Sleet, ice on tap next week?

In case you hadn't picked up on it, Houstonians aren't accustomed to wintry weather. Anytime the temperature drops below 60, people start pulling out their parkas; if a few snowflakes fall, we all run outside, furiously snapping photos and trying to build snowmen (turns out you can't actually make a snowman out of five snowflakes — but we sure as hell tried). All harmless, right? Sure, until it gets icy — then all bets are off. If you don't believe it, get ready, because you may be able to see for yourself next week when there's a possibility of ice and/or sleet in the area.

This is all related to an arctic front that's headed out way now and should arrive in the city sometime between lunch and dinner Sunday, according to KHOU meteorologist David Paul. According to forecasts, we should see a high Sunday morning or early afternoon of 76, followed by a quick drop in temperatures to the high 30s. On Monday, expect a 50 percent chance of rain and high of 41, and Monday night — that's when the fun may start — the chance of rain sticks around, but the temperature will drop to around 30. The resulting wintry mix could stick around Tuesday as well, when a 50 percent chance of rain and a high in the high 30s are forecast. But this is all speculation, as the National Weather Service notes in a special weather advisory for Southeast Texas: "Considerable uncertainty exists this far out in time regarding locations that will be most at risk of frozen precipitation and times that it might occur, if it even ends up occurring at all," the statement reads.

The risk is enough for the city to start preparing, KHOU reports: Street crews are already loading trucks with crushed limestone to spread on slick streets. "If it freezes, we're going to disperse our trucks, obviously," Eddie Olvero with Houston Public Works told Channel 11. "And we're going to spread the chat rock on the frozen bridges." Five trucks will remain loaded and five will be on standby in case of bad weather, the city said. If there's an emergency truck full of hot chocolate, we hope the city will send it by Houstonist headquarters. That is part of the city's winter weather plan, isn't it?