Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

The Stephens County Emergency Management office has opened a “Warming Center” at the Stephens County Law Enforcement Center, 210 E. Dyer St., for local residents who need a place to warm up during the ongoing cold snap which moved into the area on Sunday, Jan. 5.

National Weather Service snow predictions

The center will be open 24 hours a day until Saturday, Jan. 11. Anyone needing to take advantage of a warm environment is invited to go to that location.

Currently, the lobby of the LEC will be open to anyone needing to warm up, but David Leonard, the Stephens County Emergency Management Coordinator, said that if necessary, that will be expanded.

“We’re watching the weather; we’re in touch with the National Weather Service on a daily basis. The forecast is changing, but we’re watching it real close, so if it gets real bad and people really need us to expand that warming center, we’ll open up one of the churches,” Leonard said.

In February 2021, Stephens County opened up temporary shelters for local residents who were without power for several days, along with much of the state of Texas, when what was officially named Winter Storm Uri hit the area with sub-zero temperatures, snow and ice. The storm — also often referred to as the “Big Freeze,” “Snowpocalypse” and “Snowmageddon” — and the resulting failure of the Texas power grid was blamed for the deaths of at least 246 people across the state.

Today, Monday, Jan. 6, according to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Breckenridge dropped to a low of 21 degrees shortly before 8 a.m. It reached 38 degrees about 2 p.m. and will likely start to drop again, starting around 5 p.m. The overnight low is expected to be 23 degrees tonight and Tuesday night, with the high on Tuesday and Wednesday forecast at 36 degrees.

Beginning Wednesday night and continuing into Thursday, a snow storm could drop anywhere from 1 to 6 inches of snow in Stephens County, according to the NWS office in Fort Worth. Thursday’s high temperature is predicted to be 32 degrees with snow possibly continuing overnight.

On Friday, the high temperature is forecast at 36 with an overnight low of 19 degrees. Saturday and Sunday are predicted to be sunny and warmer with a high of 44 degrees each day.

A longer-term forecast on The Weather Channel shows highs next week in the 40s and 50s with overnight lows ranging from 29 to 41 degrees.

The Stephens Regional Special Utility District, which provides rural water service in Stephens County, reminded its water customers to take measures to protect their water meters and the water system to prevent freezing. Failure to do so could result in possible high bills and unnecessary water loss within the distribution system.

“During the winter months, meter boxes should be adequately insulated to help prevent possible freezing,” according to information from SRSUD. “To insulate the box, you can put a piece of egg crate foam, insulation, feed sacks, old towels, or similar item, inside the meter box to break the air flow. When the temperature rises, and is expected to remain above freezing for the remainder of the winter, please remove any insulation so the meter can be read and access the meter box for necessary maintenance.”

For more tips to care for your water system, SRSUD provided some additional Winter Preparedness Tips (click here).

The City of Breckenridge also posted some tips to avoid winter fire disasters (click here).

You might be interested in these Breckenridge Texan stories from 2021:

A ride along with Stephens County Judge Michael Roach through the 2021 winter storm (Feb. 18, 2021)

Breckenridge community steps up in winter storm crisis; more cold weather expected (Feb. 15, 2021)

National Guard delivers cases of water to Stephens County for Sunday distribution (Feb. 20, 2021)

From bottled water and hot showers to federal grants and loans, winter storm help is available for Stephens County residents (Feb. 24, 2021)