In brief: This evening’s update celebrates Houston’s first snow day in a long time, when nearly everyone did the right thing and stayed home. With a very cold night on tap we need to hang tight for a little while longer before things warm up on Wednesday.

Houston has a snow day

Y’all did amazing today. The city of Houston, alone, has more than 16,000 miles of roadway. One could drive nearly two-thirds of the way around the world in that distance. Most of those roads were iced over today with snow, sleet, slush or some other wintry mess. And according to the Houston Police Department, there were just 22 accidents today. That’s a testament to all of the people who stayed home, all of the employers who made the painful decision to close their businesses, and every other organization that stood down today. It was a special day, a true snow day, and we’re unlikely to soon forget it.

But we’re not yet done. We need everyone to stay home again this evening, tonight, and early Wednesday morning before we thaw out for real. More on the timing of this below.

How cold tonight?

I would not gamble any money on making a temperature prediction tonight. I believe most of the region will fall into a range of about 18 to 28 degrees, and it will vary widely due to a number of factors, including snow cover. Regardless, it will be the coldest night of the Arctic outbreak we have experienced so far. For reference, temperatures generally fell into the upper 20s on Monday night in Houston. So if you’re worried about pipes, this is the night for maximum preparation.

Timing of Wednesday warm-up

I’ve been watching Houston Transtar’s cameras today, and just before sunset many of the area’s freeways still looked wet. That water is going to freeze tonight. A lot of Houston’s feeder roads and side streets, which got slushy or melted on Tuesday afternoon, are going to freeze tonight. There is a phenomenon known as black ice, which occurs after snow melts on roadways and then re-freezes. This is a thin sheet of ice that, because it is transparent, may not be readily visible to drivers.

All of that to say, some of Houston’s roads may have dried up today. But many of them did not, and they will be slick tonight and on Wednesday morning. For your safety, it would really be best to preclude any travel tomorrow before late-morning. Some time between 10 am and noon air temperatures will rise above freezing, and in concert with sunny skies this should act to fairly quickly melt remaining ice on Houston’s roads.

Mobility around Houston should rapidly improve during the afternoon hours on Wednesday, with high temperatures climbing into the 40s.

Our next update will come at the usual time, on Wednesday morning. Stay warm, y’all. We’re almost through this!

Historic snowfalls don’t occur often in Houston, so when they do you want to capture memories of them. With that in mind, we’re offering up images posted to our feeds on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, along with others sent directly to us. For videos check our #housnow2025 Instagram story.

As Matt wrote in his post earlier today, we’ll get official numbers from National Weather Service tomorrow, but based on what we’ve seen in our social feeds, the amount that fell was all over the map. But in the absence of formal numbers, we’ll crowdsource some measures posted by folks sticking rulers in the snow. It’s a trend!

Temperatures are supposed to plummet again tonight, causing what’s melted Tuesday afternoon to freeze as ice. That will make travel even more hazardous than it was this morning. We’ll have an update on what comes next later tonight.

In brief: Sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures in Houston this afternoon will allow for substantial melting of snow in the area, but very cold temperatures tonight will allow for a refreeze to take place, likely creating very hazardous driving conditions, possibly worse than today. But melting will resume after mid-morning Wednesday, and a top tier Houston snow event will fade into the history books.

Well, you did it Houston! You have witnessed one of the largest snowstorms in our history. We will await official numbers and do a rundown for you on that tomorrow. As of 10 AM, Hobby Airport had recorded 3″ of snow, making it the third largest snow on record there (fourth if you count the unrecorded 1895 storm). Officially at Bush Airport, it would probably be a top 10 storm, but exactly where it falls I’m not sure. Here on the border of Houston and West U, I can state we got 4 inches. Eric down near League City saw about 2 inches.

From the map, you can see that there was clearly a band from about Bellaire through Liberty County to just north of Beaumont and another from Bolivar into Sabine Pass. Those tended to be the champions of the storm. Vidor near Beaumont saw 6 inches, Baytown about 5.5 inches, and El Lago over 4 inches. Lake Charles ended up just shy of 5 inches, the third biggest snow on record there. The Atchafalaya in Louisiana was particularly hard hit with Lafayette’s 8 inches their biggest snow since the great 1895 storm. Rayne, which set the Louisiana state record in the 1895 storm with 24 inches saw 10.5 inches this time. New Orleans only saw 4 inches officially, but it makes it the largest modern snowstorm there on record.

We’ll have a full photo roundup coming soon. In the meantime, get your fix and follow us on our Instagram page.

Alright, so what now?

