National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Tornado Outbreak Expected Today in the Central U.S. Followed by Multi-Day Heavy Rainfall Event

A tornado outbreak is expected today and tonight from parts of the lower Mississippi Valley into the Mid-South and lower Ohio Valley. Numerous tornadoes, along with multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes, appear likely. A multi-day, potentially historic heavy rainfall event may produce catastrophic and life-threatening flooding today through Saturday from the Ozarks into the Ohio River Valley. Read More >

Years in which freezing precipitation were observed in Corpus Christi
1924 1940 1946 1947 1948 1949
1951 1956 1961 1962 1963 1964
1973 1978 1982 1983 1985 1989
1990 1994 1996 1997 2007 2011

All of the information contained within this website is available for download as both a PDF & Powerpoint. Since 1924, freezing rain and/or freezing drizzle (freezing precipitation) has been observed on average every 3 to 4 years in Corpus Christi. At least one report of freezing precipitation in 24 separate years has occurred since 1924. For more detailed Corpus Christi official freezing precipitation observations obtained from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), please click here. It could not be determined with a reasonable level of certainty if freezing precipitation occurred in the following years: 1896, 1897, 1918, 1925, 1929 or 1932. Ice pellets and/or snow were observed in these particular years. However given the fact that only two daily observations were taken prior to 1933, the possibility existed for freezing precipitation (which oftentimes can accompany frozen precipitation in South Texas) to have occurred between the official observation times. Such was the case for the 1924 event.

Official surface observations for the 1924 ice storm only indicated that snow and ice pellets fell. However, as mentioned above, surface observations prior to 1933 were only taken twice daily at 700 AM CST and 700 PM CST . Newspaper reports and accounts from the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi did indeed indicate that freezing precipitation occurred in 1924. As a result of these non-official accounts, the 1924 ice storm is considered one of the most significant ice storms to have affected Corpus Christi.

Significant Corpus Christi Ice Storms
  12/19-25, 1924 1/18-22, 1940 1/29-31, 1951 1/9-10, 1973 1/12, 1982 2/5-6, 1982 1/12-14, 1985 2/4-7, 1989 2/3-4, 2011
Ice Thickness Unknown Unknown >110 14-12 Unknown Unknown 1″ 13-14 14-38
Total Liquid 1.45″ Unknown 0.10″ 0.39″ 0.05″ 0.04″ 0.57″ 0.09″ 0.05″
Event Duration ∼4 days 6 hours ∼42 hours 16 hours 2 hours 5 hours 30 hours 39 hours 14 hours
Freezing Duration ∼72 hours 23 hours 96 hours 14 hours 31 hours 17 hours 32 hours 38 hours 37 hours
Fatalities Unknown Unknown 2 None None 1 2 None None
Injuries Unknown Unknown Multiple ≥10 Unknown Dozens ≥27 Multiple Multiple

From all these events, nine significant ice storms were identified. Since ice thickness is usually not reported in the official NCDC record, other data sources, especially from the Corpus Christi Caller Times had to be used to qualitatively rank these ice storms. NCDC's Storm Data publication was used to gather additional information on the ice storms in the 1980s and the 2011 ice storm. Supplemental socio-economic data included:

  • Number of fatalities
  • Number of injuries
  • Damage extent and/or cost
  • Number of traffic accidents
  • Airport closures
  • Road closures
  • Businesses closed
  • Schools closed
  • Communication disruption

A significant factor in delineating the severity of an ice storm was not only the thickness of ice but also the duration of extreme cold weather. The basic theory behind this is that the longer it stays below freezing and the lower the temperature, then there will be less likelihood of melting of ice. Thus, the impact from any ice accumulation would be longer in duration and have a greater effect on the community at large.

The one common factor with these nine ice storms was that they were all associated with significant Arctic Outbreaks across much of the United States, including South Texas. At the 500 mb level, a strong ridge axis was evident in most cases across Alaska and either along or just off the West Coast of the United States. A deep closed low at 500 mb was also evident in all cases stretching between Hudson Bay and Greenland. This synoptic pattern is similar to Arctic Outbreak patterns mentioned by McFarland (1976) and Mortimer (1988). The synoptic pattern observed in these ice storms and accompaying Arctic Outbreaks differ from the positive phase of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern. The main difference is that the upper ridge axis is shifted further eastward with the positive PNA pattern which produces warmer temperatures to occur across the western U.S. and western Canada.

Oftentimes, there was a short wave trough axis evident in the southern (subtropical) branch of the jet stream moving through the Desert Southwest of the U.S. and northern Mexico. This feature was also noted by McFarland (1976) and Mortimer (1988) in their assessment of synoptic patterns associated with Arctic Outbreaks. Sometimes, this short wave was in phase with the deep low pressure area located between Hudson Bay and Greenland, forming a positive tilt long wave trough axis extending from eastern Canada southwestward into northwest Mexico. Another aspect to the short wave trough axis is its obvious role in the development of precipitation by producing the necessary upward forcing. Several of these ice storms were associated with weak cyclogenesis in the Northwest Gulf of America, most likely caused by a short wave approaching from the west. The strongest of these short waves occurred in January 1985 which not only produced significant icing across Corpus Christi but also produced record snowfall (13.5 inches) in San Antonio!


Composites

Surface Composite for the 1924,1940,1951,1973,1982,1985 & 1989 ice storms
500 mb Composite for the 1924,1940,1951,1973,1982,1985 & 1989 ice storms