Don’t let these sunny, balmy days in December fool you – now is the time to prep for winter weather in Austin.
If you’re new to Texas and moved here because you heard it’s always warm here, I have bad news for you. Our winter weather can be biting cold and because the coldest air doesn’t last that long (a few weeks at the most), and because we don’t typically have lots of snow and ice, our homes aren’t built to withstand more than a few days at a time of freezing weather.
But the last few winters have been very hard for us Central Texans, with almost two weeks of snow, ice, and below-freezing temperatures in February 2021. The brutal storm knocked out our power grid and left millions in our area without heat. Water lines burst, leaving large swaths of our area without water for more than a week. My boys and I had to bundle up a few times to harvest snow from our backyard to pour into our toilets for some flushin’ water.
It was funny but not.
It was a very serious situation that cost almost 250 lives.
In January of this year, 2023, our area had yet another freakish winter storm, coating our area in a thick layer of ice, the weight of which brought down giant trees. An assessment conducted by the Texas A&M Forest Service found that the storm impacted 31% of Austin area’s tree canopy.
Here’s how to prepare for winter weather in Austin to keep you and your family safe and comfortable (this post includes affiliate links through which the author may make a small commission at no additional cost to you):
Wardrobe
Most of the time, a hoodie or sweater will suffice, but there are a few weeks where you’ll want a puffy jacket. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money on this – you’ll literally use it only a few times each winter.
Write your kids’ names inside theirs because they’re going to forget it at school since schools down here crank up the heat so high you could bake a cake in it. (Incidentally, businesses and retail outlets do this, too.)
Some sort of boot would be a smart decision, but it’s not necessary. Some warm socks and tennis shoes are sufficient unless you want to play out in the ice and snow.
You’ll want gloves and a scarf for those weeks in January and February when it’s the coldest.
Shopping List:
- Puffy jacket for you
- Puffy jacket for your kids
- Gloves
- Scarf
- Boots (I personally own these Vionic water repellant boots in black and I LOVE them! They’re warm and VERY walkable)
- Personalized labels
Auto
If you’re new here, consider this your warning: we don’t know how to drive in winter weather in Central Texas. And our Department of Transportation doesn’t have the equipment to clear all the roadways of a bunch of snow and ice. We have a few sand/salt spreaders and that’s it. It’s why everything closes when we get even a “wintery mix.”
If you can, clear out some space in your garage, if you have one, so you can park your car inside when inclement conditions are expected.
Otherwise, you’ll need an ice scraper and some kitty litter or rock salt to sprinkle behind your tires in case it’s icy.
Top up your car with Antifreeze and stay on top of keeping your car gassed-up.
Shopping List:
Home
This is very important, especially if you are new to Texas and have come here from a place that is used to having a real winter. Our homes are built to withstand high temperatures and brutal summers. Not winters.
You absolutely have to cover your outside water spigots and protect inside pipes to keep them from bursting.
Since our nights are already dropping into freezing temperatures, go ahead and put those spigot covers on now and just leave them on until March.
Keep an eye on weather forecasts and if we expect substantially freezing temps, freezing precipitation, and/or the low temperatures are expected to linger for a few days, you’ll need to:
- Prep an indoor space for your pets
- Cover your outdoor plants with landscaping covers or even old towels/blankets
- Turn on your indoor faucets just so they barely drip (especially in rooms that have pipes on an outside wall)
- Have flashlights handy, in case of power outages
- Charge your cell phone
Shopping List
- Pet gate
- Spigot covers
- Plant covers
- Potted plant/small tree covers
- Portable cell phone charger
- Gallon of water for every person in the household
- Non-perishable foods
- Weather stripping for doors
- Flashlight
Pets
At the very minimum, please please please don’t keep your pets outside in freezing weather. You can make them a space inside – even in your garage, if you have some warm bedding in there for them to snuggle into.
If your pets think they’re designer dogs, but they’re really just mutts who haven’t been told the truth, you know they’re going to need some warm clothing just like your human children. I’ve made a shopping list just for these special babies, too.
Shopping List
- Mesh screen “gate” for pets
- More sturdy gate in case your dog is an a-hole
- XL turtleneck for dog
- Small sweater for dog
- Dog booties
Thank you to Georgetown resident, Marissa Russo, for contributing the feature image for this post: a shot of her and her husband, Anthony, snowboarding the wintery slopes of Rancho Sienna in February 2021.
