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Several thousand residents left without power after blustery night; more bitter cold ahead

Water Tower in City of Bandear
Paul Flahive
Water Tower in City of Bandear

Several thousand residents across the Hill Country and San Antonio lost power after a blustery Thursday night and Friday morning.

Wind gusts up to 30 and 40 miles per hour were in the overnight forecast.

The Bandera Electric Cooperative reported by 1 p.m. it had restored power to the 2,300 customers in Bandera County, 480 in Kendall County, and 496 in Medina County who started Friday morning without power.

Rolling blackouts were reported in Bandera, where the Silver Sage Community Center had been established as a warming center.

The Fredericksburg-based Central Texas Electric Cooperative reported a few hundred outages with the largest concentration in Gillespie County, but virtually all had been repaired by 1 p.m.

By Thursday morning, Texas was already feeling the cold front's strength. The National Weather Service reported that when the front reached Amarillo, temperatures dropped 25 degrees almost immediately.

The Johnson City-based Pedernales Electric Cooperative reported 1,298 meters had lost power, but it too had fixed the vast majority by 1 p.m.

The outages were just a tiny portion of all customers served by the cooperatives.

San Antonio-based CPS Energy reported less than 200 without power at 1 p.m. with one of the largest concentrations in the Castle Hills area.

The National Weather Service reported a hard freeze warning would continue through midday Saturday.

Highs on Friday in San Antonio were expected to inch just above freezing before plunging again after dark.

Winds subsided Friday morning, but the wind chill will continue to sting at times this Christmas weekend. The high on Christmas Day will be around 50, and the last freeze through the next several days will be Christmas night.

The warming trend continues next week. Temperatures will rise into the 70's by the end next week.

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