February 2022

General Weather Discussions and Analysis
Cpv17
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walsean1 wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:29 pm I think for the Houston area to get chance at Wintery precipitation, we would need to have our current atmosphere not warm back up into the 60s -70s this week. When the last front arrived, the cooling of the atmosphere took longer which is the reason we dodged major issue when the precipitation started to fall. It would be better if we got 1 cold front before the Feb-12-13 cold front.
I completely agree. A big reason why February 21 was so cold was because prior to that front it was already in the 30’s and 40’s across the area.
Cpv17
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Cromagnum wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:03 pm
jasons2k wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 2:35 am Yep. Already down to 28 here. This event is one for the ages…hopefully it won’t be this cold again for another 10+ years!!
The February '21 freeze was one for the ages. This weekend was a pretty typical cold snap that we see nearly every single winter at least once in Houston.
Yep, I agree with this as well. Usually where I live we get down to the mid 20’s at least once every winter. Got down to 23°F yesterday morning so maybe a tad bit colder than normal but not by much.
Thundersleet
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djmike wrote: Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:34 am Just got notice light wintery precipitation falling Beaumont. Not gonna last long but atleast I can say I got 1-2 pellets. Im not left out . Yayy. Lol 😂
My residence also received light sleet despite the show was very short-lived last night. My mother said the precipitation sounded like rain.
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I could have sworn that is what it was.
Stratton20
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Looking at the valentines day potential system, I just dont see any moisture to work with for that system
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sambucol
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Stratton20 wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:29 am Looking at the valentines day potential system, I just dont see any moisture to work with for that system
I’m more interested in the temps with this system. Will this bring a hard freeze?
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don
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Stratton20 wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:29 am Looking at the valentines day potential system, I just dont see any moisture to work with for that system
The overall setup is a good scenario for snow around here. But you know the drill, it wont be until we're within 5 days or less if we'll know if there will be enough moisture and cold air to work with.Its going to depend on the strength of the trough and how much it digs south and west.If we can get the trough to go negatively tilted that would help also.Reminds me of the December 4th 2009 snowstorm,which was a clipper system similar to what the models are showing now that moved through from the northwest(4 corners region), and was able to pull gulf moisture inland into southeast Texas. Temps were marginal(mid to upper 30s),but evaperative cooling allowed a almost all snow event.Some areas picked up 4+ inches of snow.
Last edited by don on Sun Feb 06, 2022 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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don
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sambucol wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:55 am
Stratton20 wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:29 am Looking at the valentines day potential system, I just dont see any moisture to work with for that system
I’m more interested in the temps with this system. Will this bring a hard freeze?
Its too soon to know, but for now that doesn't seem likely though.Looks like a quick shot of cold air that could last for a couple of days,maybe a light freeze.Of course that can change, but looks like nothing severe at the moment.
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Ptarmigan
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Cpv17 wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:38 pm
walsean1 wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:29 pm I think for the Houston area to get chance at Wintery precipitation, we would need to have our current atmosphere not warm back up into the 60s -70s this week. When the last front arrived, the cooling of the atmosphere took longer which is the reason we dodged major issue when the precipitation started to fall. It would be better if we got 1 cold front before the Feb-12-13 cold front.
I completely agree. A big reason why February 21 was so cold was because prior to that front it was already in the 30’s and 40’s across the area.
Many cold blasts that happened had repeated cold fronts come. Think February 1895, February 1899, January 1940, January 1978, December 1983, December 1989, and February 2021.
Stratton20
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Don that would be awesome! a snow event on valentines would be cool, but yeah its 7 days out, just noticed the global models arent really showing much moisture with this system , hope that changes!
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Ptarmigan
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don wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:58 am
Stratton20 wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:29 am Looking at the valentines day potential system, I just dont see any moisture to work with for that system
The overall setup is a good scenario for snow around here. But you know the drill, it wont be until we're within 5 days or less if we'll know if there will be enough moisture and cold air to work with.Its going to depend on the strength of the trough and how much it digs south and west.If we can get the trough to go negatively tilted that would help also.Reminds me of the December 4th 2009 snowstorm,which was a clipper system similar to what the models are showing now that moved through from the northwest(4 corners region), and was able to pull gulf moisture inland into southeast Texas. Temps were marginal(mid to upper 30s),but evaperative cooling allowed a almost all snow event.Some areas picked up 4+ inches of snow.
It does not have to be freezing cold to snow. It is actually warmer when it snows than after it snows.
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don
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Ptarmigan wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 12:16 pm
don wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:58 am
Stratton20 wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:29 am Looking at the valentines day potential system, I just dont see any moisture to work with for that system
The overall setup is a good scenario for snow around here. But you know the drill, it wont be until we're within 5 days or less if we'll know if there will be enough moisture and cold air to work with.Its going to depend on the strength of the trough and how much it digs south and west.If we can get the trough to go negatively tilted that would help also.Reminds me of the December 4th 2009 snowstorm,which was a clipper system similar to what the models are showing now that moved through from the northwest(4 corners region), and was able to pull gulf moisture inland into southeast Texas. Temps were marginal(mid to upper 30s),but evaperative cooling allowed a almost all snow event.Some areas picked up 4+ inches of snow.
It does not have to be freezing cold to snow. It is actually warmer when it snows than after it snows.
Completely agree, if its too cold then it's also too dry, and makes it harder to get enough moisture.Marginal setups can be better for snow around here, since the warmer air will hold more moisture.A couple of old radar picks from Dec 2009 were you can see just how "juiced" up the atmosphere was.The heavy precip allowed the air column to cool from evaporative cooling.Not saying we will see a repeat but Dec 4th 2009 is a good analog FWIW.
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jasons2k
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Some pics of the backyard freeze damage. Palms are OK.
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sambucol
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Did you cover those plants, Jasons2k?
TexasBreeze
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It is hard to protect plants during a 36 hr plus (depending on location) windy advective type freeze. All of my patio plants are gone now after this one.
davidiowx
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Yep similar situation here with the plants in the ground. They all had a very thing layer of ice on them so it may look worse than what it is. I’ll cut them back to the roots and see what happens..

