Sleet and snow in Austin
December 10, 2008
No joke! Yesterday it was warm enough to induce sweating as I worked in the garden (78 F / 25 C), planting some of my raided plants. A cold front swept in around 2 pm, and by that evening it was sleeting.
And then snowing! The ssssss of the sleet stopped, and we looked out the window to see it had been replaced by big, fluffy flakes.
None of it stuck, of course, since the ground is still warm. But our deck is elevated and more exposed, and it did stick there. This is how it looks this morning, before the sun comes up to melt it away.
Our first little taste of winter.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Incredible! Isn’t it amazing that no matter how much older we get a snowfall makes for an exciting time! I hope it wasn’t cold enough to hurt the Whale’s Tongue and your other new plantings? Gail
I was wishing the kids were awake to see it, Gail. As it was, the youngest was still pretty thrilled this morning to see a little residual sleet on the deck and the car. —Pam
That’s quite an extreme swing, isn’t it? Yikes. We’ve had snow for quite some time up here, it’s nice that some of us can still enjoy spending time in their gardens in December. It’s a bit too cold for me to spend much time outside.
Hi, Cinj. December is a good time for gardening here in Austin. But extreme temperature swings are typical of central Texas’s winter and spring. We usually have warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico, but every so often a blue norther sweeps in from Canada and drops temps by 50 degrees in a matter of hours. The plants must be adaptable to survive. —Pam
Don’t you love a little snow this time of year! Especially when it doesn’t create driving problems! 🙂
Yes, a little snow is nice. This was almost too little to notice though—just 10 minutes or so of snowflakes. Maybe we’ll see accumulation this winter. Miracles do happen! —Pam
That probably guarantees that you won’t have your red roses for Christmas. Did you have severe storms before the temps dropped?
Perhaps not, Robin. Tomorrow will tell the tale, as we’re expecting a hard freeze tonight. No, we don’t usually have severe storms before these temperature swings. Just high winds from the north bringing biting cold—aka blue northers. —Pam
Nice for you to have a little snow too. If it had been a little colder you might kept it for a little while.
Yes, the kids would have liked more snow. The hint of snow we got was tantalizing but not satisfying for them. 😉 —Pam
We got our first real freeze of the season last night. And that wind out of the north was deadly. But no sleet or snow.
It WAS a deadly north wind. Brrr! We’re getting our first hard freeze tonight (Wed.). —Pam
Pam, what I find really bizarre is the temperature reports from gardeners in New York state and Vermont. Their temps are in the 50s, making it colder here on my corner of Katy! It was 39.2 when I got up this morning and it’s 38.6 degrees now. With the wind chill, the weather folks are saying it feels like the 20s. YIKES!
That is bizarre, isn’t it? I hope you’re bundled up! —Pam
Hmmm…I wonder if we’re going to get the same weather? It’s to be in the 70’s today with a light drizzle, then tomorrow the cold front will sweep in.
Your photos show a pretty scene!
Cameron
As I recall, the Raleigh area doesn’t get a whole lot of snow either (I lived there from 1989 to 1994). I imagine snow and sleet would be big news there as well, right? —Pam
We Austinites do get awfully excited at the sight of a few flakes, don’t we, Pam? I’m not that far NW of you, but maybe our ground was a little colder. Some snow stuck on our grass this morning. If it doesn’t get too cold tonight bet you still have Christmas roses!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
We shall see. I’m betting the Knock Outs will pull it off, but there’s still two weeks to go. —Pam
For a change, the south end of town wasn’t left out of this weather! I actually had about 1/2″ of snow/ice on my car at about 2:00 a.m. At least the melting will give us a tiny bit of moisture. Unfortunately, the high winds accompanying this cold front blew the covering off one of my plants – and I had put heavy rocks all around! I love weather, though, and it’s nice to have something different.
It is nice to have a taste of winter, isn’t it? Not too much though. 😉 —Pam
We got some beautiful flakes out here in the hill country too! Love your blog–thanks for the inspiration to keep gardening in this challenging drought!
Thanks, Meg! I’m happy to know about your blog too. I’m coming over for a visit. —Pam
Wow crazy weather there for sure. It’s been cold here at night. We have had frost about three times so far! Hopefully it is going to rain soon. Its dry here and dusty! I am looking forward to some rain(-:
We really need rain too, Cindee. I’ll gladly take it in the form of snow, but I’d prefer not to have ice, which is what we usually get instead. —Pam
I-am-so-jealous- that you got snow! I really hope we get some this year.
Well, it was only a few flakes and a crust of sleet. I hope you get better than that, Randy. —Pam
I was wondering if you all were getting that when I saw the radar last night. We may get some up here in N. Louisiana today. And it will be exciting! I just filled up the bird feeders, just in case. 🙂
Good idea. You can sit indoors where it’s warm and watch them through the window as they come in for a welcome meal. —Pam
I hope the famous agave is all right! It’s cold as heck here too!
