LOOK BACK: It’s been 2 years since Texas’ devastating winter storm of February 2021

It’s an occasion that these of us round Texas will doubtless bear in mind for the remainder of our lives: The Massive Freeze of February 2021.

And although the reminiscence of the winter storm continues to be very contemporary in our minds, it’s necessary to recollect simply how unprecedented this occasion was for San Antonio and Texas as a complete.

RECORDS ON RECORDS ON RECORDS

The state-wide chilly and snow in February 2021 had been ones for the document books:

• Winter Storm Warnings statewide: For the primary time, in accordance with the Nationwide Climate Service, EVERY county within the state was beneath a Winter Storm Warning by Sunday, Feb. 14.

• -8 levels wind chill: The Austin/San Antonio Nationwide Climate Service issued its first-ever Wind Chill Warning on Feb. 15. On the morning of Feb. 15, San Antonio achieved its second coldest wind chill since data have been saved on this statistic (1947). Based on the data, San Antonio noticed a wind chill of -12 levels in 1949. General, San Antonio has solely seen sub-zero wind chills eight instances since 1947.

• 107.5 hours at or under 33 levels: Beginning on Feb. 12 and persevering with by means of early Feb. 17, San Antonio noticed below-freezing temperatures. Amazingly, this got here up 90 minutes wanting the document of 109 hours under 33 levels in January 1951. That is by far the newest in a season that San Antonio has had such a stretch.

• 4 separate calendar days with measurable snow: That is the primary time in San Antonio’s historical past that we had obtained snow on 4 separate calendar days in a single winter season: Jan. 10 (0.2″), Feb. 14 (1.2″), Feb. 15 (2.5″), and Feb. 18 (2.5″). It ought to be famous that in 1951 we obtained 0.4″ on Jan. 29, a hint on Jan. 30, 0.5″ on Jan. 31, and 0.4″ on Feb. 14.

• third snowiest winter of all time: The winter of 2020-2021 and this winter totaled as much as 6.4″ of snow — the third snowiest ever. Within the winter of 1984-1985, we obtained 15.9″. In 1925-1926, San Antonio noticed 7.4″

• 9-degree low temperature: On the morning of Feb. 15, San Antonio Worldwide Airport dipped to 9 levels, which ties for the eighth coldest temperature of all time. This occurred because the snow was exiting the area and the skies had been clearing.

• 5 document lows in a single week: San Antonio set document lows on Feb. 14, 15, 16, 19, and 20.

• 11.2 inches of snow in Del Rio, most of all time: On Feb. 18, a second spherical of snow introduced 11.2 inches to Del Rio. That is the biggest all-time snowfall, beating the earlier document of 8.7 inches on Jan. 12 and 13 of 1985.

• Two ice occasions and two snow occasions: There’s no document for this stat, however San Antonio noticed basically 4 separate winter climate occasions over the course of every week: The primary spherical of freezing rain was reported in Hill Nation on Feb. 11. Freezing drizzle fell for a lot on the world on Feb. 14, adopted by snow late on the 14 and into the 15. One other spherical of freezing rain fell on the morning of Feb. 17, with a remaining snowfall on Feb. 18. You may wager this received’t occur once more anytime quickly.

• seventh coldest February of all time: February 2021 ranks because the seventh coldest since data have been saved (1885), because of the arctic outbreak. That’s with a number of days within the 70s and one within the 80s earlier than and after the bitter-cold stretch.

ERCOT Energy Grid Failure

That is the half that made the winter storm of February 2021 actually devastating.

Whereas we nonetheless would have seen automotive crashes and lack of agriculture from the chilly, ice, and snow, ERCOT’s failure to maintain the lights on created panic and may even be attributed to deaths as a result of hyperthermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and lack of entry to medical tools.

‘Energy Grid Failure: What Went Fallacious,’ the collaboration between KSAT Explains and KSAT Investigates, examines the February storm and its aftermath. You may watch the particular within the video participant above on-demand.

REMEMBER: Pics from February 2021

Regardless of the catastrophic impacts of the facility grid failure, the snow and ice round San Antonio made for a “winter wonderland.” Listed below are some gorgeous photos from these days two years in the past:

When you’d wish to submit your photos from the February 2021 winter storm, you are able to do so on our KSAT Join web page.