All my plants in pots/hangers were moved into my garage. A few don’t look happy but they’ll make it. Last year though, everything was dead. Some of my palms didn’t start blooming until August!
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DoctorMu
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Cpv17 wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:40 pm
Cromagnum wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:03 pm
jasons2k wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 2:35 am Yep. Already down to 28 here. This event is one for the ages…hopefully it won’t be this cold again for another 10+ years!!
The February '21 freeze was one for the ages. This weekend was a pretty typical cold snap that we see nearly every single winter at least once in Houston.
Yep, I agree with this as well. Usually where I live we get down to the mid 20’s at least once every winter. Got down to 23°F yesterday morning so maybe a tad bit colder than normal but not by much.
22°F for 2 nights in a row. Weeds dead. Insects dead or hibernating. All is good.

Looks like a sunny, beautiful week ahead. Highs in the 60s, lows in the 30s. My kind of Chamber of Commerce days.
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DoctorMu
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davidiowx wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 6:33 pm Yep similar situation here with the plants in the ground. They all had a very thing layer of ice on them so it may look worse than what it is. I’ll cut them back to the roots and see what happens..

All my plants in pots/hangers were moved into my garage. A few don’t look happy but they’ll make it. Last year though, everything was dead. Some of my palms didn’t start blooming until August!

Yeah, there's a massive difference between 5°F and low 20s at night. Most of the palms up here were crushed last Feb.
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DoctorMu
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jasons2k wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 4:51 pm Some pics of the backyard freeze damage. Palms are OK.
That pretty much looks like every summer and winter in CLL. :lol: Plants dying. At least it hasn't been the trees dying like the drought 10 years ago.

Some beautiful bushes that survived the winter storm last year (layer of ice, snow helped to act as insulation) look like they've bitten the dust. Looks like an upcoming Lowes run.
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sambucol
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TexasBreeze wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 6:03 pm It is hard to protect plants during a 36 hr plus (depending on location) windy advective type freeze. All of my patio plants are gone now after this one.
We covered ours with frost cloths next to the plants and tarp on top of the frost cloths. Including a large garden with producing tomatoes. All of the plants came through this freeze and the one before great. We didn’t go above freezing from Thursday night and all day Friday. Thankfully, nothing died.
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