page_title: 2004 Christmas Eve United States winter storm
section_title: Texas and Louisiana
hierarchical_section_title: 2004 Christmas Eve United States winter storm / Effects / Texas and Louisiana
caption_attribution_description: English: 2004 Christmas Eve snowstorm. An unusual sight: palm trees covered in snow in Portland, Texas.
context_page_description: The 2004 Christmas Eve United States winter storm was a rare weather event that took place in Louisiana and Texas in the United States on December 24, 2004, before the storm moved northeast to affect the coastal sections of the Mid-Atlantic states and New England in the succeeding few days. This was a different storm from the historic event that struck the Midwest and southern Canada around December 23 from another cyclone which preceded this storm. The event involved a thin band of snowfall with unusually cold temperatures for the middle Texas coast, and caused dozens of varied weather records to be shattered. It was the most significant snow for the Texas Gulf Coast, and deep South Texas, since February 1895.
context_section_description: The most noticeable, and unusual, event associated with the storm was the snowfall it produced. Much of the snow fell in southern Texas, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, but some snow, albeit less deep, fell across southwestern and southeastern Louisiana. Any snowfall in these areas is extremely unusual, perhaps occurring once every twenty years, and these events are usually airborne flurries which melt on contact with the ground. In many places the snow stuck to the ground and accumulated to an appreciable depth. In Brownsville, Texas, snow fell to a depth of 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), the first measurable snowfall at the city in years, since the Great Blizzard of 1899.
  The fact that the snow accumulated overnight on Christmas Eve led to a White Christmas the next morning, something completely foreign to the region. Across all of southern Texas and in southwestern Louisiana, snow fell in places where it had not for anywhere from 15 to 120 years. Near the coast, in Corpus Christi, Texas, 5.2 inches (13 cm) of snow fell, more snow than in all previous recorded years combined. This was also the case in Victoria, Texas, where a significant 13.0 inches (33 cm) fell. New Orleans, Louisiana had its first white Christmas in 50 years. In addition to the unusual occurrence of snow inland, moderate to heavy snow was also reported over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first significant snow fall in Houston since February 12, 1960, when a snowstorm hit central and south Texas with eight to 10 inches of snow.
  Some snow totals:
  Alice, Texas: 12 inches (30.48 cm)
  Beeville, Texas: 10.0 inches (25.4 cm)
  Brownsville, Texas: 1.5 inches (3.8 cm)
  Corpus Christi, Texas: 5.2 inches (13.2 cm)
  El Campo, Texas: 11.0 inches (27.9 cm)
  Galveston, Texas: 4.0 inches (10.16 cm)
  Houston, Texas: 1.0 inches (2.5 cm)
  Kingsville, Texas: 6.0 inches (15.24 cm)
  Lake Charles, Louisiana: 1.2 inches (3.1 cm)
  Laredo, Texas: 2.0 inches (5.07 cm)
  Mathis, Texas: 11 inches (27.9 cm)
  McAllen, Texas: 4.0 inches (10.16 cm)
  New Orleans, Louisiana: 0.7 inches (1.8 cm)
  Pearland, Texas: 2.8 inches (7.3 cm)
  Sandia, Texas: 12 inches (30.48 cm)
  Victoria, Texas: 13.0 inches (33.0 cm)
caption: An unusual sight: palm trees covered in snow in Portland, Texas
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