From 80 to 30 in a snap

‘Perfect’ weather gives way to freeze in stunning swing

It was a Saturday for snow cones. Aday to feed the ducks, visit the zoo, take a long walk in a big park before winter fell again.

Saturday dawned 72 degrees and got nothing but warmer. By 3:06 p.m., the mercury had hit 81, breaking the record for the day, 80 degrees, set in 1980. And since all of Houston seemingly knew that north winds were pushing down a freezing front on Sunday, the city collectively elected to make the most of the warmth.

Hermann Park was full. Wedding parties posed by the water. Throngs jostled to get into the Houston Zoo. Paddle boats did brisk business. A dad pumped air into stroller tires while his toddler watched impatiently.

Mac McAllister, 25, and Nash Randolph, 26, both in shorts, were trying to squeeze in a game of golf before winter returned.

“Christmas is, what, like seven days away?” said McAllister, pushing his tee into the turf at the second hole of Hermann Park Golf Course. “We wouldn’t be here if it were 30 degrees.”

Mayank Vadher, 35, drove his family west from Beaumont. The night before, he and his wife decided the weather

looked so nice they should take the kids somewhere. Vadher promised his 5-year-old son, Devaj, a trip to the zoo if he finished his pizza. “Beaumont is kind of small,” Vadher said. Devaj wanted to see a crocodile.

Sorry, Devaj. No crocodiles on exhibit at the Houston Zoo.

Dedra Johnson, 46, from Pearland, stood a few inches from Kevin Blackwell, 53, from southeast Houston. They said they came to the park to feed the ducks. But that wasn’t really why, said Johnson.

“Look how perfect and beautiful the weather is,” she said. “In December.”

Amna Salman, 35, and her family snagged a picnic table. Her brother barbecued chicken tikka and burgers. It was her husband’s birthday, and they decided they’d bring their kids to the playground.

“Tomorrow’s going to be freezing,” Salman said.

Everyone knew it wouldn’t last. The snowcovered Canadian mountains have already begun pushing their icy breath south. Winds will howl, and Houston will awake on Sunday to a freeze.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had that kind of swing,” said Patrick Blood, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Some Houstonians may yet brave the day.

“I come out here all the time,” Jonathan Sewell, 39, said while fishing for largemouth bass in McGovern Lake. “If it’s cold. If it’s raining. I love to fish.”

But, for the rest of us, bundle up. Monday, the service said, should be worse: gale winds, a hard freeze, and early morning temperatures as low as 20.