South Texas experienced frigid temperatures and prolonged hard freezes between Tuesday morning February 1st and Saturday morning February 5th, 2011. A large dome of arctic air plunged southward across South Texas on Tuesday morning February 1st behind a strong cold front. Temperatures plummetted from the 60s and 70s early Tuesday morning into the upper 20s to lowers 30s by Tuesday evening. Arctic high pressure continued to push further south across South Texas between Wednesday February 2nd and Friday February 4th. As a result, widespread record low temperatures occurred between Feb 2 and Feb 5. Most areas averaged between the middle 20s to middle 30s during this entire period. The duration of freezing temperatures for this event was quite remarkable. Although this cold spell was impressive, it ranks well below the cold spells of 1899, 1951, 1983 and 1989. Specifically, the 3-day period ending on February 4th ranks as the 24th coldest for Corpus Christi and the 36th coldest for Victoria. The 3-day period ending on February 3rd was the 26th coldest for the Laredo area.
These very cold temperatures set the stage for one of the more significant ice storms to affect South Texas in recent history. A strong upper level disturbance approached South Texas on Thursday February 3rd. This disturbance along with increasing Gulf moisture above the cold arctic air helped to produce freezing drizzle by early Thursday evening. Since the air at the surface was below freezing, the drizzle instantly froze upon contact. Trees, roads, grassy surfaces, vehicles and rooftops quickly became ice-covered. Freezing drizzle and light freezing rain then continued through all of Thursday night before ending Friday morning. A brief mix of sleet and snow did occur at times during this event across the Brush Country and northern Coastal Bend. However, little to no sleet or snow accumulation was observed during this event. Ice accumulations on the other hand were significant across much of South Texas. Generally 1/4" to 3/8" of ice accumulations occurred across the Coastal Bend and eastern Bursh Country with up to 1/10" ice accumulation across the remainder of South Texas. This amount of ice produced very dangerous driving conditions. As a result, state and local officials closed many of the main roads, highways and bridges across South Texas. Numerous accidents along with multiple injuries were reported. The ice gradually melted during the late morning and afternoon hours on Friday as the temperatures warmed above freezing and as sunshine returned. However, falling ice from bridges and high-tension wires still posed a continuing threat throughout the day on Friday.
| South Texas Ice Storm Photos |
| KCRP Radar Reflectivity beginning at 402 PM CST 2/3/11 and ending at 758 AM CST 2/4/11. |
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
858 AM CST FRI FEB 04 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1223 PM SLEET TELFERNER 28.83N 96.83W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH VICTORIA TX NEWSPAPER
VICTORIA ADVOCATE EMPLOYEE REPORTED SLEET FALLING IN
TELFERNER.
1224 PM SLEET INEZ 28.88N 96.78W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH VICTORIA TX NEWSPAPER
NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEE REPORTED LIGHT SLEET FALLING IN INEZ.
0513 PM FREEZING RAIN CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE NOW FALLING AT NWS OFFICE LOCATED
NEXT TO CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
0544 PM SNOW LAREDO 27.53N 99.49W
02/03/2011 E0.0 INCH WEBB TX PUBLIC
5 REPORTS OF LIGHT SNOW IN LAREDO AND NUEVO LAREDO MEXICO
VIA TWITTER.
0623 PM FREEZING RAIN BISHOP 27.58N 97.80W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH NUECES TX EMERGENCY MNGR
FREEZING DRIZZLE REPORTED IN BISHOP
0627 PM FREEZING RAIN PORT ARANSAS 27.83N 97.08W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH NUECES TX TRAINED SPOTTER
FREEZING DRIZZLE/SLEET REPORTED DURING ENTIRE TRIP
SPOTTER MADE FROM NEAR THE FERRY AT PORT ARANSAS TO
CORPUS CHRISTI.
0640 PM FREEZING RAIN KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH KLEBERG TX CO-OP OBSERVER
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE REPORTED 2 MILE WEST OF KINGSVILLE
NAS. VEHICLES HAVE LIGHT ICE ON THEM.
