A winter cold snap hit the borderland overnight, and near freezing temperatures will remain through about Wednesday. Wochit
It’s easy to forget it’s winter when you live in the Sun City.
But El Pasoans got a chilly reminder of the season as the winter cold front swept through the region overnight Monday into Tuesday.
Tuesday's high reached about 39 degrees, with an overnight low expected at about 23 degrees.
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That cold blast will stick around through Wednesday, the National Weather Service of El Paso reports. The high temperature is expected to reach 44 degrees, with a low of 30 degrees.
"It's certainly cold here, but we're still on the fringes of the real cold blast," said Dave Hefner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's El Paso-area bureau.
That's because most of the Texas panhandle was in the single digits on Tuesday, with states like Kansas and Nebraska shivering with below zero temperatures, he said.
"The mountains block the cold here rather nicely, not completely, but they help," Hefner said.
More: Flights canceled, schools closed as frigid temps grip Texas
More frigid temperatures and icy roads were reported across Texas, shutting down schools and canceling hundreds of flights Tuesday.
Public schools in Austin, San Antonio and Houston shut down, as did the University of Texas in Austin, Texas State University in San Marcos and Texas A&M University in College Station.
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena, formerly of El Paso, said at least four structural fires were caused by people "using more innovative ways to keep warm and heat their homes." He and other officials advised people use space heaters properly.
Across the state, transportation workers treated roadways with sand and police shut down bridges, overpasses and long stretches of highway.
A handful of flights in and out of Houston and Atlanta were canceled at the El Paso International Airport Tuesday, and officials advise that flyers check with their airlines for more possible cancelations on Wednesday.
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The El Paso forecast for the remainder of the week:
- Wednesday: Partly sunny with a high near 44 degrees and a low around 30 degrees.
- Thursday: Sunny with a high near 55 degrees and a low around 34 degrees.
- Friday: Sunny with a high near 63 degrees and a low around 42 degrees.
- Saturday: Mostly sunny with a high near 62 degrees, with cold wind gusts up to 39 mph. The low will be about 37 degrees.
- Sunday: Sunny with a high near 54 degrees and a low around 31 degrees.
"Hold tight for one more day if you don't like the cold. It'll get better for a few days," Hefner said, recalling the extreme freeze of 2011 when the high temperatures stayed below 20 degrees for a few days in early February. "We won't come close to that."
Cindy Ramirez may be reached at 5646-6151; cramirez@elpasotimes.com; @EPTCindyRamirez on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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