Texas, Louisiana among states bracing for record cold: Latest forecast

Texas, Louisiana and Missouri are among several states bracing for dangerous, bone-chilling temperatures over the weekend and early next week.

Here are just some of the cities where records could be tied or broken in the coming days:

Saturday:

Billings, Montana

• Forecast: Minus 23 degrees
• Record: Minus 22 degrees

Sheridan, Wyoming

• Forecast: Minus 26 degrees
• Record: Minus 26 degrees

Sunday:

Sioux City, Iowa

• Forecast: Minus 20 degrees
• Record: Minus 20 degrees

Lincoln, Nebraska

• Forecast: Minus 18 degrees
• Record: Minus 18 degrees

Monday:

Kansas City, Missouri

• Forecast: Minus 12 degrees
• Record: Minus 12 degrees

Dallas

• Forecast: 14 degrees
• Record: 15 degrees

Tuesday:

Jonesboro, Arkansas

• Forecast: 6 degrees
• Record: 5 degrees

Austin

• Forecast: 16 degrees
• Record: 19 degrees

Houston

• Forecast: 21 degrees
• Record: 22 degrees

Shreveport, Louisiana

• Forecast: 15 degrees
• Record: 17 degrees

When freezing temperatures struck Texas in February 2021, Texas' electrical grid, run by ERCOT, failed. Millions were without electricity and heat, and more than 200 people died.

ERCOT officials said Thursday that they expect grid conditions to be normal when the wintry weather moves in.

UCLA environmental law professor William Boyd agreed, staying in a statement Thursday, "I don’t expect a repeat of 2021. The Texas state government required and made a substantial investment in weatherizing their power sources, which was big problem across all types of power generation three years ago, from wind power to natural gas plants. The state has also seen a massive increase in storage capacity since then."

Weather latest

The brutal temperatures will be moving in following a storm that's about to strike the Midwest and the South.

As the weather system moves into the Plains on Thursday, winter storm warnings and watches are in effect from Nebraska to Michigan, including the major cities of Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago; and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Snowfall totals could exceed 12 inches in some areas and blizzard conditions are possible during the Friday night rush hour.

Meanwhile, severe weather with the possibility of tornadoes is in the forecast from Thursday night through Friday night for the entire South, from Texas to the Carolinas. The areas that could see severe weather on Thursday evening are just east of Dallas; into Little Rock, Arkansas; Shreveport, Louisiana; and to Jackson, Mississippi.

The storm is expected to move into the Southeast on Friday with the threat of severe weather stretching from Alabama to Florida and into the Carolinas. Major cities in the bull's-eye for tornadoes are Montgomery, Alabama; Macon, Georgia; Columbia, South Carolina; and just east of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Even more rain is headed to the Northeast on Friday night into Saturday morning.

An additional 1 to 2 inches of rainfall is expected, but local amounts of more than 2 inches are possible, which will keep already swollen rivers running high and could cause them to crest again into the major flood stage.