Texas Almanac, 1986-1987 Page: 72
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72 TEXAS ALMANAC 1986-1987
Texas' Record Cold WaveThe "Winter of '99" was long remembered by
Texans. It brought the most intense cold wave on record
throughout the state on Feb. 11-12-13, 1899.
Minimum temperatures ranged from 6 to 23 de-
grees below zero over the northern portion of the state
to about 12 above over the southern portion. Lowest
temperatures occurred on the morning of Feb. 12 ex-
cept at a few locations where the minimum was ob-
served the next day. The Weather Bureau Office at Gal-
veston recorded a temperature of 7.5 degrees, the
lowest of record since the opening of this station in 1871.
The next morning, Galveston Bay was covered over
with thin ice except in the main channel or tide current.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Texas (-23
degrees) occurred at Tulia on Feb. 12 - a record which
was later equalled at Seminole on Feb. 8, 1933.
Winter weather hit Texas early in February, 1899.
Cold Polar Canadian air entered Texas Feb. 4, reaching
Central Texas on Feb. 6. Temperatures moderated a
little, in advance of a second surge of cold air that en-
tered the Texas Panhandle during the early morning of
Feb. 8. As this mass of cold air reached Brownsville at
about 6 a.m. on Feb. 10,-the third and most frigid mass
of Polar Canadian air was poised over Alberta and Sas-
katchewan ready to plunge southward. This chillingHOW COLD DOES-IT FEEL?
Many factors enter into the feeling of coolness or
extreme cold, the temperature and wind speedbeing
most important. The following simplified table is based
upon more complex "Wind-Chill" indexes available
from the U.S. Army and National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration (National Weather Service).
Thermometer readings are listed in the figures
across the top of the chart; the wind speeds are shown
down the left side. To determine how chilly it really is,
get the proper column for each. Note the figure where
they cross.
Thus, a 20-degree temperature with a 20-mile-an-
hour wind is equal in chill to 10 degrees below zero. A
temperature of 10 degrees with a 15 mph wind is equal
to 18 below.
A 10-mile-an-hour wind sets twigs dancing in the
trees. A 25-mile-an-hour wind sets big branches mov-
ing, and if the temperature is even cool, it sets teeth
chattering.
A chill-effect of anything below 25 below zero cre-
ates the danger of freezing for persons not properly
clothed.
Estimated ACTUAL THERMOMETER READING
Wind Speed 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10
MPH
EQUIVALENT TEMPERATURE
Calm 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10
5 48 37 27 16 6 -5 -15
10 40 28 16 4 -9 -21 -33
15 36 22 9 - 5 -18 -36 -45
20 32 18 4 -10 -25 -39 -53
25 . 30 16 0 --15 --29 -44 -59
30 28 13 -2 -18 -33 -48 -63
35 27 11 -4 -20 -35 -49 -67
40 26 10 -6 -21 -37 -53 -69
Tornadoes
An average of 109 tornadoes touch Texas soil each
year. The annual total varies considerably, and certain
areas are struck more often than others. Tornadoes oc-
cur with greatest frequency in the Red River Valley.
While tornadoes may occur in any month, and at
any hour of the day, they occur with greatest frequency
during the late spring and early summer months, and
between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. In the period
1951-1984, nearly 39 percent of all Texas tornadoes oc-
curred within the 3-month period of April, May and
June. Slightly more than one-fourth of the total oc-
curred in May.
Partly due to the state's size, more tornadoes have
been recorded in Texas than in any other state. Be-
tween 1951 and 1984, 4,031 funnel clouds reached the
ground, thus becoming tornadoes. In the density of tor-
nadoes, Texas ranks eleventh among the 50 states, with
an average of 3.9 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles per
year during this period.
The greatest outbreak of tornadoes on record inoutbreak reached Texas very early in the morning of
Feb. 11, and by 7 a.m. the next day, was centered over
portions of Northwest Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. By
now, the leading edge of the air mass had plunged as far
south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexi-
co. By Feb. 13, the air mass was centered over the Texas
coast, 'while the cold front (the leading edge of the air
mass) had reached San Salvador in Central America.
The highest barometric pressure (reduced to sea level)
recorded in Texas during the cold wave was 31.06 inches
of mercury (1051.8 millibars) at Abilene. At Galveston,
the highest barometric pressure recorded was 30.73
inches (1040.6 millibars).
