Stephen Witherden’s Website :: Research :: Snow in Texas

It snowed yesterday. All week, the weather man had been threatening “ice rain” would hit us Thursday. When I returned to my car after work that night, I was surprised to see my car was covered in a film of ice. I unlocked the door and tried the handle. Locked. Unlocked it again then tried to open it: locked again! So I tried a third tie, this time I pulled harder and the door opened with a crack. The ice was keeping the door closed!

Needless to say, driving home was an experience. It was very difficult to see out of the rear view window at first but this eventually cleared up. At temperatures of -3C any precipitation that fell at that time ended up as snow. When I eventually arrived home I was treated to the sight of snow on my steps.

Now, I quite like snow but have never seen it actually snowing. This was the first time in my life I had ever seen a little precipitation. Granted it wasn’t anything close to a snowstorm, but it was still a wonderful (and cold) experience. It’s hard to believe that not too long ago we were sweltering at 110 F and now I have to leave the heater on all day and night so that the water pipes don’t freeze.

Auckland may be well known for four seasons in one day, but Texas certainly does appear to have very stark seasons. The next morning my neighbour (who borrows my washing machine every now and again) kindly dissolved the ice on my windscreen with isopropyl alchohol.

As they say here in the US: “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”.