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Snow is a rare sight in Central Texas
With the recent rush of cold air and winter peeking around the corner, the possibility of a huge snow storm in Austin could give you a quizzical look, but it has happened before.
The earliest measurable snow of the season fell in Austin Nov. 14, 1959, with the latest coming March 27, 1930. If you are hoping for a white Christmas, no records have been found with enough snow to measure.
Snow is a rare sight in Central Texas. Putting it into perspective, Austin only accumulated 0.1 inch of snow in Jan. 2014. The largest total since 2000 is slightly less than 2 inches, which fell on Valentine’s Day in 2004. Prior to 1970, some impressive storms rolled through.
Since record keeping began in 1892 for Austin, only four times has snow piled up 6 inches or more in a single storm. The most snow recorded from a storm was 11 inches on Nov. 22-23, 1937.
The National Weather Service notes the largest single-day snowfall was Nov. 11, 1937 with 9.7 inches accumulation. After looking through data from the NWS and weather maps from 1937, snow was not possible that day. Temperatures across Central Texas on the day in question were in the 70s. The Austin History Center also has no photographic evidence of snow on that date.
“In this particular case, there was a summary .pdf file that we had on our website with data that an incorrect amount was placed on that summary,” Steve Smart, Observing Program Leader with the National Weather Service explains. “The correct information still resides at the National Climatic Center, and that’s where we verify the information to be correct.”
It turns out there was an error at the local National Weather Service office. Because of KVUE’s research, the document has been corrected. The National Climatic Data Center holds correct information on every recorded weather event as well as daily observations. This data was used to correct the error.
Whether it’s, autumn, winter, or even spring, historical records have proven snow can fall prior to Thanksgiving and after St. Patrick’s Day.
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