Snow in Houston is a rare treat. On average, we see measurable snowfall about once every 4.5 years. Similarly, while we gear up for hurricane season each year, Houston only takes a direct hit from a hurricane about once every 5.5 years.
But here’s where it gets interesting: In July 2024, Hurricane Beryl, a Category 1 storm, made landfall near Houston. Just this week, we got snow. A similar pattern happened in 2021, an inch of snow fell in February, and 7 months later, Hurricane Nicholas (another Category 1 storm) lashed Matagorda Bay in September.
Of course, 2017 is a year we’ll never forget; Hurricane Harvey devastated our region, but you might also recall we had a snow event that same year, just over half an inch on December 8.
Naturally, people notice these coincidences and ask me, “Does it always snow after a hurricane?” When I dug into the records, the answer was... no. But sometimes, it does match up. The below picture is from Spring, I-45, and Cypresswood (courtesy of Tommy Allen.)
Let’s explore what’s behind these occasional correlations:
Our minds don’t like uncertainty, so we instinctively draw patterns from what we observe. Hurricanes and snow are a great example of this. After Hurricane Beryl hit, several of my friends confidently said, “We’re going to get snow this winter!” Why? Because in their minds, hurricanes and snow go hand in hand, it’s happened before, so it must happen again. And this year, they were right!
But it doesn’t always work out this way. Think about your friends in Southern California. They know the San Andreas Fault will eventually cause a massive earthquake, but because no one knows when, people start wondering, “Maybe there’s a severe drought,” or they’ll say, “Big earthquakes always follow droughts.” Or if there’s heavy flooding, they might say, “Big earthquakes always follow flooding.”
We all make connections like this, between weather and daily life because our brains crave certainty. It’s just how we cope with the unknown.
Do hurricanes and snow go together?
FULL DISCLOSURE: This isn’t a scientific study, so please forgive me if I get any dates or details wrong.
After it snowed on Tuesday, I received several emails asking, “Does it always snow after a hurricane hits?” I thought that question would be perfect for my newsletter. So on Wednesday, I started looking up every hurricane that has hit southeast Texas and the years it snowed in Houston. By Thursday, I was ready to start writing.
The chart below includes all hurricanes that have made landfall in southeast Texas since 1875. I counted 22 hurricane strikes. I didn’t include tropical storms, though storms like Allison in 2001, Claudette in 2003, and Imelda in 2019 were certainly memorable. None of those tropical storms were followed by snow in the winters before or after.
In the chart, years marked in purple indicate winters with snow either before or after a hurricane. What really stands out is that the last five hurricanes, Jerry in 1989, Ike in 2008, Harvey in 2017, Nicholas in 2021, and Beryl in 2024, all had snow during the adjacent winter! No wonder people think hurricanes and snow are connected.
But if you look at the bigger picture, the data doesn’t really show a strong correlation.
Out of 22 hurricanes since 1875, only eight were associated with snow, about 36% of the time. For example, the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and Category 3 Alicia in 1983 weren’t followed by snowy winters. And how would you have liked living in Houston from 1941 to 1949, when the city endured six hurricane strikes in just eight years?
So while it’s a fascinating coincidence that recent hurricanes and snow seem to go together, the long-term data shows it’s not a reliable pattern, just one of those quirks of Houston’s weather history.
Snow in Houston:
By my count, Houston has seen snow in 30 different years since 1895. While there were years with multiple snow events, I’m only counting the years themselves.
The first thing that stands out is that snow is much more common in Houston than hurricanes and that’s definitely a good thing!
Overall, snow and hurricanes only coincide 27% of the time. While it’s a fascinating connection, it’s not a frequent one.
I’ll be out next week so my next newsletter will drop in February. Enjoy the warmer temperatures.