0719 PM SNOW THREE RIVERS 28.47N 98.18W
02/03/2011 E0.0 INCH LIVE OAK TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
LIGHT SNOW FALLING IN THREE RIVERS
0719 PM FREEZING RAIN GEORGE WEST 28.33N 98.12W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH LIVE OAK TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
FREEZING DRIZZLE REPORTED IN AND AROUND GEORGE WEST
0720 PM FREEZING RAIN BEEVILLE 28.41N 97.75W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH BEE TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
SHERIFF OFFICE REPORTS FREEZING DRIZZLE IN BEEVILLE AND
REPORTS FROM THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY.
0722 PM FREEZING RAIN GOLIAD 28.67N 97.39W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH GOLIAD TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
FREEZING DRIZZLE REPORTED IN GOLIAD.
0723 PM SNOW SAN DIEGO 27.76N 98.24W
02/03/2011 E0.0 INCH DUVAL TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
SNOW MIXING WITH FREEZING DRIZZLE IN SAN DIEGO. BRIDGES
BEGINNING TO BECOME SLICK.
0724 PM SLEET COTULLA 28.44N 99.24W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH LA SALLE TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
SLEET FALLING IN COTULLA WITH NUMEROUS TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
REPORTED.
0726 PM FREEZING RAIN ALICE 27.76N 98.07W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH JIM WELLS TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE REPORTED IN ALICE.
0736 PM FREEZING RAIN KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH KLEBERG TX EMERGENCY MNGR
FREEZING DRIZZLE HAS CREATED NUMEROUS TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
ALONG US 77 NEAR KINGSVILLE.
0736 PM FREEZING RAIN BISHOP 27.58N 97.80W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH NUECES TX EMERGENCY MNGR
NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS REPORTED NEAR THE BRIDGE AT FM60 AND
COUNTY ROAD 67.
0742 PM ICE STORM CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/03/2011 NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
NUMEROUS CARS IN DITCH REPORTED ALONG US44 NEAR CORPUS
CHRISTI AIRPORT.
0742 PM ICE STORM PREMONT 27.36N 98.12W
02/03/2011 JIM WELLS TX DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
TXDOT REPORTS 281 IS GLAZED FROM PREMONT TO JUST NORTH OF
ALICE.
0753 PM ICE STORM LAREDO 27.53N 99.49W
02/03/2011 WEBB TX OTHER FEDERAL
LAREDO PD CLOSING INTERSTATE 35 FROM MILE MARKER 6 INTO
TOWN. MULT ACCIDENTS WITH ICY BRIDGES DUE TO SLEET AND
FREEZING DRIZZLE.
0838 PM FREEZING RAIN VICTORIA 28.82N 96.98W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH VICTORIA TX ASOS
ASOS IS NOW REPORTING LIGHT FREEZING RAIN IN VICTORIA.
0845 PM ICE STORM GOLIAD 28.67N 97.39W
02/03/2011 GOLIAD TX FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
ICE ON ROADWAYS AND BRIDGE. EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WORKING
MULTI VEHICLE MVA AT SA BRIDGE ON HWY 59 W.
0904 PM ICE STORM VICTORIA 28.82N 96.98W
02/03/2011 VICTORIA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
BRIDGES ICING UP IN VICTORIA.
0904 PM FREEZING RAIN PORT LAVACA 28.61N 96.62W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH CALHOUN TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
FREEZING DRIZZLE NOW REPORTED IN PORT LAVACA. ROADS AND
BRIDGES LIKELY TO ICE UP SOON.
0911 PM FREEZING RAIN E VICTORIA 28.82N 96.98W
02/03/2011 E0.00 INCH VICTORIA TX BROADCAST MEDIA
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE REPORTED IN EAST VICTORIA.
SURFACES ARE BECOMING COATED.
