Texas Almanac, 1968-1969 Page: 94
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WEATHER
Wide variations in weather result from the geographic location of Texas, its size, differ-
ences in altitude and other factors. At the southern extremity, the warm waters of the
Gulf bring a subtropical situation with no measurable snowfall registered in 71 years of
record at Brownsville. In contrast, a station at Vega, in the Texas Panhandle, has recorded
24 inches of snowfall annually. Rainfall ranges from more than 56 inches annually in the
eastern portion of the state to less than 8 inches at the western extremity.
While these differences justify 10 separate climatic subdivisions of Texas, most of the
state lies in the warm-temperate climatic zone, with weather conditions attractive to
visitors and to permanent settlers coming from less temperate regions.
The following information summarizes Texas weather. It was compiled with the assist-
ance of the Weather Bureau State Climatologist, Environmental Science Services Admin-
istration. 3600 Manor Road, Austin. Additional information may be obtained from that
source.
Features of the weather in the two years since the publication of the 1966-67 edition of
the Texas Almanac were:Weather in I 965
A severe duststorm swept through por-
tions of West Texas on Jan. 25 with winds
gusting to 75 miles per hour at Lubbock.
February and March were cold, cloudy and
humid. During April and the first week in
May the weather was warm and dry. Severe-
ly dry conditions existed in southern Texas
and along the upper coast. This weather
pattern was dramatically reversed the last
three weeks of May. B the end of the t month
rainfall in portions of North Central, South
Central, and East Texas totaled 250 to 300
per cent of the May normal. Waco received
15.00 inches, the greatest May total since
records began in 1867.
On June 2 a devastating tornado struck
Hale Center. Aour persons died and 76 others
were injured.
On June 11, one of the most disastrous
floods in Texas history, in terms of lives lost,
swept through Sanderson. Torrential rains of
8 to 10 inches on Sanderson Creek and
Three Mile Draw sent a wall of water esti-
mated at from 4 to 15 feet in height swirling
and crushing through Sanderson shortly be-
fore 7 a.m. At least 23 persons perished. The
flood damaged 35 per cent of the town, with
losses estimated at $2,500,000.
July weather was typically hot and dry,
but slightly cooler than normal temperatures
were evident in August. Moisture shortages
in some critically dry areas were eased by
late September rains, but the Trans-Pecos
and portions of the High Plains, Edwards
Plateau and southern Texas continued dry.
November was the warmest in 38 years.
By the end of November, rainfall accumu-
lated during the year was below the 1931-
1960 average in most sections. Central Texas
received adequate rainfall in late November
and early December but, as the year ended,
northeastern Texas, the western portion of
the Edwards Plateau and the Trans-Pecos
continued very dry.
Weather in 1966
Icy blasts sent temperatures plunging dur-
ing the second half of January. Lipscomb
in the Panhandle recorded -12 F. on Jan.
23 and 5 to 10 inches of snow blanketed most
of Northwest and North Central Texas.
February brought moderate to heavy
rains, a number of tornadoes Feb. 8-10, and
a heavy snowfall Feb. 23 with up to 10 inches
in Central Texas. Austin's 6-inch snow was
the heaviest in 17 years.
April brought excessive rains, including
5 to 6 inches April 13-14 on the upper coast.
In Northeast Texas, rains of more than 20
inches, April 23-25, sent streams on a ram-
page that drowned 19 persons and caused
property and crop damage estimated at
$12,000,000. During April 22-29, 20 to 26 inches
fell in portions of Wood, Smith, Morris, Up-
shun, Gregg, Marion and Harrison Counties.
Major floods were measured in the Sulphur,
Sabine, Trinity and Brazos River basins.
94Torrential rains during the early morning of
April 28 resulted in some of the wildest
flash-flooding in the history of the Dallas-
Fort Worth metropolitan area. Fourteen per-
sons drowned in Dallas County. Total April
rainfall at Dallas was 15.40 inches, the high-
est for any month on record.
Statewide, the summer was the coolest in
five years. An exceptionally cool June re-
sulted in the lowest average maximum sum-
mer temperatures in San Antonio in 35. years.
July was hot and dry, but a cloudy, wet
August was unseasonably cool. August rain-
fall over much of the southern High Plains
was from 300 to 500 per cent of normal.
Precipitation was below normal generally,
October through December. Little or no ef-
fective rain fell in the western half of the
state during this period. As the year ended,
a serious moisture shortage existed in west-
ern and southern areas of the state. Small
grains and winter pasture were in poor con-
dition.,
Destructive Storms
This list of exceptionally destructive
storms in Texas since 1766 is compiled from
ESSA-Weather Bureau information:
Sept. 4, 1766: Hurricane. Galveston Bay.
A mission destroyed.
Sept. 12, 1818: Hurricane. Galveston Is-
land. Salt water flowed four feet deep. Only
six buildings remained habitable. Of the six
vessels and two barges in the harbor, even
the two not seriously injured were reduced
to dismasted hulks. Pirate Jean Lafitte
moved to one hulk so his Red House might
serve as a hospital.
Aug. 6, 1844: Hurricane. Mouth of Rio
Grande. All houses destroyed at the mouth
of the river and at Brazos Santiago, 8 miles
north; 70 lives lost.
Sept. 19, 1854: Hurricane. After striking
near Matagorda, the hurricane moved inland
northwestward over Columbus. The main im-
pact fell in Matagorda and Lavaca Bays.
Almost all buildings in Matagorda were de-
stroyed. Four lives were lost in the town;
several more lives were lost on the penin-
sula.
Oct. 3, 1867: Hurricane. This hurricane
moved inland south of Galveston, but raked
the entire Texas coast from the Rio Grande
to the Sabine. Bagdad and Clarksville, towns
at the mouth of the Rio Grande, were de-
stroyed. Much of Galveston was flooded and
p ropert damage there estimated at
Sept. 16, 1875: Hurricane. Struck Indian-
ola, Calhoun County. Three fourths of town
swept away; 176 lives lost. Flooding from
the bay caused nearly all destruction.
Aug. 13, 1880: Hurricane. Center struck
Matamoras, Mexico; lower Texas coast af-
fected.
Oct. 12-13, 1880: Hurricane. Brownsville.
City nearly destroyed, many lives lost.
Aug. 19-20, 1886: Hurricane. Indianola.
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Texas Almanac, 1968-1969, book, 1967; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113809/m1/96/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.