Here Are Some of the Craziest Things We've Seen in This Historic Winter Weather Pattern

 Chris Dolce

Published: February 15, 2021

An extreme, and in some cases historic, winter weather pattern has brought snow and sleet all the way to the Gulf Coast and the coldest temperatures in decades to some areas.

Here's a look at some of the most eye-popping things we've seen since Sunday.

Winter Storm Warning For All of Texas

The entire state of Texas was under a winter storm warning on Sunday afternoon.

While not uncommon for places like the Texas Panhandle, a winter storm warning is a rare event for areas along the Gulf Coast southward to Brownsville.

NBC5 senior meteorologist David Finfrock tweeted that it was the first time in his 45 years of covering Texas weather that he could recall all 254 counties in the state being in a winter storm warning.

Winter storm warnings on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021, are shaded in pink.

Snow on a Texas Beach

Thunder accompanied snow and sleet in Galveston, Texas, on Monday morning, leaving the sandy beach a blanket of white.

The Galveston airport had its first official measurable snow since Dec. 10, 2008.

Thundersnow Six Months After Category 4 Laura

Thunder also accompanied snow and sleet in Lake Charles, Louisiana, less than six months after the city went through the eye of Category 4 Hurricane Laura.

Between 1895 and 2010, Lake Charles had measurable snow on average about once every six to seven years, according to the National Weather Service. The last occurrence was Dec. 4, 2009.

Coldest in Decades

Oklahoma City, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston all had their coldest temperatures since December 1989 on Monday morning. The temperature in those cities dropped to minus 6 degrees, 5 degrees above zero, and 17 degrees above zero, respectively.

North Platte, Nebraska, also had its coldest temperature since December 1989 on Monday morning with a low of minus 29 degrees.

Kansas City International Airport reported a wind chill of minus 32 degrees on Monday morning. That's the lowest wind chill there since Dec. 23, 1989, according to the National Weather Service.

Oklahoma City's wind chill of minus 29 degrees Monday morning tied a record last set in 1947.

Wind Chill Alerts From Texas to Mexico

The expanse of the cold could be seen in wind chill alerts from the NWS on Monday morning.

Wind chill warnings extended from the Canadian border in Minnesota and North Dakota to the Mexico border in Texas.

The criteria for when a wind chill warning is issued varies for these locations.

For example, the wind chill warning in North Dakota called for temperatures to feel as cold as minus 50 degrees on exposed skin. Wind chills in South Texas were forecast to be 5 to 15 degrees.

Wind chill alerts on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021.

All-Time Record Snowfall

Sunday was the snowiest single calendar day on record in both Abilene and San Angelo, Texas.

Abilene picked up 14.8 inches of snow, the most for any day dating to 1885 in the city.

San Angelo's record-breaking total was 10.1 inches; The city also tied its all-time second-coldest low temperature on record Monday morning with a low of minus 1.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.