Austin Animal Services is hosting a free, high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter for cats and dogs now through March 2 in North Austin.

The five-day clinic, which is being held in partnership with Greater Good Charities, is taking place at 11580 Stonehollow Dr., Suite 160. Registration and drop-off begin on-site each day from 7:30-10 a.m. or until capacity is reached.

In addition to free spay/neuter surgeries, pets receiving surgery will also receive vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, and microchips, ensuring that they return home healthier and better protected.

Spaying and neutering is the most effective tool in preventing unplanned litters and reducing the number of stray and surrendered animals entering local shelters. Managing overpopulation helps individual owners and also strengthens community health by reducing roaming animals, easing shelter overcrowding, and decreasing long-term strain on animal welfare resources.

This is the seventh free clinic the city has hosted since 2024. The previous six clinics provided spay/neuter services to more than 6,000 pets. The upcoming clinic is expected to complete approximately 1,200 surgeries in just five days. It is a significant investment in prevention that helps reduce future shelter intake and supports responsible pet ownership across Austin.

High-volume, high-quality spay/neuter clinics offered at no cost are rare, and many pet owners face procedure costs ranging from $75 to several hundred dollars, along with wait times that can stretch for weeks or months. This clinic removes those barriers by providing same-day services at no charge.

“This clinic is about prevention,” said Austin Animal Services Director Monica Dangler. “When we provide accessible spay and neuter services, we’re helping families care for their pets while also reducing strain on shelters like ours and improving safety across our community.”

AUSTIN, Texas — February is typically one of our cooler months in Austin, Texas.

In 2021, a series of ice storms and snow storms caused mass chaos and is a winter storm that Austinites will never forget. Now, instead of worrying about scraping ice off of our cars, we’re grabbing the swimsuits.

Austin is in the midst of one of the warmest February’s in the city’s history. This year’s January cold snap lingered around for Feb. 1, but since then, only two days have been slightly below average. Compare that with 20 days above average, with the rest of this month expected to have temps in the mid to upper 80s.

But how does this compare to our warmest February ever? We don’t have to go back too far to find the hottest February on record in 2017. The average high temp was 76.5 degrees with 12 out of the 28 days spent above 80 degrees.

Other years in the top 5 were 1999, 1976, and 1957 with each year having numerous days above 80 degrees. So far, 2026 has ten. Plus, I’m forecasting 2 more 80 degree days. Should we hold onto this weather pattern, this will be in the top five hottest February’s of all-time.

For some, this heat may be just another day to grab the swimsuit or head outside and work up a sweat, but this has meteorologists sweating for different reasons. We are in a serious drought now.

The latest drought monitor released on Feb. 26, 2026 has 9 of the 13 counties in the CBS Austin viewing area in an “extreme drought,” which is the second worst category of drought conditions.

The latest drought monitor released on Feb. 26, 2026 has 9 of the 13 counties in the CBS Austin viewing area in an “extreme drought,” which is the second worst category of drought conditions. (Graphic: Michael Crowley)

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In the past 190 days, two of those days have had rainfall over 1 inch. Our current streak of 123 days in a row with less than 1 inch in rainfall is one of the longest since 2000.

Combine the heat and the rainless days, and you get a flash drought. Opposite of a flash flood, hot temperatures rapidly dry out the soil and drought conditions can worsen quickly. With the dehydrated vegetation, dry air, and above average temperatures, you’re now looking at dangerous fire weather.

We’ve already had several fires reported across Central Texas in just the past week. The Nebo Mountain Fire in Gillespie County and the Cedar Gulch Fire in Burnet County. With this above average heat and below average precipitation, we are especially vulnerable.

But there is some good news.

The start of March looks to be starting off very warm, but our pattern looks to become a bit more active. Our long-term futurecasts look to be favoring more showers and storms possible for the first few weeks of March.

Remember that we are also getting closer to our severe weather season. So while we do need the rain, we must remain safe in case we get locally high rainfall amounts in these thunderstorms and be mindful of tornadoes and damaging winds.

Hopefully we can see an improvement in this drought and heat, but history is made in different ways every year nowadays. Maybe it’ll be for the right reasons this time around.

Texas retirees on the hunt for the right place to settle down and enjoy their blissful retirement years will find their haven in four Central Texas cities in 2026: Temple, Georgetown, Austin, and Killeen.

A new study conducted by the research team at RetirementLiving.com, “The Best Cities to Retire in Texas,” compared the affordability, safety, livability, and healthcare access for seniors across 31 Texas cities with at least 90,000 residents.

Wichita Falls, about 140 miles northwest of Dallas, claimed the top spot as the No. 1 best place to retire in Texas.

The senior living experts ranked Temple as the 13th best place for retiring Texans to live, and Georgetown was only two spots behind as No. 15.

Temple, located about 70 miles north of Austin, ranked higher than any other Central Texas city due to its affordability, livability, and for its healthcare access for seniors. The city only lacked in the safety category, ranking No. 17 out of all 31 Texas cities on the list. Georgetown, however, ranked as the second-safest Texas city for retirees.

Georgetown is no stranger to making such lists. In 2024, the suburb appeared as the No. 6 best Hill Country town to retire. It’s a highly sought-after suburb for newcomers to the Austin area, and the widely popular grocery chain H-E-B recently opened its third store in the city to accommodate its growth.

Besides enjoying the historic downtown square, retirees can also enjoy visiting the award-winning speakeasy Brass Peacock or upcoming ramen restaurant Haji Moto. Georgetown is also famously known for its iconic Red Poppy Festival and the Two Step Inn country music festival.

Meanwhile, Austin proper ranked as the 24th best Texas city to retire in, and Killeen ranked 25th on the list.

Three Central Texas cities that retirees won’t find on RetirementLiving’s list are Leander, Round Rock, and Pflugerville. These three booming Austin-area suburbs all ranked among the top 100 best places to retire by U.S. News & World Report in 2025, but were excluded from this 2026 list.