0914 PM ICE STORM LAREDO 27.53N 99.49W
02/03/2011 WEBB TX BROADCAST MEDIA
ALL BRIDGES ARE ICY IN LAREDO. I-35 CLOSED DOWNTOWN TO 13
MILE MARKER. LAREDO IS PRIMARILY EXPERIENCING FREEZING
DRIZZLE RATHER THAN SNOW THAT OBSERVATION EQUIPMENT IS
REPORTING. LIGHT SNOW BRIEFLY FELL AROUND 6PM.
0924 PM ICE STORM BISHOP 27.58N 97.80W
02/03/2011 NUECES TX EMERGENCY MNGR
ALL BRIDGES IN AND AROUND BISHOP ARE ICED. TXDOT STARTING
TO SAND BRIDGES.
1007 PM ICE STORM COTULLA 28.44N 99.24W
02/03/2011 LA SALLE TX DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
I-35 CLOSED FROM LAREDO THROUGH ALL OF LA SALLE COUNTY
DUE TO ICE ON ROADS.
1014 PM FREEZING RAIN CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/03/2011 M0.06 INCH NUECES TX OFFICIAL NWS OBS
1/16 INCH OF ICE MEASURED AT NWS OFFICE.
1030 PM ICE STORM 2 E GEORGE WEST 28.33N 98.08W
02/03/2011 LIVE OAK TX BROADCAST MEDIA
*** 1 FATAL, 1 INJ *** PICKUP TRUCK HIT PATCH OF ICE NEAR
BRIDGE AND ROLLED OVER.29 YR OLD MALE KILLED WITH ONE
OTHER OCCUPANT INJURED.
1148 PM ICE STORM CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/03/2011 NUECES TX FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
*** 1 INJ *** CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE DEPT RESPONDED TO 75
INCIDENTS IN A 3 HR PERIOD. NORMAL 24 HR PERIOD IS 100
INCIDENTS. ACCESS TO HOSPITAL FOR PADRE ISL IS ONLY
THROUGH ARANSAS PASS. ACCESS TO FLOUR BLUFF CUT OFF FROM
BOTH DIRECTIONS. SAND CREWS ATTEMPING TO OPEN THE MUD
BRIDGE. MULT INJURIES TONIGHT INCLUDING 10 YR OLD GIRL IN
CRITICAL CONDITION DUE TO WX RELATED MVA.
1156 PM FREEZING RAIN CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/03/2011 M0.10 INCH NUECES TX OFFICIAL NWS OBS
1/10 OF AN INCH OF ICE MEASURED AT NWS OFFICE.
1251 AM ICE STORM PORTLAND 27.88N 97.33W
02/04/2011 SAN PATRICIO TX FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
PORTLAND FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED ICE ACCUMULATION UP TO
AN EIGHTH OF AN INCH ON BUDDY GANEM DRIVE...FM 3239.
0135 AM SLEET COTULLA 28.44N 99.24W
02/04/2011 E0.00 INCH LA SALLE TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
LASALLE COUNTY DISPATCH REPORTED SLEET OCCURRING IN
COTULLA.
0156 AM ICE STORM CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/04/2011 NUECES TX OFFICIAL NWS OBS
ICE ACCUMULATION TO TWO TENTHS OF AN INCH AT NWS OFFICE
AT CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
0436 AM ICE STORM CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
02/04/2011 NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
ICE ACCUMULATION TO 3/8THS OF AN INCH AT NWS OFFICE AT
CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
0615 AM ICE STORM SEADRIFT 28.38N 96.69W
02/04/2011 CALHOUN TX TRAINED SPOTTER
1/4 INCH OF ICE REPORTED IN SEADRIFT...2 BLOCKS FROM SAN
ANTONIO BAY.
0829 AM ICE STORM 4 W FLOUR BLUFF 27.65N 97.37W
02/04/2011 NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
1/4 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION AT NWS EMPLOYEE RESIDENCE
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