Twice in a lifetime: South Texas snowfall!

Last time, I only saw the aftermath.

This time, I got to see it happen.

Snow!

There hadn’t been snow in a century before 2004, and now twice in less than 20 years? This is crazy.

It started around 9:00 am, and ran for a couple of hours. It was big fluffy flakes that was coming down quite thick at one point.

I asked everyone I saw, “Are we having fun yet?!” Everyone was having fun. Everyone was happy. One student said, “This is the best thing that could have happened during finals!”

There were snowball fights outside the library.

Alas, it dod not last long. After a couple of hours, it had stopped. But there was so much snow on the trees, that as it melted, it sounded like a downpour.

Last time, I made a snowman. This time, I made something different:

A South Texas snow angel!

I can’t believe I got to see snow twice in South Texas during my time there. Today was pretty magical.

I’ve been inside for an hour now, and my fingers are still numb.

Related posts

Something wonderful
After the (snow)fall
Once in a lifetime

Texas ice 2011

Walking home last night:

I realized two things.

1. It was probably a smart move that the university decided to close for the day.
2. I was going to have the only windshield scraper around. Who else but a Canadian would have one in South Texas? I could make a killing lending it out the next morning!

The power went out in my apartment about 10:45 pm. Came back on briefly a while after that, but when I woke up this morning, it was out again. I was curious to see what it was like out, so I put on my winter jacket and headed outside.

The sidewalks and roads were mostly bare, but  there was ice on the grass and the trees.

The Science building was on emergency power only when I went by, so I trundled back home for a while. Power finally came back on at about 10:55 am. By noon, it had turned sunny, and the ice was starting to melt.

I’ve put up a few more selected photos on Flickr.

Analysis of an extreme meterological even in South Texas

If you visit out university website, you will be informed that things are bad. Very bad. Mother Nature has it out for us and is going to try to do us all in:

It must be serious! They’ve put an exclamation point in the “A” and everything!

And look at that graphic! There are snowflakes in it!

I decided that I had to be brave and document this natural disaster. So I went outside and...

...thought it was okay.

But you can see how the freezing temperatures have... have...

...not frozen anything.

Yes, it’s chilly. This is the coldest I’ve been for a few years here. And I understand it may get worse. But I was perplexed by having a meeting this afternoon cancelled “because of the weather.” I’ve lived through severe weather. I know severe weather. This is not severe weather. Yet.

Bizarre moment this morning was seeing someone walking around campus with a scarf wrapped around her face... with her coat unbuttoned. People unclear on the concept?

(I almost sent this post to the JAYFK before I realized there was was no science to speak of.)

The toughest scientists

The Guardian put out a photo gallery of the hardest of hard core scientists. You know, the ones who experiment on themselves and put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of science.

Sadly, this list is incomplete.

For no list of tough scientists can be complete without the man they call... Doctor Popsicle.



Hat tip to Ewan for the Guardian list.

Additional: I didn’t realize that the photo gallery was separate from another article asking to compile a list of the “hardest” 100 scientists. You can see discussions on Twitter (and yes, I nominated Dr. Geisbrech, a.k.a. Dr. Popsicle, to be on the list!)

Once in a lifetime

I've learned from this article this this was the first white Christmas in the Rio Grande Valley ever recorded, and the first measurable snowfall since 1895! I thought there was about an inch, but it was more like 3 inches in some places. Wow... I'm awestruck. While nothing compared to Canadian winter, withing the context of the region, this must ranks up there with the ice storm of 1998 (also here) as the most memorable weather I've encountered as an adult. This one was considerably more pleasant than the ice storm, though!

After the (snow)fall

I was probably up for a good half hour before I looked out the window yesterday. I wonder what my face looked like when I realized what I was looking at.

Snow!?

Not just a dusting, not just frost, but an honest-to-goodness few centimeters of snow covering almost everything. In the tropical Rio Grande Valley? On not just any day, but Christmas morning? I knew the night before, it was cold, the roads were treacherous icy (nobody's prepared for it here), and someone had said something about ice coming down, but I never in my wildest dreams expected there to be snow.

Admittedly, it was melting fast even then, and I soon realized that this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. According to one of the local papers i quoted a couple of days ago, the last measurable amount of snow anywhere in the Rio Grande Valley was 1924. I got dressed, threw on my much-loved-but-seldom-needed leather bomber jacket and my hat from Alice Springs, grabbed my digital camera, and started to walk over to uni.

On the way over, I started to get a little emotional. I'm Canadian, and so snow and Christmas are inextricably linked. I hadn't really been feeling much in holiday spirit for lots of reasons, but no matter how much your rational mind is telling you, "This is just an improbable coincidence of freak weather," the little kid inside is going, "Santa came and brought snow just for me."

(Later in the afternoon, I realized that I don't think I'd seen snow for over five years. I haven't seen any here before yesterday, and I sure didn't see any in Australia.)

I walked around campus and took a lot of high-resolution pictures. I saw a family drive up and get out of their SUV and run around throwing snowballs at each other. I saw some grackles and feral cats that I suspected were mighty confused. I saw the melting snow falling like rain from the tree branches, and even some actual, factual, no kidding, icicles. It was really beautiful, and I felt fortunate to be there to see it. Because I was. And I kept telling the part of my brain that was reminding me of the economic damage caused to crops and the likely number of accidents on the road to shut the hell up.

Partway through my walk around campus, I realized that there was something I just had to do. One last requirement before I walked back home and watched the snow melt from the comfort of the inside of my apartment. I didn't have gloves, so it was chilly work, but definitely worth it to create something that few people will ever have a chance to make or even see.


A Rio Grande Valley snowman.

By mid-afternoon, there was almost no trace that there had been snow at all.

But I'll remember.

Something wonderful

At least it's trying to feel like Christmas...

It is, according to The Weather Channel and The Monitor, 0°C outside. Freezing. I'm not sure I believe it. I see rain, not snow, and no ice on the ground. But it is closer to what I think of as Christmas weather than two days ago, when I wore shorts to uni and back.

As for me, I am enjoying the luxury of working on my grant proposal at home. I don't pretend I'm making great progress, but it is progress.

Chills

Another thing I forgot to mention about Tuesday: autumn arrived! It was the first day that I stepped outside the door and thought I might actually be more comfortable in long pasts instead of shorts. I'm going to enjoy the next few months of less than screaming hot temperatures...

Texas Weather Report

Today's weather: Heat that, when you walk out of an air-conditioned building, sucker punches you behind the head with a sock full of pennies than rolls you for your wallet and leaves you for dead.