Southeast Texas Climate Data --Christmas Day--

...Snowy Weather at Christmastime in Southeast Texas is a Rarity... 

Snowy weather across southeast Texas is a rare phenomenon. Snow does fall from time to time but usually does not last long or accumulate to great depths. The Ghost from Christmas Past has never had to wear snow shoes in Houston. Weather records show that snow has never fallen at the official observation site on December 25. Snow has fallen the week before and the week after the holiday but never on the 25th. The closest the Houston metropolitan area came to a white Christmas occurred on December 22, 1989 when 1.7 inches of snow fell at Intercontinental Airport. On Decmber 22 1929...2.5 inches of snow fell in Houston. Areas north of Houston received a rather large snowfall on December 21-22 1929 with Crockett receiving 10.0 inches of snow and Groveton receiving 9.5 inches of snow. The Ghost of Christmas Past has had to wear galoshes or other rain gear as it rains on Christmas about once every four years. The temperature in Houston typically will reach or fall below 32 degrees about once every 5 years. The coldest Christmas in city history occurred in 1983 when the low temperature plummeted to 11 degrees. The Ghost of Christmas Past was likely wearing sunglasses and sun screen in 1964 when the temperature soared to 82 degrees. The high temperature will reach or exceed 70 degrees about once every five years. 

VICTORIA, Texas -- Residents of Victoria, just off the Gulf Coast, were not dreaming yesterday when they woke up to a white Christmas. They had one -- the first in 86 years.

Almost a foot of snow fell overnight to give Victoria a taste of what the country's midsection has been dealing with the past two days: winter weather.

The last time Victoria saw a measurable amount of snow was 1973, when a tenth of an inch fell. That's the same amount that fell on Christmas 1918, said Tony Merriman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"It's a miracle," said Hailey Koronczok, who was watching the snow fall as she worked at a Denny's. "Everybody's excited and shocked that it is snowing down here."

A few of Koronczok's coworkers, outnumbering their customers 2 to 1 because of the bad weather, ventured outside, wading into what turned out to be knee-high snow in some areas. "Everybody's freaking out," said Megan Gohlke, 22, who gave her own traffic report: no closings or tie-ups, only a stranded car here and there.

And they were not going to be stranded long: Yesterday's forecast called for a fast melt, with highs in the 50s. An arctic front that swept through the Midwest hit Indiana and Kentucky particularly hard, bringing record snowfalls that snarled holiday travel and stopped last-minute Christmas shoppers in their tracks. More than a dozen traffic deaths and thousands of automobile accidents have been attributed to the storm. 
 

Sat Dec 25, 3:08 PM ET 
 

CHICAGO (AFP) - The southern United States was hit by an unusual snowstorm as South Texans woke up to a white Christmas in towns that last saw snow several decades ago.

AFP/Getty Images/File Photo

The town of Brownsville, near the Mexican border, reported 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of snow, the first measurable amount since 1895, according to The Weather Channel. 

The five inches (12.7 centimeters) that dropped on Corpus Christi topped the total accumulation in the Gulf of Mexico town over the past 72 years, while farther north, the town of Victoria was blanketed by 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) of snow, according to the network. 

Other towns had not seen significant amounts of snow in more than 100 years, the cable channel reported. 

"The South Texas storm is extremely unusual," a weather expert told the channel. 

The network showed children sliding down snowy slopes in winter weather that was also expected to hit neighboring Louisiana before moving up to South Carolina. 

The National Weather Service (news - web sites) issued freeze warnings for all of southern Texas and a winter weather advisory for most of southern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi. 

The weather service urged Texans to keep their pets indoors, as temperatures in the snow-covered areas were expected to drop below freezing. 

Weather authorities said residents in parts of Louisiana should stay home and avoid travel until the weather improved later in the day. 

"If you leave the safety of being indoors, you are putting your life at risk," the National Weather Service warned. 

It also asked residents to use heating equipment cautiously, saying more people die from house fires during cold weather in some parts of the state than in tornadoes, lightning and flash floods. 

Several Louisiana bridges closed down due to ice, while the state was expected to be hit by sleet mixed with snow and freezing rain. 

The Weather Channel said parts of Louisiana were going to experience their first frozen precipitation in 50 years. 

Midwestern US states were also covered in snow following Christmas Eve storms that snarled traffic and delayed deliveries of last-minute holiday gifts and cards. 

Despite the delays, the United Parcel Service said it would not be delivering packages on Saturday and Sunday. Service was to resume on Monday

By NATASHA GURAL, Associated Press Writer

Mother Nature delivered a bone-chilling Christmas to much of the nation Saturday, but holiday travelers made it out in droves despite record snow that shut down highways two days earlier in the central states.

AP Photo

South Texas awoke to a rare blanket of snow, when up to 13 inches shattered records for the region. The deep freeze brought Victoria, Texas, its first white Christmas in 86 years and snarled holiday plans for thousands of travelers. 

"It's totally snowed over," Tawnya Evans, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (news - web sites) in Corpus Christi, said Saturday. "It's unusual to see that here." 

"A bunch of people are excited because it's a white Christmas." 

The snow was expected to melt as temperatures warmed into the 30s and 40s throughout Christmas Day, but Evans said some of it could refreeze overnight. 

Conditions on Indiana highways were improving Saturday, two days after a winter storm dumped up to two feet of snow in some areas, followed by subzero temperatures. 

Indiana State Police said Interstate 65 near Seymour was still slick in spots on Saturday, but traffic was moving. They said almost all highways in southern Indiana were still covered by snow or ice. 

The wintry mix caused hours-long delays on I-65 about midway between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky., on Friday, when several semitrailers were jackknifed or stuck. 

Authorities reopened a portion of Interstate 64 from the Illinois state line to Evansville in southwestern Indiana Friday, a day after more than 100 stranded travelers were rescued from their snowbound vehicles, which hampered snow and salt trucks from clearing the highway, police said. 

In Ohio, about 175,000 homes and businesses remained without power — down from 327,000 on Thursday. Some customers might not have electricity restored until Monday, American Electric Power officials said. 

A few small churches in rural areas of south-central Indiana canceled Christmas services, while even more called off Christmas Eve services to keep parishioners off the treacherous roadways. 

Startled New Orleans residents saw snow falling steadily — the first Christmas snow in 50 years and the first time in 15 years the city recorded any snowfall at all. Most of the flakes melted when they hit ground, but cars and lawns showed a modest layer of white. 

Freezing rain, sleet and low temperatures forced Louisiana state police to shut down interstates and state highways on Saturday. Flights out of Louis Armstrong International Airport had to be delayed because airlines ran out of de-icing supplies — a rarely used product in New Orleans. 

The New Orleans mass transit system halted all its buses and streetcars because of sleet and icy streets and rail tracks, spokeswoman Rosalind Cook said. "They're having problems ... with the buses operating and some of our operators are having trouble getting into work," Cook said. 

Still, AAA predicted a record 62 million people, including about 51 million motorists, would be traveling this weekend and next, when New Year's Eve also falls on a weekend. 

"We feel it's attributed to consumer confidence being up and people feeling more comfortable traveling post Sept. 11," national AAA spokeswoman Aymee Ruiz said Saturday. 

Hundreds of passengers traveling to Tampa International Airport late Friday arrived before their luggage, which didn't get in until Christmas Day, spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said. Couriers were trying to deliver about 400 to 600 suitcases that had been stored in the baggage-claim area overnight, she said. The problem mostly affected travelers on Delta Air Lines and US Airways, she said.