From coastal playground to winter wonderland – by Diane Morey Sitton
Here in Southeast Texas, we don’t hear the words “blizzard conditions” and “extreme cold warning” very often. But this week, they were commonplace as weathermen encouraged residents from Houston to Galveston, from the Piney Woods region of Southeast Texas to Beaumont to the Gulf of Mexico, to bundle up and stay indoors.
It was good advice.
The wind blew, the temperature dropped, and the snow fell, in many cases setting records. Beaumont and the Golden Triangle region reported some 5 to 8 inches of snow, the second heaviest snowfall on record. During the Great Gulf Coast Snowstorm of 1895, some 30 inches of snow blanketed the region, persisting on the ground for 10 days. That record still stands.
Galveston’s heaviest snowfall also occurred in 1895 when the island resort received 15.4 inches of snow. This week, residents of Galveston’s East End Historic District reported a layer of ice covered with 2 to 3 inches of snow.
“It wasn’t as much snow as anticipated, but still, it was a good bit for the island,” says Julie Baker. Julie used tarps to protect the tropicals and other tender plants in her Monet-inspired Victorian garden (see e-gardens October 26, 2023).
“The winds picked up here to around 50 mph,” she says. “It looked like a blizzard while the snow was falling. Our temperature dropped to the low 20s at night and hovered around freezing during the day. The wind chill was brutal because of the high winds.”
Carol and Hank Cornelius report similar conditions at their East End Historical District residence: the ice layer making it too treacherous on Tuesday to descend the long staircase into their seashell-adorned back garden (see e-gardens November 28, 2024). There, everything was blanketed in snow, including the large baskets filled with seashells.
Like Galveston, the Piney Woods region of Southeast Texas received 2-3 inches of snow … a powdery fluff that flew out of trees and off rooftops with each gust of wind. Our challenge here was dealing with the persistent freezing temperatures which dipped to 15 degrees, warmed to just above freezing, then dipped to “hard freeze” status once again. Freezing nighttime temperatures won’t be behind us until at least Saturday. There’s still snow on the ground.
No doubt, the Arctic weather created extra challenges for gardeners and plant lovers throughout Southeast Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast. For some, like Patty Reid of Colmesneil, after she made cold-weather preparations and the snow started to fall, she spent the “beautiful snowy day” by bundling up, venturing outside, taking photos of the snow-blanketed hillside in front of her house, and building a snowman.
Special thanks to Carol and Hank Cornelius, Julie and Brent Baker, and Patty Reid for sharing their snowy garden images.