During the winter, many places experience a snowy spell, where the weather is cold and the ground is covered in a blanket of snow. This snowy spell can be both beautiful and challenging. One way to make the most of the snowy spell is to enjoy winter activities such as snowball fights, building snowmen, or going sledding. These activities can bring joy and excitement to people of all ages, as they provide opportunities to embrace the winter season and the unique experiences it offers. However, a snowy spell can also create difficulties and inconvenience. The accumulation of snow can make it challenging to travel, as roads can become slippery and visibility may be reduced.
The accumulation of snow can make it challenging to travel, as roads can become slippery and visibility may be reduced. This can lead to delays in transportation and potential accidents if proper precautions are not taken. In addition, the snowy spell can also impact daily routines and activities.
Overview
The Winter Outbreak that occurred on Valentine's Week 2021 brought not only snow, sleet, and freezing rain to Southeast Texas, but also extreme cold temperatures that lasted for several days. This was one of the most impactful winter events in recent history that brought multiday road closures, power outages, loss of heat, broken pipes, and other societal impacts for the region. While the damage is still being assessed, this will likely go down as the first billion dollar disaster of 2021 globally, and potentially the most costly weather disaster for the state of Texas in history, surpassing even Hurricane Harvey from 2017.
It all began Wednesday, February 10th when a cold front moved through the area bringing the first surge of cold air into the region. With this cold air in place, lingering precipitation the following day fell as sleet and freezing rain across the northwestern counties. The first Winter Weather Advisory of this prolonged winter event was issued in the morning hours of Thursday, February 11th for Burleson, Brazos, and Madison counties as area roads began to become hazardous from the icy precipitation. This Advisory would end up getting expanded to include Washington and Grimes counties after sunset that evening and continued through Friday morning due to lingering precipitation. While this first taste of winter precipitation was impacting the region, a stronger Arctic cold front was progressing through the country and was expected to reach Southeast Texas late Sunday. On Friday, February 12th, a Winter Storm Watch was issued for the entire region for Sunday in anticipation for the potential snow, sleet, and freezing rain that this Arctic front would bring. A Winter Storm Warning ended up getting issued on Saturday, February 13th for Colorado, Austin, Waller, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Polk counties and for counties north as sleet and freezing rain formed ahead of the approaching cold front. The counties that remained in the Winter Storm Watch ( Jackson, Wharton, Fort Bend, Harris, and Liberty counties and the other counties along the coast) got upgraded to a Warning for Sunday.
As expected, the strong Arctic cold front passed through Southeast Texas on Sunday (Valentine's Day). It served as the turning point from a significant winter storm the preceded the front to the historic winter event that would eventually unfold.
On Sunday, every square inch of Texas was in a Winter Storm Warning. Snow, sleet, and freezing rain began to encroach into Southeast Texas Sunday afternoon, and then increased in coverage and intensity overnight Sunday night into Monday. Thunder snow was reported near the town of Snook, Burleson County Sunday evening, and then thunder sleet occurred near the Brazoria and Galveston counties coastline Sunday night. Roads began to become impassable through the region Sunday evening due to ice and snow and some would not become safe until Friday. Temperatures crashed down Sunday night behind the cold front with much of the area getting down into the teens or single digits with wind chills down into the single digits or even below zero. Because of these conditions, a Hard Freeze Warning and a Wind Chill Warning (the first in our office's history) was in effect Sunday night/Monday morning. A combination of the icy conditions and extreme cold temperatures caused widespread power outages that would last for the next several days. The wintry precipitation continued through Monday morning with storm total snow/sleet accumulations being around trace along the coast, around an inch near the Houston Metro, and up to three to six inches up across the north. The extreme cold temperatures not just persisted through Tuesday morning, but dipped down even colder and produced the coldest morning of the event: the City of Houston went down to 13°F, Galveston down to 20°F, and College Station bottomed out at just 5°F.
Unfortunately, the week wasn't done yet. Another winter storm was anticipated to bring significant freezing rain along and north of Interstate-10 Tuesday night requiring an additional Winter Storm Warning. This new ice accumulation, combined with any refreezing of previous moisture, continued the hazardous road conditions Tuesday evening through the day on Wednesday. Conditions did not improve Wednesday night as lingering precipitation brought snow and sleet to the northern half of the region that lasted through midday Thursday. While the wintry precipitation wound down Thursday evening, the dangerously cold temperatures and hazardous road conditions continued. It wasn't until 9am Saturday morning that the last Hard Freeze Warning would expire for this event.
