Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Texas
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Texas, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
The most significant on the map
The most significant extreme cold/wind chill episodes in Texas.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 457
- Deaths
- 75
- Injuries
- 8
- Damage
- $157 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Texas, February 12 to 16, 2021Record cold and windy conditions gripped Southeast Texas behind the passage of an Arctic front. The extreme cold and increased demand led to widespread power outages, loss of heat for many and led to the bursting of pipes with some losing water for many days.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, February 13 to 19, 2021A historic winter storm, that began on February 9th, 2021, continued to cripple the region through February 19th. One wave of winter precipitation moved across the region February 13-15th, with another round of snow and ice on February 16-17th.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, February 13 to 15, 2021A series of weather systems brought several rounds of winter weather to South Central Texas from February 11 through February 18.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, January 23 to 28, 2026The only winter weather event of the season occurred January 23-25. A mix of sleet and snow fell across the region, but sleet was the predominant precipitation type.
- Extreme Cold and Heavy Snow in Texas, February 14 to 17, 2021A historic outbreak of arctic air resulted in record breaking cold temperatures during an extreme cold spell that lasted almost two weeks for some locations across the combined Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, February 1 to 4, 2011A winter storm impacted west Texas during the pre-dawn hours of the 1st, and marked the onset of a prolonged outbreak of arctic air in the Southern Plains.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, January 2, 2018Two persons were discovered deceased from hypothermia due to outdoor exposure to subfreezing temperatures.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, January 16 to 17, 2018A significant cold front moved through North and Central Texas over the MLK Jr. Holiday weekend. This brought cold air into the region, along with several areas of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, March 2 to 3, 2002A strong arctic cold front began moving into North Texas late night on March 1st, and through all of North Texas by mid morning on March 2nd. Light rain developed behind the front, and changed to a mixture of freezing rain, sleet, and snow as temperatures fell below freezing.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, January 24 to 26, 2026A winter storm brought ice, sleet and extreme cold to southeast Texas from the 24th through the 26th.
- Extreme Cold and Sleet in Texas, January 16 to 17, 2018Rain turned into a wintry mix of across Southeast Texas. Overnight minimum temperatures fell into the teens to middle 20s.
- Ice Storm and Winter Storm in Texas, January 24 to 26, 2026A deep upper-level low moved across northern Mexico bringing a strong cold front through South-Central Texas. This resulted in very cold air in the boundary layer with a layer of above freezing air aloft which produced sleet and freezing rain.
- Extreme Cold and Frost and Freeze in Texas, January 24 to 27, 2026An Arctic cold front ushered in the coldest air mass of the season to Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley with widespread cold temperatures between January 25-27, 2026.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, February 2 to 4, 2022A strong winter storm system brought some really dry snow and below freezing temperatures to the combined Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles during the first week of February.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, January 7, 2017A bitterly cold arctic air mass settled south across all of the Ark-La-Tex region during January 6th and 7th, with low temperatures plunging into the lower and middle teens across much of the area during the morning of the 7th.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, February 1 to 4, 2011A strong upper low dropped down the Northern Rockies which pushed a back door arctic cold front through the region. An upper level ridge was located over the eastern Pacific with the arctic jet steam diving south to the Mexican border.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, February 8 to 9, 2011Less than a week after the coldest air to impact the South Plains of west Texas in more than a decade had weakened its grip on the region, a second arctic airmass invaded the central and southern U.S.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, February 14 to 16, 2021Very bitter arctic air with ambient temperatures dropping to near zero or below zero and north winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to near 30 mph on February 14, continued into the morning of February 15.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Texas, February 18 to 21, 2025An arctic front dropped temperatures into the single digits and teens, along with sub-zero to single digit wind chills, across North and Central Texas the week of February 18.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Texas, January 14 to 17, 2024A strong arctic cold front brought sub-freezing air to South Central Texas on the 14th. Isentropic flow over the cold air generated light freezing rain and freezing drizzle on the night of the 14th and early part of the 15th. The ice caused minor impacts.
- Extreme Cold and Frost and Freeze in Texas, January 15 to 17, 2024An Arctic cold front ushered in the coldest air mass of the season to Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley with widespread sub-freezing temperatures January 15-17. Subfreezing temperatures arrived during the morning of the 15th as the first surge of cold air arrived.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, January 23 to 27, 2026A widespread winter storm affected the region from the 23rd and lasting until the afternoon of the 25th. Beginning on the 23rd, an arctic cold front moved through the region during the morning and afternoon.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, January 9, 2010An arctic high pressure system resulted in bitter cold temperatures across West Central Texas.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, December 22 to 23, 2022A strong arctic cold front brought bitterly cold air and breezy winds that combined to produce extreme wind chill values. Temperatures in the teens and winds up to 30 mph produced wind chill temperatures from -1 degree to -9 degrees.
- Extreme Cold in Texas, January 14 to 16, 2024An arctic front brought dangerously cold weather to North and Central Texas during the middle part of January 2024, with temperatures dropping to single digits across the northern half of the region.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Texas
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.