A wintry mix of rain and snow occurred over South Texas on December 7th and changed to all snow around midnight of December 8th 2017. Areas of light snow moved into the northern Brush Country during the morning of December 7th.
Every event with a place to put it; 15 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS CRP wrote it up.
A wintry mix of rain and snow occurred over South Texas on December 7th and changed to all snow around midnight of December 8th 2017. Areas of light snow moved into the northern Brush Country during the morning of December 7th. A band of heavy snow occurred over the Coastal Bend during the early morning hours of the 8th. This was the first measurable snow event since the Christmas Snowstorm of 2004.
Two slow moving bands of precipitation set up over South Texas during the evening of the 7th. One band extended from Victoria County to Webb County and another ran along the Middle Texas Coastal counties back to Zapata County. By 10 pm, surface temperatures cooled to just above freezing as the rain to snow transition line pushed southward with rain switching to snow first from Victoria to Cotulla. Within the next hour, the transition line pushed further southward into the Coastal Bend. By 11:30 pm, the band along the coast began to transition to wintry mix.
After midnight as temperatures continued to drop to near freezing, all precipitation had switched over to snow and began to accumulate on grassy surfaces, cars, and creating slushy roadways. Snow continued during the overnight hours over much of South Texas, slowly diminishing from northwest to southeast toward morning as the impacts of the upper jet and drier air moving into the region ended the snow. The two bands of snow slowly shifted eastward through the early morning. By 5 am, the band along the coast dissipated and the westernmost band of snow moved into the Coastal Bend for a second and final round snow. By 9 AM, the snow band had moved offshore, and clouds gradually decreased during the remainder of the day.
Heavy snow occurred in a band along a line from Premont to Kingsville to the south side of Corpus Christi to Ingleside to Rockport. Snow accumulations in this region were in the range of 4 to 6 inches with the maximum of 7 inches in the Kings Crossing subdivision in the south side of Corpus Christi. The heavy snow caused power outages to almost 13 thousand customers, mainly in Kleberg and Nueces Counties.
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 Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 7, 9:50 AM CST, 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Corpus Christi TX
950 AM CST Thu Dec 7 2017
.DISCUSSION...Rain has transitioned to all snow across most of La
Salle County, per 88D DP data, area obs, and social media
reports/pics. Rain/snow line is continuing to slowly shift SSE and
should eventually move across Laredo/Webb Co. A dusting of snow on
grassy areas/elevated surfaces will be possible across the Winter
Weather Adv area. Will need to keep an eye on temps as wet
bulbing is allowing sfc temps to approach the freezing level
across La Salle county.
Have lowered hourly temps across especially the Brush Country for
today as precip should keep temps in the 30s for most of the day.
Also expanded Gale Warning to include the southern bays/waterways
for tonight.
Continuing to analyze incoming 12z guidance with additional Winter
Weather products possibly being issued midday/afternoon. Stay
tuned.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Corpus Christi 43 34 53 33 66 / 100 100 30 0 0
Victoria 43 32 53 32 65 / 100 90 20 0 0
Laredo 41 34 54 35 65 / 100 90 10 0 0
Alice 42 33 54 33 67 / 100 100 20 0 0
Rockport 46 37 54 41 67 / 100 100 30 0 0
Cotulla 43 34 55 33 67 / 100 70 10 0 0
Kingsville 43 33 54 33 68 / 100 100 30 0 0
Navy Corpus 48 39 55 39 66 / 100 100 40 0 0
&&
.CRP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...Winter Weather Advisory until 2 PM CST this afternoon For the
following zones: La Salle...Webb.
GM...Gale Warning until 6 AM CST Friday For the following zones:
Coastal waters from Baffin Bay to Port Aransas out 20 NM...
Coastal waters from Port Aransas to Matagorda Ship Channel
out 20 NM...Waters from Baffin Bay to Port Aransas from 20
to 60 NM...Waters from Port Aransas to Matagorda Ship
Channel from 20 to 60 NM.
Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening For the
following zones: Bays and Waterways from Baffin Bay to Port
Aransas.
Gale Warning from 6 PM this evening to 6 AM CST Friday For the
following zones: Bays and Waterways from Baffin Bay to Port
Aransas.
Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST Friday For the following
zones: Bays and Waterways from Port Aransas to Port
O'Connor.
&&
Update...HART/79Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Corpus Christi TX 612 AM CST Thu Dec 7 2017 TXZ229>234-239>247-081215- La Salle-McMullen-Live Oak-Bee-Goliad-Victoria-Webb-Duval- Jim Wells-Kleberg-Nueces-San Patricio-Aransas-Refugio-Calhoun- 612 AM CST Thu Dec 7 2017 This hazardous weather outlook is for South Texas and the Middle Texas Coastal Waters. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Webb and Lasalle counties from mid morning through early afternoon. Rain is expected to change over to snow in these areas. Only light snow accumulations are expected with minimal impacts. There will be a chance for snow to mix with rain across much of South Texas late tonight, mainly South of Hwy 181. Little to no accumulation of snow is expected at this time with minimal impacts. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Pockets of freezing temperatures are possible Saturday morning around the Victoria Crossroads and the northern Brush Country. Any residual moisture on area roadways and elevated surfaces may see black ice develop. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Any reports of frozen precipitation are welcome. GMZ230-235-250-255-270-275-081215- Bays and Waterways from Baffin Bay to Port Aransas- Bays and Waterways from Port Aransas to Port O'Connor- Coastal waters from Baffin Bay to Port Aransas out 20 NM- Coastal waters from Port Aransas to Matagorda Ship Channel out 20 NM-Waters from Baffin Bay to Port Aransas from 20 to 60 NM- Waters from Port Aransas to Matagorda Ship Channel from 20 to 60 NM- 612 AM CST Thu Dec 7 2017 This hazardous weather outlook is for South Texas and the Middle Texas Coastal Waters. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Gale warning is in effect for Gulf Waters today and tonight for very strong winds with gale force gusts. Small craft advisories are in effect for the bays. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday A strong offshore flow will continue through Friday morning over the Gulf waters. Small Craft Advisory will be needed for Friday as seas will be slow to subside.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1001 AM CST THU DEC 07 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0946 AM SNOW ARTESIA WELLS 28.22N 99.29W
12/07/2017 U0.0 INCH LA SALLE TX SOCIAL MEDIA
VIDEO SUBMITTED OF SNOW FALLING IN ARTESIA WELLS.
&&
EVENT NUMBER CRP1700329
HARTThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
15 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 1 and a half inches occurred in La Salle County.
Snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches occurred in the central and southern portions of Jim Wells County.
Snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches occurred across Refugio County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches occurred across Victoria County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches occurred across Goliad County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches occurred across mainly southern Bee County.
Snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches occurred in the southern portion of Duval County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches occurred in Webb County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 2 inches occurred in McMullen County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 2 inches occurred in Live Oak County.
Snow accumulations between 4 to 7 inches occurred across Kleberg County. Snowfall caused power outages in Kingsville with about 600 customers losing power.
Snow accumulations between 4 to 7 inches occurred across Nueces County. Snowfall caused power outages mainly to the south side of Corpus Christi. Around 1300 customers lost power on the south side of Corpus Christi.
Snow accumulations of 3 to 4 inches occurred across San Patricio County. Snowfall caused power outages in Aransas Pass.
Snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches occurred across Aransas County.
Snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches occurred across Calhoun County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 2017
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: 730997, 730866, 730875, 730878, 730879, 730881, 730882, 730994, 730995, 730996, 730867, 730868, 730871, 730873, 730880.