First, the sun’s out. Enjoy the snow while we have it. The Houston sun angle will go to work on this. Expect to see a good bit of melting today, especially on the roads and solid surfaces. Snow will melt less aggressively on the grass, so you’ll likely still get some time to play tomorrow morning. The big melt starting this afternoon will cause us problems tonight. All that muck on the roads is going to refreeze. And that may occur as early as 7 or 8 PM. It’s possible that road conditions may be worse tonight than they have been today due to ice. So use extreme caution if you have to go out tonight. Especially as temps drop into the 20s area-wide.

How cold will it get? Admittedly, models have tended to overforecast cold in recent cold snaps. In other words, they’ve gone too cold relative to what we actually saw. This may be different, however. With fresh snow on the ground in much of the area, that gives a “power-up” to cold conditions. Basically, if you have little snowpack left after today, expect lows in the 20s. If you have your ground mostly covered still, expect teens. The lows will vary widely across the area. An extreme cold warning is in effect for the region, underscoring that this won’t be anywhere near normal for us. Implement your maximum cold weather protection plans for pipes, plants, pets, and people tonight.

Temperatures rebound to the 40s tomorrow afternoon, and that should melt most of the rest of the snow except in shaded areas. Thursday morning’s commute may still feature patchy ice, but it will be navigable. Just use caution. Look for our photo roundup a little later today and our regular update in the morning.

In brief: A winter storm has brought a mixture of precipitation to Houston overnight, including snow and sleet. This wintry precipitation will end later this morning, and we will see some sunshine and above-freezing temperatures this afternoon before a very cold night.

Storm status

The Houston region has received a mix of snow, sleet, and other forms of wintry precipitation during the overnight hours, setting up slick conditions on Houston area roadways. Total snow amounts have varied widely, from a fine dusting of ice and sleet in some locations to 3 inches or more elsewhere.

Additionally, it is quite cold outside this morning. Air temperatures are generally in the mid- to upper-20s for most of the Houston region. However the addition of brisk northerly winds, gusting up to 25 or even 30 mph from the north, have made it feel like it is in the teens outside.

With temperatures now well below freezing for much of Houston, what is falling is largely sticking to area roadways that have been untreated with salt. There are dozens of reports of ice on area freeways, feeders, and major roadways, some of which are shut down. You can track an list of Houston-area icy roadways on Houston Transtar.

In short, for some areas it is a winder wonderland outside, for some a sleet-fest, and for all a dangerous time to be outside. Please do stay home this morning if it is at all possible.

Tuesday

The latest modeling indicates that the precipitation we are seeing this morning will exit to the east by 9 or 10 am CT. We should then see some clearing skies early this afternoon across Houston, including the coast by later this afternoon. This sunshine should push temperatures toward the upper 30s, allowing for some of the ice and snow on the surface to melt.

Additionally, the combination of sunshine and windy conditions (from the north at about 15 mph) should begin the process of sublimation. Sublimation occurs when snow transitions directly into water vapor, without first becoming liquid water. I’m writing all of this because it is possible that some roads will become clear and dry this afternoon, especially for locations further from the coast where there will be a longer period of sunshine to work with.

This matters because temperatures are going to freeze again tonight. So if there is moisture on roads, it will freeze into ice tonight, and into Wednesday morning. This could lead to black ice or situations in which there are patches of icy, dangerous roads tonight.

The temperature tonight at your location will depend on how much snow cover remains. That’s because new snow has a very high albedo (up to 0.95 out of 1), which means it is highly reflective of heat (radiation) back into space. So locations where there is a snowpack tonight will be 5 or 10 degrees cooler than areas with “darker” surfaces not covered by snow.

Over the last couple of days we have watched as forecast models have really struggled with how cold temperatures will get in the Houston region on Wednesday morning. As a best guess, areas with a layer of snow may drop into the mid-teens tonight, and areas with less or no snow are likely to only fall into the mid-20s or so. My sense is that most of Houston probably will end up in the lower 20s, but we shall see.

Wednesday

After a cold start, high temperatures on Wednesday are expected to reach 40 degrees or even a little warmer under sunny skies. The combination of mostly sunny skies and sublimation should allow for roads to mostly dry out, but for some locations this may not happen until after noon. I realize the uncertainty is no fun, but such snow and ice events are relatively rare in Houston, so we are working on limited data about local roads and their response to icy conditions. Most of Houston will fall into the upper 20s on Wednesday night.

Thursday

A little warmer, with highs generally in the upper 40s to go along with mostly sunny skies. A light freeze is likely Thursday night.

Friday

Expect more sunshine, with highs in the 50s. Some inland areas may see a light freeze on Friday night, but most of us should be in the mid- to upper-30s.

Saturday and Sunday

Expect highs in the 60s this weekend, with nights only in the 50s as a warmer pattern returns. Saturday looks OK for outdoor activities, but rain chances start to increase by Sunday into next week.

Update schedule

We will have an update for you early this afternoon, by 2:30 pm CT, and again this evening to offer the best possible forecast for temperatures and roadways on Wednesday morning.