As the snow fell Friday, many Houstonians were not inside staying warm, but outside enjoying the white stuff. Why not? It certainly is not something we are used to in southeast Texas. Computer models spotted the storm about five days out, and everything pointed to snow. As it turns out, the computers were right and Houston saw a heavy, albeit brief, snowfall. At times, it came down hard, but minus a few areas southwest of town, not much stuck. Temperatures hovered above freezing and the ground was just a bit too warm. This did allow for roads to remain drivable, until skies cleared and temperatures plummeted later Friday night. All in all, it was unprecedented and unusual.

Records: Earliest Measurable Snowfall on Record First Time Two Consecutive Winter Seasons Have Yielded Measurable Snowfall Record Low Temperature (26) Friday Night

The reason these records have not been broken before? It is really rare that cold air, that is deep enough, can make this far south, this early in the season. For snow to fall, the atmosphere has to below freezing all the way through. Many times we will get shallow intrusions of cold air here, which will result in icing, maybe sleet, and more usually just a cold rain. By the time cold air makes here, it has been spread so thin, it usually does not yield snow. A snow pack across the Midwest can often help get cold air further south, but this was not the case on Friday. It was just a deep pocket of cold air straight from Canada, and it made for a brief winter wonderland. Next year, we will see if we can go for three years in a row. Stay tuned!