Houston freeze 2022: Weather forecast as arctic blast heads for Southeast Texas

HOUSTON - A major arctic blast is on the way to Southeast Texas leading into the Christmas holiday! You may be thinking that this will be like the Big Freeze of February 2021.

It will be almost as cold, but the subfreezing temperatures are not expected to last as long. Another difference will be the lack of precipitation expected this time around.

MORE: Harris Co. leaders urge people to prepare for dangerous cold, optimistic there won't be issues

There's only a 10% chance of a shower Thursday instead of widespread sleet, ice and snow we experienced during the 2021 event. We will however have to deal with around 36-44 hours of temperatures below freezing from Thursday night until Saturday morning.

A Hard Freeze Warning is now in effect for SE Texas from 6 p.m. Thursday until noon Saturday.

A Wind Advisory is in effect from noon on Thursday to midnight Thursday night inland, but until noon Friday along the coast.

Wind Chill Warning is in effect from 6 p.m. Thursday to noon Friday. Thursday's arctic front will bring in some strong wind gusts near 40 mph at times. This could lead to scattered power outages due to the strong wind late Thursday into early Friday.

Hi Barbi, you can get the 3 warning/advisory graphics from my article above. Everything looks good with what you had for warnings.

MORE: Tracking the Texas power grid

Strong wind will also mean dangerous Wind Chill values near or just below zero Thursday night and Friday.

Make plans to try to cover as much of your exposed skin as possible to avoid any chance of frostbite and hypothermia. Widespread hard freezes are likely Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday night.

So make sure you are winterizing your home and making plans to protect the 4 Ps...People, Plants, Pets & Pipes. Temperatures will gradually get warmer with above freezing temperatures expected Saturday afternoon in the upper 30s.

MORE: Contractor advises Houstonians turn off water completely and drain pipes, instead of insulating pipes

We will warm another 10 degrees by Christmas afternoon with temperatures in the upper 40s. At least we do get to enjoy lots of sunshine for the Christmas holiday weekend Friday through Sunday.