31 Inches of Snow in SE Texas in 24 Hrs. Yep, it Can Happen!

[Ptarmigan]

Interesting. It would be interesting to see 20 inches of snow right now, like in 1895. When that blizzard happened, there was no El Nino. I wonder what condition happened at the time.

[Jagno]

Terrific history post. I've always wondered what the greatest accumulation has been down here.

Our city comes to a grinding halt with the 1"-2" snowfalls that I've been around for so I cannot fathom the devastation of 20+ inches. Our homes are not built for the cold. Floors and attics are generally not even insulated. Our clothing is not purchased with anything below 48 degrees in mind. Heck, we generally wear nice shorts outfits for Christmas. I've got a ton of Christmas t-shirts and short sleeve sweaters and such but no wools here. I've never seen a sled, snow plow or snow shoes in my life and I'm 45. Geez, it would be bad!

[Bunkertor]

So much snow in the south ? Is that a "normal" developement ?

[Ptarmigan]

So much snow in the south ? Is that a "normal" developement ?

The most most snow after 1895 for Houston was in 1960, when 4.4 inches fell.

[jasons2k]

this is blizzard of 96' snowfall type totals can you imagine what 31 inches would do to Houston .philly got just that a solid 31 inches in the blizzard of 96'

Such a snowfall would be devastating.

I was in Birmingham AL in 1993 for the 16" Superstorm. We lost power for almost a full week, phone for almost two weeks, and cable for three. Withouth power the furnace couldn't come on, so our only heat was the stove and fireplace - we slept downstairs in front of the fire in sleeping bags. It was sorta fun the first night, but after that it was not too pleasant.

Limbs, branches, and even trees were down everywhere. We weren't able to leave the house for two days (downed trees had blocked-off the streets) and the grocery store didn't open for 3 days. We cooked soup and took it to the neighbors.

Houston's pine trees here would bend and snap like hurricane damage and would cause massive propery damage and power outages.

A few inches would be fun, but a blizzard like this would make life miserable for days or even weeks.

[Extremeweatherguy]

I think one of the most amazing statements of the artcle is this one:

In January, 1864, Sergeant H. N. Connor of Spaight's Battalion reported 21 consecutive days of sub-freezing temperatures in Southeast Texas.

Could you imagine 21 days below freezing in SE Texas! Talk about problems. There would be pipes bursting everywhere, all precip. would be frozen, streets would be a mess, the weight of ice on trees/roofs would cause great damage. It would be a disaster!

[richtrav]

The trouble with winter records during the 1860s in the South is that, with no US Army Corps taking official readings, you kind of have to piece together just how cold it was. I know in Brownsville they had about a 4" snowfall in early Jan 1867 and that the minimum recorded was 24F but that comes entirely from the local paper (it also mentioned that that was the worst cold spell in several decades). It wasn't until the 1870s that official records from the Army begain again. It was either Jan 1873 or 1875 that was exceptionally cool, with about a 3-week stretch of temperatures mostly in the 40s.

The Feb 1895 freeze was actually 2 events: a first freeze around the 6th or 7th that brought the lowest temperatures (and destroyed the Florida citrus crop, trees and all), and a 2nd event about 8 days later, not as cold but more prolonged, that brought the extensive snowfall to Texas.

[f5]

we had lots of cold spells but 1899 ohhh weee that was a real doozy

[richtrav]

Yeah 1899 stands head and shoulders above anything ever in the recorded history of Texas (and much of the US), it went well beyond what you might consider a 100-year event. When Dallas is below 0F with "blizzard" conditions by 9pm and Galveston is still in the single digits at noon the next day then you know it's pretty much the end of the world. 1930 and 1989 were half-hearted imitators but neither had the intensity nor massiveness of 1899, let alone a combination of the two. 1835 was incredibly strong in the southeastern US but the scant records from TX back then don't indicate any spectacular cold that year

[f5]

back to the wacky snow in houston what if the amount of snow that fell in Denver fell in Houston think of how the 2 cities would handles it

[Ptarmigan]

The trouble with winter records during the 1860s in the South is that, with no US Army Corps taking official readings, you kind of have to piece together just how cold it was. I know in Brownsville they had about a 4" snowfall in early Jan 1867 and that the minimum recorded was 24F but that comes entirely from the local paper (it also mentioned that that was the worst cold spell in several decades). It wasn't until the 1870s that official records from the Army begain again. It was either Jan 1873 or 1875 that was exceptionally cool, with about a 3-week stretch of temperatures mostly in the 40s.

The Feb 1895 freeze was actually 2 events: a first freeze around the 6th or 7th that brought the lowest temperatures (and destroyed the Florida citrus crop, trees and all), and a 2nd event about 8 days later, not as cold but more prolonged, that brought the extensive snowfall to Texas.

Interesting. Where did you get that information?

[richtrav]

For years up to around 1890 I ordered the microfilm for Ft Brown to get the data (from NCDC? I can't remember, it's been over 10 years ago). After the Weather Bureau started up in Brownsville you'll see data in the Annual Climatological Summary for Texas, which you can see (but not check out) at UT Austin, in one of their historical libraries. You could probably even order the 1895 data online nowadays, it's "recent" enough. If I recall right it seems like some data is missing from Brownsville during the snow event (I want to say it's the high temperatures). I know the lows were 22 in both the 1st and 2nd freezes in February

[JQ Public]

this is blizzard of 96' snowfall type totals can you imagine what 31 inches would do to Houston .philly got just that a solid 31 inches in the blizzard of 96'

Such a snowfall would be devastating.

I was in Birmingham AL in 1993 for the 16" Superstorm. We lost power for almost a full week, phone for almost two weeks, and cable for three. Withouth power the furnace couldn't come on, so our only heat was the stove and fireplace - we slept downstairs in front of the fire in sleeping bags. It was sorta fun the first night, but after that it was not too pleasant.

Limbs, branches, and even trees were down everywhere. We weren't able to leave the house for two days (downed trees had blocked-off the streets) and the grocery store didn't open for 3 days. We cooked soup and took it to the neighbors.

Houston's pine trees here would bend and snap like hurricane damage and would cause massive propery damage and power outages.

A few inches would be fun, but a blizzard like this would make life miserable for days or even weeks.

That is only true for wet snows. The nice powdery kind wouldn't wreak that much havok on your trees and lines etc.

[f5]

this is blizzard of 96' snowfall type totals can you imagine what 31 inches would do to Houston .philly got just that a solid 31 inches in the blizzard of 96'

Such a snowfall would be devastating.

I was in Birmingham AL in 1993 for the 16" Superstorm. We lost power for almost a full week, phone for almost two weeks, and cable for three. Withouth power the furnace couldn't come on, so our only heat was the stove and fireplace - we slept downstairs in front of the fire in sleeping bags. It was sorta fun the first night, but after that it was not too pleasant.

Limbs, branches, and even trees were down everywhere. We weren't able to leave the house for two days (downed trees had blocked-off the streets) and the grocery store didn't open for 3 days. We cooked soup and took it to the neighbors.

Houston's pine trees here would bend and snap like hurricane damage and would cause massive propery damage and power outages.

A few inches would be fun, but a blizzard like this would make life miserable for days or even weeks.

That is only true for wet snows. The nice powdery kind wouldn't wreak that much havok on your trees and lines etc.

it never its cold enough for Utah type snow

[JQ Public]

Our big 20" snow in jan 2000 was like that...nice and powdery. Places just to our south got slammed though