Let it snow
Wintry weather falls short of city but covers areas to north with up to 6 inches of powder
Winter descended on Texas with a rare dusting of snow that stretched into the central and eastern portions of the state on Sunday, leaving the Houston region soaked and shivering.
Sleet and snow loomed just shy of Houston — where most areas saw at least an inch of rain amid near-freezing temperatures. College Station saw up to 4.5 inches of snow, and 6 inches of powder were reported in parts of Crockett and Madisonville. Waco received more than 3 inches of snow, and Austinites spent the day building snowmen on the Capitol lawn.
Gov. Greg Abbott showed off the
snow at the Governor’s Mansion as a “rare & beautiful sight.”
Power outages hit thousands of homes, with one impacting at least 36,000 Austin residents. Slick roads kept drivers on high alert and forced dozens of school districts to delay or cancel classes Monday.
Police in Bryan — where 4.5 inches had fallen by 9 p.m. — responded to 20 vehicle accidents and five incidents where drivers veered off the road. No serious injuries were reported.
Some found joy in the wintry mess.
Cindy Flores, of Houston, drove her toddler son, Gionni, to College Station to see snow for the first time. Like many families, they stopped outside Santa’s Wonderland along Texas 6 to play in the weird white stuff.
“He loved it,” Flores said. “Itwas just too cold when he was making snowballs with his hands.”
Flores spotted more families pulled over near Navasota to check out the snow.
To the south, sleet that started midmorning in Huntsville, meteorologists said, turned to snow as the day stretched on.
Walker, Brazos, Grimes, Walker, Polk, and San Jacinto counties were under a winter weather warning expected to last through 6 a.m. Monday. Forecasters had predicted 2 to 4 inches of snow in that area.
Butch Davis, Walker County’s emergency management coordinator, counted on one hand the times he has had to prepare Huntsville for snow.
“We’re watching it sleet, and it’s sleeting pretty good,” said Davis, who has worked 16 years with the county agency.
He and his skeleton crew were spending Sunday monitoring the roads and mulling whether Monday will be a snowday — when Sam Houston State University students were expected to return from break. The university later announced it would close campus.
“This is not normal for us,” Davis continued.
The Texas Department of Transportation had treated the stretch of Interstate 45 that runs through Walker County for the possibility of snow and freezing temperatures, Davis said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jimmy Fowler expected a “wintry mix” in northwest Harris County by late Sunday night. The snow was predicted to move completely out of Southeast Texas by midnight. A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 6 a.m. for Montgomery, Waller and Austin counties.
In the Houston-area, Lone Star College said it would delay opening all facilities until 10 a.m. Monday. Conroe ISD said itwould close for the day because of road conditions and anticipated staff shortages. Other Houston-area school district closures include Willis ISD and Livingston ISD.
Some services in Houston came to a halt amid the declining weather. As a precaution, the Houston Health Department closed some of its coronavirus testing sites.
Temperatures in Houston dropped to the high 30s by the afternoon and were anticipated to fall closer to freezing temperatures overnight. Houston police and public officials warned motorists to drive with caution amid the wintry weather.