Winter Weather Tonight!

All Staff:

ALERT - Winter Weather Expected to Impact Houston Late Thursday Night (1/23/13) and Friday (1/24/14)

 

Hazardous Weather Information

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued the Winter Storm Warning for Harris County to include the City of Houston from9:00pm Thursday night until 12:00pm Friday morning.

NWS forecasts rain will likely start to transition over to freezing rain and sleet around 9pm tonight which is likely to result in the icing of bridges and overpasses overnight and any accumulation may last into mid-day on Friday.

As ice accumulation on bridges and overpasses looks likely, this may result in extremely dangerous travel conditions throughout the metro area.

Temperatures area expected fall below freezing overnight and may not rise above freezing until mid-morning Friday. Wind gusts are expected to be from the north with very dry air which could effect both wind chills and firefighting operations.

With meteorologists predicting freezing temperatures in the near future, we may experience inclement weather and driving conditions (such as snow, sleet, freezing rain, or roads freezing over.

At this time, the City of Houston has not issued any notices or closures for city facilities.  Any decisions regarding this weather will be made as the forecasts become more certain.

• More information is available online at houstontx.gov/emergency.

Stay Safe

As with any inclement weather conditions, please tune in to local news stations to get weather forecasts and road conditions.  For additional information on conditions or possible HPL closings, please contact the emergency hotline at 832-393-1550 or your immediate supervisor.

Please take steps to ensure that you remain safe during this winter weather. This includes:

• Protect yourself from the cold by ensuring that you are properly layered.  This includes protecting hands, face, legs and feet.  Outdoor exercise is not advised during these temperatures, both due to ice and cold.
• Bring pets indoors while these conditions exist.
• Protect exposed outdoor pipes by using commercially-available pipe insulators, or use rags or other cloth to insulate the pipes. You should also open cabinets under sinks in cold areas of your home to ensure that heaters penetrate those areas. Do not leave faucets running, as this can create lower water pressure within the system.
• Cover sensitive plants by covering them with sheets, or bringing them indoors.
• Avoid driving whenever possible during periods of freezing rain. Ice is more likely to form on overpasses and bridges, but can form anywhere a street surface falls below freezing.

Inclement Weather Policies & Procedures 

As a reminder, the following tools are in place for HPL to face Inclement Weather:

• Emergency hotline 832-393-1550
• Intranet:

• Hurricane Preparedness Checklist
• Home Hurricane Preparedness Checklist
• Emergency Management for People with Special Needs
• Library Operations in the Event of an Emergency
• Emergency Preparedness Plan Brochure (electronic)
• Emergency Supplies Checklist

• Emergency Preparedness Plan Brochure
• HPL Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) – you should have a copy of this 20-page 8-1/2 x 11 document
• Tier Assignment / Essential Personnel – you should have the list of essential personnel and tier designations for your group
• Emergency Evacuation Plans/ Fire Marshalls – Each facility has an evacuation plan and at least one Fire Marshall.