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.
Clear Lake Shores had 5″ at 11:55 am. Photo.
I grew up in Clear Lake Shores and I remember a similar snowstorm in 1973. Going off memory my guess would be 3-5” fell in that storm. Actually I think we had 2 significant snows that winter…
Great place to grow up. Used to have plenty of vacant lots and space back then. Not so much anymore..
Yes you are correct. Bush airport received 2 inches on January 11th, 1973 and 1.4 inches just one month later between February 8th and 9th 1973.
I was definitely not alive when this happened but my dad was a young kid in Bay City and he said that they had 1 inch of snowcover on the ground and everybody was tripping out over it. Lol
Yes, we had snow in 1973. Feb 17th to be exact. We got married that evening and family from San Antonio and the Hill Country slid into town that day.
Even now some parts of the Clear Lake area are nice places to live – particularly El Lago and even Taylor Village – if it wasn’t for having to drive I 45 or 225 to get anywhere.
Definitely draining the house tonight, shutting off water at the cut-off, just to be sure. We can deal with 12-16 hours of that. Easy peasy.
Long time no see! Cut mine off last night and will bring it back online tomorrow afternoon when it starts to warm up more. Not going to repeat February 2021!
Yeah, we did that yesterday evening. I wasn’t sure how far in the 20’s it would go this morning or if I’d have a decent window of opportunity to do it today. A bit of inconvenience, but less than the inconvenience of burst pipes. 😏
It’s not going to be that cold long enough to freeze pipes in a house. It might freeze outside faucets not connected to a house. As long as the house remains heated, nothing is going to freeze.
what time tomorrow will the roads be safe? early, midmorning or not until noon? I stayed at the med center last night, trying to see if I need to stay another night to avoid a nasty commute in the morning.
I was surprised how quickly the roads turned to slush in Sugar Land. And judging from the tread marks in our neighborhood, how many people decided to drive somewhere today.
The dog was a little apprehensive of going outside this morning (it was her first snow) but decided she loved it after a couple minutes!
Just under 3″ ~1-1/2 miles SE of 359/ 1093 i N Richmond. Got a photo of my snow er rain gauge.
I was skeptical we’d get much snow in Sugar Land but we got a good few inches and it was lovely. Am kind of sad to see it start slowly melting already lol.
We had 3.5 inches at our house in Bellaire.
Put a ruler in our snow after some already melted this afternoon & it covered a little more than 5” near memorial park. I have photos
Keep in mind that while you might have learned how to drive on snow and ice, many people around here haven’t, or have forgotten how to. Watch out for the other guy! Better yet, work from home again tomorrow if you can.
4 inches near Memorial Park using my unofficial eye-ball-o-meter and largely still not showing significant property damage from broken pipes. The thaw reveals all. Thanks for the great reporting. It helps keep our communities prepared and safe.
I measured 2″ this morning at the Waller-Montgomery County line at Baneberry Road. It has nearly all melted already; just a few patches are left in shady areas. I think our roads will dry out pretty well before it freezes again. But good to know that points south of here may still have icy roads after sunset tonight. Think I’ll stay put at home.
This has really turned into a badass winter. I had completely given up hope that we would have a winter this year with how warm December was. I am pleasantly suprised with the dramatic shift in pattern this month.
not gonna last. Houston is hot and will continue to be hot always Few days of this
Oh yeah I’m sure this will be quickly replaced by record heat in the spring. That’s why I always enjoy the handful of cold days we get in a year.
I enjoyed being outside this afternoon and walking a couple of miles observing the temporary Winter Wonder Land. Really nice and invigorating. Too bad the infrastructure falls apart here when the temperature drops below freezing.
I didn’t measure, but it didn’t seem like that much to me. I could still see patches of grass. It started snowing again late morning and that covered it up. It seemed like we had more in 2021. I hope it melts before tonight. The grass and roofs are still snowy, but the driveway and roads are almost completely melted. I don’t want it to get into the teens like the NWS forecasts. Other weather services predict about 21-24 degrees overnight.
Hey there. In Kemah and I feel like we received 4”. Eep!
About 4″ in Humble (not far from IAH) and loads still outside. Seems like mostly street melted back. House surrounded by forests, so not surprised since they block the sun.
I want my flip flops back please.
I had a little over 4” here in Montrose near West Gray at Woodhead
Greetings from northeast Massachusetts! Welcome to our world; you guys have more on the ground than I do! Enjoy it; it won’t last; we’ve got another 2+ months of this up here in The Frozen North :-(.
I live in League City. One television station showed we got3 inches of snow. I have never seen so much snow. It is 7.30 pm and the grass and ground is still covered . I live in independent living at the Crossings. Thanks so much for your wonderful reports
Sheryl Lane