonio residents lost power due to roughly 60 separate outages reported around 7 a.m. The culprit? Ice-covered tree limbs, weighted down by the previous night’s freezing rain and sleet, crashed onto power lines, disrupting service across the northern part of the city. CPS Energy crews were quick to respond and worked steadily throughout the day to restore electricity. By late afternoon, the number of affected customers had dropped dramatically, with only about 200 people still in the dark across 15 reported outages as of 4:30 p.m., even as temperatures stubbornly refused to rise above freezing.

“CPS Energy crews continue to work across our service area to resolve weather-related outages. One of the primary causes reported by our crews has been ice-covered tree limbs falling onto power lines,” the utility explained in a social media post Sunday morning, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News. Their efforts were aided by bright sunshine, which helped melt some of the icy patches on roads and sidewalks, though the National Weather Service warned that overnight freezes could quickly re-ice any lingering slush, keeping conditions precarious into Monday morning.

Roads throughout the area bore the brunt of the storm’s aftermath. According to local officials, icy conditions forced closures at several key intersections, including Nakoma East and Highway 281, North Loop 1604 and Green Mountain Road, and Martin Luther King Drive and Salado Road. The treacherous surfaces also led to a series of minor crashes, resulting in temporary highway shutdowns. The National Weather Service’s San Antonio/Austin office reiterated the dangers, cautioning that “overnight freezes are possible where there is still any liquid or slush.”

In a notable incident that underscored the risks posed by the icy weather, San Antonio police responded to a dramatic crash just before 8:30 a.m. Saturday, January 24, on the northbound lanes of Interstate 35 near the North New Braunfels Avenue exit. According to a preliminary report by the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), a 29-year-old driver claimed he was “cut off” by another vehicle before losing control of his car and crashing into an overhead traffic sign, knocking it down. Transguide camera footage captured the partially collapsed sign, and the aftermath forced authorities to close the highway for more than five hours. The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but the fate of the other vehicle involved remains unclear, as SAPD’s report did not indicate whether it stayed at the scene. The highway eventually reopened, but the incident served as a stark reminder of the perils of winter driving in Texas.

With temperatures stuck at or below freezing throughout Sunday and expected to dip again overnight into Monday, city leaders took swift action to safeguard vulnerable residents. San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones urged people to stay home ahead of the storm, and it appeared many residents heeded her advice. The usually bustling city was noticeably quiet, with numerous businesses closing or shortening their hours and several events postponed. Schools across the region announced that classes would be canceled on Monday, January 26, due to the lingering hazardous conditions.

Many city facilities and offices followed suit, remaining closed through Monday. These included all Metro Health clinics, Pre-K 4 SA education centers, the Animal Care Services shelter, the Municipal Court, and the City Clerk’s Office. All city meetings scheduled for Monday were canceled as well. However, not everything shut down: police and fire departments, homeless outreach, and other essential services continued to operate as usual, ensuring that critical needs were met despite the weather.

Recognizing the particular threat to those without reliable heat or shelter, city officials opened six “resilience hubs” on Saturday morning. These centers—located at Copernicus Community Center, Gilbert Garza Community Center, Miller’s Pond Community Center, Normoyle Community Center, Northeast Senior Center, and Southside Lions Senior Center—remained open until noon on Monday, January 26. They provided warmth, basic supplies, shelter from the severe cold, access to electricity for device charging, and free WiFi. Residents arriving at these locations were advised to bring clothes, supplies, and necessary medications. For those with pets, kennels were available in a separate area, ensuring that no one had to choose between safety and their animal companions.

Bexar County also shuttered non-essential services on Sunday and Monday, including county, district, and Justice of the Peace courts, as well as all county parks. Court dates and jury duty scheduled for Monday were postponed, with officials promising to reschedule them once conditions improved.

Throughout the ordeal, the National Weather Service maintained an ice storm warning for the Hill Country area through noon Sunday and a winter storm warning for San Antonio itself, forecasting temperatures in the low 30s. The agency also emphasized the importance of checking on vulnerable neighbors, particularly the elderly and those without reliable heat. “We also encourage everyone to check on vulnerable neighbors, particularly the elderly and those without reliable heat,” the agency stated in a news release, as reported by San Antonio Express-News.

Amid these local challenges, Texas as a whole watched the weather with particular anxiety. The memory of the catastrophic winter storm five years ago—which devastated the state’s infrastructure and power grid, resulting in more than 200 fatalities—remained fresh. This time, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which oversees the state’s power supply, reported some outages over the weekend but reassured the public that there had been no widespread disruption as of January 25, 2026.

As the city thawed, the community’s response reflected both hard-earned lessons from past storms and a renewed commitment to looking out for one another. Whether it was the quick work of utility crews, the opening of resilience hubs, or the quiet heroism of neighbors checking in on each other, San Antonio showed once again that, even in the face of ice and adversity, it remains a city defined by resilience and solidarity.