On February 16-18, 2025 a bitterly cold wave of arctic air surged across the North Pole from Siberia and forged its way southward across Canada and eventually the entire U.S. western high plains.  This swath of cold was not expected to penetrate southward across all of Texas, as derived from most of the weather forecast models.  However, the extensive layer of dense cold continued south and eastward across Texas, eventually reaching the Gulf Coast on February 19th.  The Dallas Metroplex was mired in subfreezing temperatures for nearly two days, while Houston remained at or below freezing during the entire daylight hours of February 19th, busting local weather forecasts of highs in the low 40s by ten to fifteen degrees.

As of Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 the cold wedge of arctic air is gradually giving way to a moist flow from the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, with temperatures along the Texas Gulf Coast moderating into the chilly 40s and low 50s.  By next week, this latest pall of winter weather will be all but forgotten, with springlike temperatures returning to Texas.

But the winter of 2025 will not be forgotten in the weather annals of the Lone Star State, two bitterly cold outbreaks occurring from January 20-24th, and again beginning on February 16th and continuing into the weekend of February 21st.