It’s cold this week across The Lone Star State, but it’s nowhere close to the coldest temperatures ever recorded in Texas history. For that, we have to look back to 1899 and 1933.
It’s Cold in Texas But Not as Cold as These Days in 1899 and 1933
In 1899, a cold blast overtook every state in the continental United States. In Texas, that cold blast was so brutal that there was a thin layer of ice that covered Galveston Bay.
Two Coldest Temperatures Ever Recorded in Texas
For that Great Blizzard of 1899, the coldest temperature officially recorded was 23 degrees BELOW zero in Tulia, Texas, south of Amarillo. That record was tied in 1933 when Seminole, southwest of Lubbock, reported a low of 23 degrees below zero.
There was an unofficial report of Wolf Creek, located between Huntsville and Livingston in Deep East Texas, reaching 30 degrees below zero during that cold blast of 1899 (valleycentral.com).
East Texas Low-Temperature Records
During the snowmageddon of 2021, Tyler set a low temperature record of six degrees below zero while Longview set a record of five degrees below zero (KETK). For other cities in Texas, that cold blast of 1899 is still their record low temperature while others set records in the 1900s that still stand.
Record Lows for Texas Cities (weather.gov)
- Abilene, 1947, 9 below zero
- Amarillo, 1899, 16 below zero
- Austin, 1949, 2 below zero
- Beaumont, 1906, 10 degrees
- Brownsville, 1899, 12 degrees
- Corpus Christi, 1899, 11 degrees
- Dallas/Fort Worth, 1899, 8 below zero
- Del Rio, 1989, 10 degrees
- El Paso, 1962, 8 below zero
- Galveston, 1899, 8 degrees
- Houston, 1930 and 1940, 5 degrees
- Lubbock, 1933, 17 below zero
- Midland/Odessa, 1985, 11 below zero
- San Angelo, 1989, 4 below zero
- San Antonio, 1949, 0 degrees
- Waco, 1899 and 1949, 5 below zero
- Wichita Falls, 1947, 12 below zero
Incoming Artic Blast
It’s going to be cold across East Texas this week. We’re going to see lows below freezing through Thursday morning with lows in the teens Wednesday morning. Highs will get into the 30s and 40s through Saturday. Then we’ll be spring-like again by next Monday with highs in the 70s…