Snow Time Like The Present

He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.' Job 37:6

The Good Lord is certainly generous in Southeast Texas with rain showers, but snow…well not so much. On December 4, 2009, however, Houston, Texas delighted in a smattering of snowfall. Most school children were already deep into class or school would surely have been cancelled. Thankfully for my kids the snow lasted well into the evening so they had their chance to play in the soggy white drifts. Keep in mind the drifts are what accumulated on car hoods.

A Houston snow is about as common as a flock of Blue Footed Boobies migrating to Galveston Island. Speaking of Galveston, a blanket of snow covered Galveston Island on Christmas Eve 2004. The amazing pictures of the Galveston Seawall, coated in snow were all over the news and internet. There was even a coffee-table book released commemorating the “miraculous” event.



We’ve been blessed with a layer of the white stuff only four times in the past fifteen years including the December 4th snow. There doesn’t seem to be much accurate information on the history of Houston snowfall, but here is what I’ve learned from the internet and from having lived here over forty years myself. Apparently it has only snowed in Houston thirty-three times since 1895 when the heavens opened up and dropped twenty plus inches of snow on downtown Houston. Believe me when I say it has NEVER snowed that much in the one-hundred-and-fifteen years since. The December 4th snow marked two records; first it’s the only time it snowed two years in a row, 2008 and 2009 and it beat the previous record for earliest recorded snow of December 10th set in 1944 and 2008.

I’ll never forget my first snow memory. The year was 1973. I would have been nine or ten years old. Schools were closed at the first mention of snow. My brothers and I watched the news reports warning about icy roads and covering the tender vegetation as we snuck peeks out the window waiting patiently for that first bit of fluff to fall from the sky. When it finally came, we rushed outside wearing three pair of pants, four shirts, winter coats and rain boots. (My mom doesn’t like cold). I remember a snow man of about two foot tall and my face stinging from being pummeled by snowballs. I also remember my mom making snow ice cream and saving one final snowball in a plastic baggy in the freezer. Yes, these are memories that stick with you.

Another memorable snow happened in 1989. It was special to me because it was the first snow I could remember since my first snow in 1973. My husband and I played in the snow in the backyard of our first home. We made a six inch snowman complete with match stick arms and cat food eyes. Ahh memories.

It seems strange that my youngest child has seen snow three times already in his short life. And we’re looking at freezing temperatures at the end of this week. Do you think it might snow in Houston yet again? That’s global warming for you!