Brenda
It’s handled an ice storm before, so I know it can handle the cold. But it was just transplanted, so that does make me worry a little. I’ll be keeping an eye on it. —Pam
Our weather was almost the same. Warm with thunderstorms one day. Sleet and snow yesterday. Bitter cold this a.m. at 19F. It’s odd that you all had such a change too. This storm tracked like those ones we get in March which then head to Texas.~~Dee
Brrr, 19F! I hope you are staying warm, Dee. —Pam
I ran out in my jammies this morning to snap pics of our tiny bit of snow, then emailed them to the Ohio kinfolk who just spent a balmy Thanksgiving with us here in Wimberley. Their reply? “You call that winter? What a wimp!” By the way, my family thinks your Chuy’s/Funnel Cake/Zilker/spinning tradition is worthy of a trip into Austin this year. I’m going to skip the spinning part though, as I am prone towards barfiness, and would surely spew my funnel cake if I did.
OK, no spinning for you, Becky. But I hope your family enjoys a good spin. Remember to bring your camera! —Pam
What is up with the weather this year? Snow in Austin after a high in the upper 70s! I hope your newly installed plants handled it ok. BTW, your Japanese Maple is magnificent.
Thanks, MMD. I hope the transplants will handle the big temperature swings. I think they will. The agaves just don’t like wet feet, and it certainly hasn’t been wet here. —Pam
I heard them mention this on the weather and I thought of you. We have snow predicted for tomorrow.
It seems early for snow in the South, doesn’t it? I’ll pop over to your blog to see if you got any. —Pam
First snow is always the best snow. Somehow I can’t imagine your area with much snow. I always think of it as almost tropical. Obviously not.
We’re semi-tropical in temperature (though not in rainfall), but we do get a few freezes each year. And about once every seven years we get measurable snow or a big ice storm. It keeps things interesting. —Pam
Hi Pam, this is keeping Austin weirder than ever! Hope nothing was hurt. We had the heavy rain and very warm temps yesterday and today. The cold is on its way next. Another roller coaster ride!
Frances
Weirder and weirder. Actually, weird weather swings are pretty normal for us at this time of year. I hope you get only cold and maybe snow but no ice in TN. —Pam
YUP! Flurries all afternoon in Houston. It only sticks on the rooftops, but it made the young checkers at Whole Foods lose their minds. LOL
I’ll bet! I just saw the weather report, and it sounds like Houston got more snow than Austin did. Amazing weather. —Pam
Innovative weather patterns like this can inspire some improvisational gardening. Do you have a circular driveway?! Super-cute!
You crack me up, Chuck. Yes, it’s a circular driveway. We do like it, but I hadn’t thought of it as cute. Now I’m wondering what Chuck would do with it—or the island berm that makes up its center. Hmmm? —Pam
If it gets really cold, maybe you can go ice skating on the pool! 🙂
It would be verrrry thin ice! I’d have to be a waterbug. 😉 —Pam
We (north of Tyler) were warm rain that morning, then humid warm (almost 80), then windy cold front (brrrr), no sleet or snow though. Nature is funny-isn’t it?
I got to go out and putter in the yard in between the mess too.
Great pictures:)
Thanks, Carla. Yes, the weather this time of year certainly keeps one guessing. —Pam
I didn’t know that it snowed in Austin. We get a smattering about once every ten years–but usually in the higher elevations in north Phoenix rather than where I live on the opposite end of the Valley. It’s always a treat because it doesn’t last past sunrise.
Aiyana
Our snow chances are almost as rare as yours, Aiyana. We seem to get ice more often. —Pam
I hope the agave will be ok. Do you cover plants?
Every few decades or so we get a killer frost. Just enough time for people to forget that it can happen. One year Santa cruz lost all their trees downtown. Before that in the Bay area the eucalyptus all looked dead, but it came back. It seems eucalyptus is quite hardy!
best regards,
Philip
That happens here too, Philip. Before my time in Austin, there was a prolonged hard freeze that killed off St. Augustine lawns, pittosporums, and other common plants around town. But we gardeners will take our chances, won’t we?
I do cover some plants—well, mostly my tender potted plants. I don’t cover the big ‘Whale’s Tongue,’ though. It’s cold hardy for this area. —Pam
The snow swirled right on over here to Houston and last night we had a few flurries also. I still get as excited as a kid when it snows here and last night took the camera out for a few shots of snow in the garden. Nice site Pam, just discovered you recently. –Mike
Thank you, Mike, and welcome. I look forward to seeing what’s happening in Houston through your blog. —Pam
Wow! Deck accumulation…I am impressed! Once since I’ve lived in Charleston, we had snow that ‘accumulated’ two days in a row – two separate snow falls, and the accumulation was only on my deck – but heck, I’ll take that. I thought it was great.
Hee, hee. We Southerners will take what we can get, won’t we? My kids were certainly impressed by the scant covering on the deck. 😉 —Pam
Nice capture of the snow and sleet falling.
We get those weather extremes too, and not much snow.
I used to live in central North Carolina, so I know just what you mean, Sweet Bay. It’s nice to have the mild days along with the cold, isn’t it? —Pam