There was a total of 8 days, 23 hours, and 23 minutes of winter highlights between the first Winter Weather Advisory issued on Thursday, February 11th at 9:37am to when the last Hard Freeze Warning expired at 9am on Saturday, February 20th.
The winter outbreak in February 2021 will be on the minds of every Texan for a very long time.
| Visible satellite imagery from February 15th, 2021 showing snow and ice cover over much of the state of Texas. | Visible satellite imagery from February 19th, 2021 showing snow and ice cover receding to the north. |
| A look at the average temperatures from February 11th-17th | The Great Plains Arctic Blast of 2021 |
Ice Amounts
February 14-15 Storm February 16-17 Storm Here is a list of some of the Ice and Storm ReportsPUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1001 AM CST TUE FEB 16 2021 . UPDATED PRECIPITATION REPORTS FROM FEBRUARY 14-15 WINTER STORM. . FREEZING RAIN REPORTS. LOCATION AMOUNT TIME/DATE LAT/LON . BURLESON COUNTY. 8 WNW SOMERVILLE 0.25 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.40N/96.64W . FORT BEND COUNTY. 2 SW KATY 0.01 IN 0620 PM 02/14 29.78N/95.85W 3 NE BEASLEY 0.01 IN 0636 PM 02/14 29.52N/95.87W . GALVESTON COUNTY. 3 SE BAYOU VISTA 0.01 IN 0915 PM 02/14 29.30N/94.90W . HARRIS COUNTY. 3 ESE KATY 0.01 IN 0542 PM 02/14 29.79N/95.78W 1 ESE HOUSTON 0.01 IN 0727 PM 02/14 29.76N/95.37W . MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 1 WNW MAGNOLIA 0.01 IN 0600 PM 02/14 30.21N/95.76W . SLEET REPORTS. LOCATION AMOUNT TIME/DATE LAT/LON . BRAZORIA COUNTY. 2 NW LAKE JACKSON 0.2 IN 0530 AM 02/15 29.07N/95.47W . FORT BEND COUNTY. 1 WNW TOWN WEST 2.0 IN 0512 AM 02/15 29.67N/95.65W MEADOWS 0.1 IN 1143 AM 02/15 29.65N/95.58W . GALVESTON COUNTY. 1 N KEMAH 0.7 IN 1030 AM 02/15 29.54N/95.02W 4 NE GALVESTON 0.5 IN 0915 AM 02/15 29.27N/94.84W 2 WNW LEAGUE CITY 0.3 IN 0745 AM 02/15 29.49N/95.13W 2 ENE DICKINSON 0.1 IN 0106 AM 02/15 29.46N/95.04W 1 N FRIENDSWOOD 0.1 IN 0955 AM 02/15 29.53N/95.20W . HARRIS COUNTY. 5 WSW BUNKER HILL VILLAGE 4.0 IN 0232 AM 02/15 29.75N/95.61W 4 SW BUNKER HILL VILLAGE 3.0 IN 0832 AM 02/15 29.73N/95.58W 4 SSE HOUSTON 3.0 IN 1020 AM 02/15 29.72N/95.36W 4 SW THE WOODLANDS 2.0 IN 0320 AM 02/15 30.12N/95.54W 3 SW JERSEY VILLAGE 1.5 IN 0832 AM 02/15 29.86N/95.60W 2 SW BELLAIRE 1.2 IN 1020 AM 02/15 29.68N/95.49W 1 WNW KINGWOOD 1.0 IN 0346 AM 02/15 30.06N/95.19W 7 SE TOMBALL 0.6 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.02N/95.54W 1 NNE FRIENDSWOOD 0.5 IN 0725 AM 02/15 29.53N/95.19W 3 WSW BUNKER HILL VILLAGE 0.5 IN 0846 AM 02/15 29.75N/95.57W NASSAU BAY 0.5 IN 1032 AM 02/15 29.55N/95.09W 1 S NASSAU BAY 0.4 IN 0830 AM 02/15 29.54N/95.09W 2 NNW WEBSTER 0.3 IN 0800 AM 02/15 29.55N/95.13W 3 NNW WEBSTER 0.3 IN 1030 AM 02/15 29.57N/95.13W LA PORTE 0.3 IN 1036 AM 02/15 29.67N/95.05W 4 NE PEARLAND 0.3 IN 1127 AM 02/15 29.60N/95.23W 1 E EL LAGO 0.1 IN 0830 AM 02/15 29.57N/95.03W 2 W HOUSTON 0.1 IN 0900 AM 02/15 29.77N/95.42W . MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 6 WNW THE WOODLANDS 1.4 IN 0900 AM 02/15 30.20N/95.57W 6 NNE TOMBALL 1.0 IN 0526 AM 02/15 30.18N/95.59W . WALKER COUNTY. 2 NW HUNTSVILLE 0.3 IN 1000 PM 02/14 30.74N/95.57W . WALLER COUNTY. 7 NNE WALLER 0.3 IN 0922 PM 02/14 30.16N/95.89W . WASHINGTON COUNTY. 1 N BRENHAM 4.0 IN 0920 AM 02/15 30.17N/96.40W . WHARTON COUNTY. 