Minimum temperatures recorded at existing sta-
tions in Texas counties on Feb. 12, 1899, included: -16
degrees in Potter County, -23 in Swisher, -14 in Cros-
by, -10 in Knox, -12 in Cooke, Montague, Denton and
Fisher Counties; -10 in Dallas and Hopkins, -11 in Col-
lin and Parker, -9 in Harrison, Ellis and Erath, -8 in
Hale and Tarrant.
Temperatures of zero or several degrees below
were registered through Central Texas, while Feb. 13
brought such readings as 11 above zero in Nueces Coun-
ty, 5 in Webb County, 8 in Jefferson County and 12at the
tip of Texas in Cameron County.Texas was associated with Hurricane Beulah in Septem-
ber 1967; 115 tornadoes, all in Texas, are known to have
occurred with this great hurricane within a 5-day peri-
od, Sept. 19-23. Sixty-seven occurred on Sept. 20, a Texas
record fora single day. As a result of Hurricane Beulah,
September, 1967, had 124tornadoes, a Texas record for a
single month. The greatest number in Texas in a single
year was 232, also in 1967. The second-highest number in
a single year was in 1982, when 203 tornadoes occurred
in Texas, 123 of them in May, making it the worst out-
break of spring tornadoes in Texas.
An accompanying table, compiled by Environmen-
tal Data Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, lists tornado occurrences in Texas, by
months, for the period 1951-1984.
NUMBER TEXAS TORNADOES
1951-1984
Source: State Climatologist for Texas
.
Year - L Q -M) 8 z a <
1951... 0 0 1 1 5 7 T 0 0 0 0 0 15
1952... 0 1 3 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 13
1953... 0 2 2 3 . 6 2 3 5 0 2 1 6 32
1954... 0 3 1 23 21 14 5 1 4 5 0 0 77
1955... O 0 7 15 42 32 1 5 2 0 0 0 104
1956... 0 3 5 3 17 5 6 4 2 9 2 0 56
1957... 0 1 21 69 33 5 0 3 2 6 5 0 145
1958... 2 0 7 12 15 13 10 7 0 0 8 0 74
1959... 0 0 8 4 32 14 10 3 4 5 6 0 86
1960... 4 1 0 8 29 14 3 4 2 11 1 0 77
1961... 0 1 21 15 24 30 9 2 12 0 10 0 124
1962... 0 4 12 9 25 56 12 15 7 2 0 1 143
1963... 0 0 3 9 19 24 8 4 6 4 5 0 82
1964... 0 1 6 22 15 11 9 7 3 1 3 0 78
1965... 2 5 3 7 43 24 2 9 4 6 0 3 108
1966... 0 4 121 22 15 3 8 3 0 0 0 77
1967... 0 2 11 17 34 22 10 5124 2 0 5 232
1968... 2 1 3 13 47 21 4 8 5 8 11 16 139
1969... 0 1 1 16 65 16 6 7 6 8 1 0 127
1970... 1 3 5 23 23 9 5 20 9 20 0 3 121
1971... 0 20 10 24 27 33 7 20 7 16 423 191
1972... 1 0 19 13 43 12 19 13 8 9 7 0 144
1973... 14 1 29 25 21 24 4 8 5 3 9 4 147
1974... 2 1 8 19 18 26 3 9 6 22 2 0 116
1975. . . 5 2 9 12 50 18 10 3 3 . 3 1 1 117
1976... 1 1 8 53 63 11 16 6 13 4 0 0 176
1977... O 0 3 34 50 4 5 5 12 0 6 4 123
1978... O 0 0 34 65 10 13 6 6 1 2 0 137
1979... 1 2 24 33 39 14 12 10 4 15 3 0 157
1980... 0 2 7 26 44 21 2 34 10 5 0 2 153
1981... 0 7 7 9 71 26 5 20 5 23 3 0 176
1982... 00 6 27 123 36 4 0 3 0 3 1 203
1983... 5 7 24 1 62 35 4 22 5 0 714 186
1984... 013 9 18 19 19 0 4 1 5 2 5 95
Total.. 140189128416221 1,21416241211127812831 195110218914,031
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Texas Almanac, 1986-1987, book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113818/m1/74/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.