Beating last year's record-earliest snow by over 5 days! -HLG
Houston Braces for Earliest Snow as Storm Heads for Louisiana Share Business
By Brian K. Sullivan
Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Houston residents are bracing for the earliest snowfall ever today as a storm bears down on Texas and Louisiana, threatening to disrupt travel and holiday shopping.
The country’s fourth-largest metropolitan area is expected to receive about 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow with isolated accumulations of 4 inches, according to Paul Lewis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dickinson, Texas.
“This will be the earliest snow ever in the city of Houston,” Lewis said by telephone. “And the first time ever we have had measurable snow two years in a row.”
Last year, the area’s 2.24 million residents received about 1.4 inches on Dec. 10, he said.
The weather service has issued the winter storm watch, which means snowy and icy conditions are imminent, until 8 p.m. Houston time. The watch extends into Louisiana.
Galveston, Texas, may also see trace amounts of snow dusting grassy areas, Lewis said.
The overnight temperature will fall to about 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-3.9 Celsius), freezing roads and creating hazardous driving conditions for a city that doesn’t have much experience with winter weather.
Harris County, which includes Houston, issued winter driving tips and urged motorists to be careful on the roads.
“Never break while driving on ice,” the statement said. “If you are approaching a patch of ice, brake during your approach.”
By tomorrow, all the snow should be gone because the temperature is expected to rise to 47 degrees. The normal high for Houston is 67 degrees at this time of year.
“So it is not going to last very long,” Lewis said.
Snow won’t be a problem for the city’s electrical grid, said Leticia Lowe, a spokeswoman for CenterPoint Energy Inc. Ice may weigh down power lines and cause disruptions, she said by telephone.
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