1 W EL CAMPO 0.4 IN 0900 AM 02/15 29.19N/96.29W . SNOWFALL REPORTS. LOCATION AMOUNT TIME/DATE LAT/LON . AUSTIN COUNTY. SEALY 4.2 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.78N/96.16W 1 WNW SAN FELIPE 3.8 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.80N/96.12W 8 SSW BELLVILLE 2.0 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.85N/96.32W 1 ENE BELLVILLE 2.0 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.95N/96.25W BELLVILLE 2.3 IN 0600 AM 02/15 29.95N/96.25W . BRAZOS COUNTY. 1 E COLLEGE STATION 6.0 IN 0930 AM 02/15 30.62N/96.32W 1 WSW COLLEGE STATION 4.0 IN 1000 AM 02/15 30.62N/96.34W 1 WNW WELLBORN 3.5 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.54N/96.33W BRYAN 3.5 IN 0652 AM 02/15 30.67N/96.37W 1 NNE UR089 2.7 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.72N/96.39W 2 S COLLEGE STATION 2.5 IN 0850 AM 02/15 30.59N/96.33W . BURLESON COUNTY. 8 WNW SOMERVILLE 5.9 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.40N/96.64W . CHAMBERS COUNTY. 1 NE ANAHUAC 0.1 IN 0738 AM 02/15 29.77N/94.66W . COLORADO COUNTY. 3 WSW COLUMBUS 3.0 IN 0954 PM 02/15 29.69N/96.60W 5 E WEIMAR 1.5 IN 0845 AM 02/15 29.70N/96.70W . FORT BEND COUNTY. 6 WNW MISSION BEND 1.0 IN 0808 AM 02/15 29.72N/95.76W 1 N PECAN GROVE 0.5 IN 0600 AM 02/15 29.65N/95.73W 2 SW MISSION BEND 0.1 IN 0428 AM 02/15 29.67N/95.69W . GALVESTON COUNTY. 2 ENE DICKINSON 2.0 IN 0750 AM 02/15 29.46N/95.04W 1 WNW BAYOU VISTA 1.5 IN 0800 AM 02/15 29.33N/94.95W 1 SSE JAMAICA BEACH 0.5 IN 0820 AM 02/15 29.18N/94.98W 2 NW DICKINSON 0.3 IN 0800 AM 02/15 29.47N/95.08W 3 NE GALVESTON 0.1 IN 0154 AM 02/15 29.26N/94.86W . GRIMES COUNTY. 10 SSW IOLA 4.5 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.63N/96.14W . HARRIS COUNTY. CYPRESS 3.0 IN 0754 AM 02/15 29.98N/95.68W 1 SE KINGWOOD 3.0 IN 0735 AM 02/15 30.05N/95.18W TOMBALL 3.0 IN 0658 AM 02/15 30.10N/95.61W KATY 2.0 IN 0800 AM 02/15 29.79N/95.82W 1 NW HEDWIG VILLAGE 1.2 IN 1130 AM 02/15 29.79N/95.53W 4 SE CYPRESS 1.0 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.94N/95.63W BELLAIRE 1.0 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.70N/95.47W WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE 0.8 IN 0645 AM 02/15 29.72N/95.44W 4 N MEADOWS 0.8 IN 0714 AM 02/15 29.71N/95.58W 3 E WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE 0.7 IN 0730 AM 02/15 29.72N/95.38W 1 N NASSAU BAY 0.5 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.56N/95.09W 4 NNW NASSAU BAY 0.3 IN 0700 AM 02/15 29.59N/95.11W 2 SE LA PORTE 0.3 IN 0654 AM 02/15 29.65N/95.02W 3 NNW NASSAU BAY 0.2 IN 0816 AM 02/15 29.58N/95.11W . HOUSTON COUNTY. 5 NE LOVELADY 3.8 IN 0800 AM 02/15 31.18N/95.39W 2 NNE CROCKETT 3.6 IN 0930 AM 02/15 31.34N/95.44W . MADISON COUNTY. 5 ENE MADISONVILLE 3.0 IN 0930 AM 02/15 30.97N/95.83W . MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 6 ENE MONTGOMERY 5.0 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.42N/95.61W 3 SW STAGECOACH 3.1 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.11N/95.75W 1 E CONROE 2.5 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.32N/95.46W 4 W STAGECOACH 2.0 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.14N/95.78W 1 S THE WOODLANDS 2.0 IN 0539 AM 02/14 30.14N/95.49W 5 NNW THE WOODLANDS 1.7 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.22N/95.52W . POLK COUNTY. LIVINGSTON 3.0 IN 0600 AM 02/15 30.71N/94.93W 1 WSW ONALASKA 2.5 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.81N/95.12W 5 ENE GOODRICH 1.3 IN 0800 AM 02/15 30.65N/94.87W . TRINITY COUNTY. 