Last week, the state of Texas battled through Winter Storm Uri that brought record cold on top of statewide snowfall which resulted in power outages and a lack of water.

“Historic cold impacted the state and region on Monday (Feb. 15) and Tuesday (Feb. 16). Most areas fell below freezing on the afternoon and evening of the 14th and remained below freezing into Wednesday morning (Feb. 17),” reported Jeff Lindner, Director of Hydrologic Operations Division/Meteorologist for Harris County Flood Control District. “The entire state of Texas’ average temperature on 2-16-21 was 3.0 degrees, the coldest it has been since 12-23-1989 when it was 1.3 degrees.”

In Austin County, residents all over the county and around the cities of Bellville, Sealy and Wallis lost power intermittently between Sunday and Thursday, and many suffered water damage due to frozen or burst pipes.

The average low temperature for the winter in Austin County is around 40 degrees but for the better part of last week, the entire region was at or below freezing before the wind chill. The county received anywhere from one to three inches of snow depending upon the area.

Historically, that week of February has seen snow before but it was Valentine’s Day in 1895 when Houston received 20 inches of snow according to the National Weather Service. More recently, on Feb. 17, 1973, snow flurries were seen in the Houston area and 1.4 inches of snow were reported at Houston Intercontinental Airport.

“BUSH IAH tied the record low of 13 (degrees) from 1895,” Lindner reported. “BUSH IAH was below freezing from 6:00 pm (2-14) to 3:00 pm (2-16), or 45 straight hours.”

There was a trio of ice storms that impacted the area in the 2013-2014 winter season and the last time more than a dusting of snow was seen in Austin County was December of 2017.