2021 Snowmageddon was Bad in Texas but the State has Seen Colder Days

We all remember the 2021 snowmageddon in East Texas. We were locked down under a blanket of frozen white stuff for a solid week. Most of us didn't have power for at least two days, some longer. I've never seen such a collective sigh of relief when we hit 40 degrees the Friday of that week. As miserable as that week was for us and with all the low temperature records that were set, Texas has seen colder days. Let's take a look at some of those temperatures and the records that were set in Tyler and Longview.

Get our free mobile app

Cold Blast of 1899

Personally, I am not a cold weather person. I'm crazy enough to enjoy a 95 to 100 degree day. I like warmth. So yes, I was miserable during snowmageddon. At least I wasn't alive in 1899. That year, a cold blast engulfed 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.

Coldest Temperatures Recorded in Texas

For that Great Blizzard of 1899 in Texas, the coldest temperature officially recorded was 23 degrees BELOW zero in Tulia, 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, reached 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 1900's 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

Be thankful that we're in the 50's for highs this week.