Snowfall reported in Houston 12/10

[KenMcWatters]

In a historic event, the first snowfall in Houston in 4 years occurred yesterday. The greatest accumulations of up to 2" to 3" were reported in the E and SE regions of the city. Some freeways in these areas were shut down this morning due to residual icing. Per the following story, this snowfall ties the all-time record for the earliest recordest snowfall in Houston - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6156862.html

Snowfall also set records in Beaumont and Lake Charles, LA, per the following public information statement - http://www.srh.noaa.gov/productview.php?pil=PNSLCH

 

[Matt Haworth]

Yeah, we tied the record for the earliest snowfall ever recorded in Houston which was set back on December 10th, 1944.

 

[Scott Overpeck]

We had 1.5 inches here at the NWS office. Actually a wide range of amounts. 2-3 inches in the College Station area and then another band of 4-5 inches in Chambers/Liberty Counties. Snow cover showed up on vis satellite this AM but is all but gone now.

Here's our PNS - http://www.srh.noaa.gov/productview.php?pil=PNSHGX

At my house I probably had closer to 2 inches, good coverage on the car, grass, roof of the house and deck. By morning a lot of the snow had begun to melt. I wonder if we ever actually got below freeze at the surface. The air column was certainly cold/moist enough. We had good lift from the upper low and wet-bulbed down. Most areas stayed around 32-34F. Certainly an interesting day!

 

[Joel Wright]

Wow, that is amazing. Hard to believe just a few months ago a strong hurricane was impacting many of these areas!

 

[MatthewCarman]

New Orleans also received snow. I saw how big this weather system is and it stretches from the North East to the South East with snow on the entire backside. That is something I do not see alot in the wintertime. Usually the south part is all rain.

 

[Scott Overpeck]

FYI - we did an updated PNS (see link above) as we were able to finally get a report of 1.4 inches of snow at Bush Intercontinental (KIAH). Not sure when our climate records will reflect that. It also seems unclear as to whether this was the earliest snow fall for the winter season. It is possible that it sleet or even had hail on Dec 10, 1944 that would be marked down as a trace of snow. But Dec 10, 2008 will certainly go down as the earliest snow fall.

 

[jshields]

yeah, houston and new orleans now have had more snow this year than we have had here in omaha!!

 

[Randall Marable]

Oh and by the way, as a footnote to this thread, yet again, like many events in the past, this snow event managed to somehow miss my neighborhood. Unbelievable.