Frozen weekend for Houston

This artic cold has a grip on the entire nation all the way down to south Texas. Temperatures have dropped and overnight lows are expected to stay below freezing throughout the weekend. Saturday's high is expected to rise up to near 40 degrees F which we always considered rather a bit chilly.

Houston under freeze warning until Sunday (Houston Chronicle)

The Arctic blast that has gripped the Houston region and much of the state is expected to send temperatures to 20 degrees or below tonight for much of the region.

The National Weather Service predicts readings to drop to between 17 and 20 degrees over the western two-thirds of Harris County, northern Liberty County, all of Fort Bend County and points north. The record for the date is 19, last tied in 1996.

The region remains under a freeze warning until Sunday morning.

Last night's low at Bush Intercontinental Airport hit 26 degrees, but the wintry weather did not cause widespread icing, although isolated patches have been reported. And at least two Montgomery County fires overnight, neither of which caused serious injuries, are suspected to have started in chimneys.

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Sunny skies are forecast for Saturday when the high temperature will be near 40 degrees. But the overnight low again is forecast to drop to around 20. Again, the record for the date is 19, set in 1976.

A warmup of sorts is forecast for Sunday when the high temperature climbs to the mid-40s and the low will be near 30 degrees. But the frigid air leaves the region by early next week, when the first of two back-to-back low pressure areas arrives.

VIDEO: Bone-chilling cold to stick around all weekend (KHOU)

HOUSTON—As promised, the arctic blast delivered frigid temps to the Houston area.

Friday morning started off in the 20s across Southeast Texas, and 11 News Meteorologist David Paul with the wind chill, it felt even colder than that.