Texas Power Grid Suffers Huge Outage After Thunderstorms Hit

More than 100,000 homes around Houston, Texas, and the surrounding area were left without power on Friday after a power outage.

The outages are believed to have been caused by poor weather conditions overnight, including thunderstorms and hail.

A spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy, which services the area, told Newsweek: "Following the early morning's severe thunderstorms that impacted communities across the Greater Houston area, CenterPoint Energy continues to assess damage in our service territory, which includes approximately 2.8 million customers, and safely restore power to affected customers as quickly as possible.

"Damage from the strong winds, lightning and rain resulted in electric service interruptions peaking around 1:30 a.m. at approximately 135,000 customers. Crews have been able to safely restore power to more than 100,000 impacted customers overnight. As of 9:30 a.m., approximately 19,225 customers remain impacted."

Context

Storms had been forecast for Houston overnight, with the National Weather Service (NWS) in the area issuing several warnings and statements regarding poor conditions, particularly in coastal areas.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center reported early Friday morning: "Thunderstorms, associated with a wind-damage, hail and isolated tornado threat, will be possible this evening across parts of the Florida Keys. A marginal severe threat is also expected across parts of south Florida and the central to eastern Gulf Coast."

Weather maps provided by the NWS show a storm moving in from the west toward central Houston. The forecaster warned: "Wind gusts up to 50 mph and pea-size hail are possible."

Gulf Coast residents have been warned of dangerous conditions, with waters around Galveston, Texas City and and Surfside Beach under a Special Marine warning until 2:30 a.m. CDT on Friday. Steep waves are expected as the storm passes through the coastal areas.

What We Know

The majority of the outages are in Houston's Greater Metropolitan Area including Pasadena, Bay Town, Cinco Ranch and neighborhoods surrounding George Bush Continental Airport.

Further south, Galveston and Freeport have also suffered a smaller number of power outages.

Of the thousands who have lost power overnight, 43,941 had had their power restored as of 2:28 a.m. on Friday morning. Newsweek has contacted CenterPoint Energy for comment via email outside of normal working hours.

What's Next?

Poor weather conditions in and around Houston are expected to clear throughout Friday, with better weather expected over the weekend, according to Click2Houston Meteorologist Anthony Yanez.

"Storms will move out by sunrise Friday," Yanez said. "Friday starts cloudy then gradually clearing happens with temperatures pushing into the mid 70s. There is still a slight chance for a few showers Friday evening as an upper level low moves out."

While the weather is expected to improve over the weekend, Yanez said Texans have "another chance of strong storms Monday."

Correction 03/22/24 08:13 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a correction to the spelling of Pasadena.

Update 03//22/24 11:59 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy,