Heavy Snow in Texas, December 25, 2004

Name: Heavy Snow in Texas, December 25, 2004
Start: 2004-12-25T03:00
End: 2004-12-25T09:30
Location: Texas

December 25, 2004 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 25, 3:00 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 25, 3:00 AM CST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
300 AM CST SAT DEC 25 2004

.DISCUSSION...
SURFACE ANALYSIS CONTINUES TO SHOW MID LEVEL CLOUDINESS OVER MOST OF
THE FORECAST WARNING AREA WITH CLEARING SKIES TO THE WEST AND
NORTHWEST. COLD RIDGE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
WEATHER. RADARS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SECTIONS CONTINUING TO REPORT
ECHOES OF SNOW ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAINS REGION. SNOW ACCUMULATION AT
MIDNIGHT WAS UP TO TWO INCHES OVER SOUTHEAST SECTIONS OF SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS. HIGHER READING ARE MOST LIKELY FURTHER TOWARDS THE
COAST. CURRENT WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE EXTENDED UNTIL 10 AM
THIS CHRISTMAS MORNING FOR REASONS OF PUBLIC SAFETY DUE TO THE
REFREEZING OF SNOW SLUSH ON ROADWAY SURFACES. CLEARING SKIES FROM THE
WEST TODAY WILL INCREASE TEMPERATURES INTO THE 50S. UPPER LEVEL LOW
CENTER OFF THE CENTRAL TEXAS COAST IS TRACKING NORTHEAST AND THIS
WILL PULL THE ONGOING SNOW NORTHEAST. LOOK FOR SNOW TO END BY EARLY
MORNING HOURS. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT BY TONIGHT AND WITH GOOD
RADIATIONAL COOLING TONIGHT TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR FREEZING LEVELS
AGAIN.

INTO NEXT WEEK...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL MAINTAINS ITS HOLD ON TEXAS
WEATHER WITH DEWPOINTS AND CLOUDS GRADUALLY INCREASE. ANOTHER FRONTAL
SYSTEM WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATER IN THE
WEEK AND THIS WILL GIVE TEXAS A SHOT OF RAIN TOWARDS NEXT WEEKEND.

MODEL GUIDANCE ANALYSIS...CONTINUES TO SHOW A TROF OVER THE SOUTHERN
TEXAS GULF COAST WITH ASSOCIATED WEATHER. THIS TROF IS PROGGED TO
MOVE EASTWARD WITH SNOW ENDING BY MIDDAY.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AUSTIN CAMP MABRY              49  27  59  36 /   0   0   0   0
AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AIRPORT  48  25  59  34 /   0   0   0   0
DEL RIO INTL AIRPORT           53  28  61  37 /   0   0   0   0
SAN ANTONIO INTL AIRPORT       50  28  60  36 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ATASCOSA...KARNES....DE WITT...
WILSON...GONZALES...AND LAVACA COUNTIES THROUGH 10 AM TODAY...

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 25, 12:55 AM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1255 AM CST SAT DEC 25 2004

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-251200-
ATASCOSA-BANDERA-BASTROP-BEXAR-BLANCO-BURNET-CALDWELL-COMAL-DEWITT-
DIMMIT-EDWARDS-FAYETTE-FRIO-GILLESPIE-GONZALES-GUADALUPE-HAYS-KARNES-
KENDALL-KERR-KINNEY-LAVACA-LEE-LLANO-MAVERICK-MEDINA-REAL-TRAVIS-
UVALDE-VAL VERDE-WILLIAMSON-WILSON-ZAVALA-
950 PM CST FRI DEC 24 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT.

THERE IS A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 AM FOR
ATASCOSA...KARNES...DEWITT...LAVACA...GONZALES AND WILSON COUNTIES.
ONE TO FOUR INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN THESE AREAS.  LIGHT SNOW WILL
MOVE TOWARD THE COAST AND OUT OF THE AREA TONIGHT...LEAVING ICY
CONDITIONS OVER ATASCOSA...KARNES...DEWITT...LAVACA...GONZALES AND
WILSON COUNTIES.  HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OVER THESE COUNTIES.  TRAVEL IS STRONGLY
DISCOURAGED.

FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THE REST OF TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...CHRISTMAS THROUGH FRIDAY.

ANOTHER FREEZE IS POSSIBLE SATURDAY NIGHT...FOLLOWED BY A WARMING
TREND SUNDAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE AND LATE PART OF NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Lavaca

When: December 25, 3:00 AM CST to 9:30 AM CST
Where: Lavaca forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 29.384, -96.930 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The extremely unusual snow event turned into a White Christmas for Lavaca County. Snow began falling in the evening of December 24, with the heavier amounts falling in the southwest part of the county. Heaviest amounts were estimated at 4 inches shortly after midnight and the snow continued to fall through the early morning. Maximum amounts were estimated at 6 inches in the southwest part of Lavaca County. The snow began melting in the mid morning and was gone by noon.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, December 2004

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5432260.