5 NW TRINITY 5.1 IN 0700 AM 02/15 31.00N/95.43W 6 ESE GROVETON 3.0 IN 0600 AM 02/15 31.03N/95.04W . WALKER COUNTY. 5 NNW HUNTSVILLE 4.0 IN 0600 AM 02/15 30.78N/95.58W 3 WSW HUNTSVILLE 3.6 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.70N/95.59W 2 NW HUNTSVILLE 3.5 IN 0600 AM 02/15 30.73N/95.57W 7 ESE HUNTSVILLE 3.0 IN 0600 AM 02/15 30.67N/95.44W . WASHINGTON COUNTY. 1 E BRENHAM 2.5 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.16N/96.39W 3 NNW BRENHAM 2.0 IN 0700 AM 02/15 30.20N/96.41W 1 NNE BRENHAM 1.5 IN 0830 AM 02/15 30.18N/96.39W OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURES. WE THANK ALL VOLUNTEER WEATHER OBSERVERS FOR THEIR DEDICATION. NOT ALL DATA LISTED ARE CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.Frigid Temperatures
For example, sidewalks and driveways may need to be cleared of snow to ensure safe passage. This can be time-consuming and physically demanding, especially for older individuals or those with physical limitations. To combat these challenges, many people invest in snow removal equipment such as snow blowers or hire professionals to clear their property. Others may choose to stay indoors and make the most of the snowy spell by cozying up by the fire, enjoying hot chocolate, or engaging in indoor activities such as reading or board games. In conclusion, a snowy spell can be both a delightful and challenging time. The key is to find a balance between embracing the beauty and fun that winter brings while also taking necessary precautions to ensure safety and convenience. Whether it's enjoying outdoor winter activities or finding comfort indoors, each individual can make the most of the snowy spell in their own unique way..
Reviews for "Squeeze Cup Fitness: Winter Workouts for Snowy Spell Staying Active"
1. John - 2/5 - I was really excited to try the Snowy Spell Squeeze Cup, but I was left disappointed. The cup didn't live up to its claims of keeping my drink cold for hours. Within 30 minutes, my drink was already starting to warm up. Additionally, the cup was not leak-proof, resulting in a mess every time I tried to drink from it. I would not recommend this product.
2. Emily - 1/5 - The Snowy Spell Squeeze Cup was a complete waste of money. It leaked everywhere, even when I carefully followed the instructions for proper sealing. The cup also had a strange chemical odor that made me reluctant to drink from it. I ended up throwing it away after just a few uses. Save your money and avoid this product.
3. Sarah - 2/5 - I was really excited about the Snowy Spell Squeeze Cup and its promised magical design. However, the reality fell short. The cup's design was cute, but the material felt cheap and brittle. It cracked easily, and I had to be extra careful while using it. The cup also didn't keep my drink cold for as long as advertised. Overall, not worth the price.
4. David - 2/5 - I was hoping the Snowy Spell Squeeze Cup would be a fun addition to my collection of novelty cups, but it turned out to be quite disappointing. The cup's lid didn't fit snugly, leading to spills whenever I tried to sip from it. The design also started to fade after just a few washes. I wouldn't recommend this cup to anyone looking for durability or functionality.