(The Center Square) – Houstonians, and most in the Gulf region stretching from Galveston to Lake Charles, Louisiana, woke up Tuesday with several inches of snow and subfreezing temperatures.
Houston airports and schools remain closed. Officials are urging residents not to drive and to stay inside.
While the region is well-prepared for hurricanes and flooding, snow and cold temperatures are rarities and snowplows don’t exist.
The National Weather Service has projected up to four inches of snow in Houston, Galveston and other areas, with snow and sleet expected to fall Tuesday afternoon.
A winter storm has hit the Gulf of America – the new name for the Gulf of Mexico designated by President Donald Trump, or the Gulf of Texas, as Gov. Greg Abbott likes to call it.
In Galveston and Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, a blizzard warning is in effect for the first time in recorded history as it is for several parts of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, the NWS says.
“A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds are likely,” it says. “This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay in your vehicle.”
Fox 26 Houston reported: “The Houston area’s amazing snow day has arrived! Overall, accumulations look like they got up to between 2 and 3 inches for the majority of the area with some spots that were a little bit higher.
“Incredibly, Galveston has been experiencing pelting sleet along with some snow with winds gusting above 50 mph! The mixture of wind and snow has also prompted the first ever blizzard warning in history for Beaumont and Port Arthur for Lake Charles and for Lafayette, Louisiana until noon today.”
A weather watch was issued by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state’s grid, saying, “grid conditions are expected to be normal.”
CenterPoint Energy, which provides electricity to most of Houston and the surrounding region, has issued advisories and surged resources to respond to winter impacts. Local officials have also readied emergency personnel and taken other precautionary measures.
The last time the region got a dusting of snow was during subfreezing temperatures brought in by Winter Storm Uri in mid-February 2021. Catastrophic grid failures left more than 2.7 million in Texas without power for more than a week, prompting legislative and regulatory reforms, and resulting in higher energy bills, The Center Square reported.
Unlike four years ago, news reports Tuesday are focused on residents using surfboards, boogie boards and large baking sheets to glide across and “surf” the snow. Others are scooping up an inch of snow to build mini snowmen surrounded by grass.
According to the National Weather Service, Houston has only received roughly one inch or more of snow 11 times since 1920, when records were first kept.
The city reported more than an inch of snowfall on a single day only nine times in the last 129 years, Houston Public Media reported.
The only time in recorded history that Houston has ever had a white Christmas was when it snowed on Christmas Eve in 2004. Brazoria County reported 13 inches; Galveston County, four inches, the Houston Chronical reported.
The most snow ever reported in southeast Texas was during the Valentine Storm of 1895, which swept southeastern states and dumped 20 inches of snow in Houston, Space City Weather reports, pointing to news clippings from the time.
The coldest February on record in Houston was in 1895; January 1978 remains the coldest month on record, according to NWS and historical data.
