Texas Braces for Arctic Blast as Power Grid Anxiety Resurfaces

It’s been quite cold in North Texas lately, but it’s about to get even colder. An arctic blast is expected to arrive later this week and may bring ice and snow with it. This, of course, begs the question as to whether the Texas power grid will hold up during the freeze.

Why Winter Weather Still Makes Texans Nervous

Those of us here in the Lone Star State get quite anxious when winter weather arrives. Who can blame us, though? The grid famously failed during the Great Texas Freeze of 2021, leaving millions of people without power. As a result, more than 200 people lost their lives during the storm.

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What ERCOT Is Saying Ahead of the Arctic Freeze

On Monday (January 19), officials with the grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), sought to ease Texans’ fears, saying the agency "anticipates there will be sufficient generation to meet demand this winter," according to WFAA. That’s great to hear.

The grid has held up fairly well in the years since that crazy winter storm blew in back in 2021. That said, it hasn’t been tested the way it was then. During the unprecedented storm, the entire state was under a winter storm warning, straining the grid in ways it had never been strained before. Let’s hope it doesn’t get that bad again.

TIPS: Here's how you can prepare for power outages

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF

LOOK: The most extreme temperatures in the history of every state

Stacker consulted 2021 data from the NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to illustrate the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.

Keep reading to find out individual state records in alphabetical order.

Gallery Credit: Anuradha Varanasi