Winter storm Jan. 10 dumps 4-8” of snow

By Sandy Morris

Old Man Winter made his presence known this past weekend when he blew into the area on Sunday, Jan. 10 and dumped as much as eight inches of snow in some parts of the Big Country.

The official report from the Albany weather observer recorded four includes, although many county residents noted as much as twice that depth.  

The single-day snowfall record in Albany was 12 inches more than 125 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1895, according to Hector Guerrero with the National Weather Service in San Angelo.

Guerrero’s research showed that seven out of the top 10 snowfall days in Albany were recorded before 1926, with official weather records starting here in 1893.

The most recent top 10 event was in 1989, number three on the chart with 7.3 inches on March 5.

The highest seasonal snowfall on record is 19.5 inches, set in 1918-1919, the same winter as the record for much of the rest of the Big Country. 

Many local children and adults took advantage of the large snowfall to get outside and build snowmen and go sledding down hills. Others preferred to enjoy the warmth of a cozy fire by staying indoors.

Due to the heavy accumulation of snow on the roadways, drivers were advised to stay off the roads  unless it was absolutely necessary to drive.  

Locally, Albany Independent School District, as well as several surrounding districts, cancelled classes on Monday out of concern for icy road conditions. 

Tanya Brown, Pubic Information Officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said their crews were prepared for the winter storm.

“We had already pre-treated the roads prior to the storm,” Brown said. “Once there was accumulation on the roadways, we sent out the snowplows.  We will continue to keep crews out monitoring the roads until all moisture has dried up and temperatures are above freezing.”

Locally, the city offices reported few calls about any issues with water or street conditions as of press time Tuesday. 

Contacts at Big Country Electric Co-op reported no power outages caused by the heavy snowfall and said no crews were sent out to handle trouble calls.

There were no reports available from AEP or Comanche County Co-op, but there were no major outages in the county last weekend.

By Monday morning,  the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds and the snow was slowly melting.  

Roadways were generally clear by mid-morning and forecasters were predicting temperatures to climb into the upper 50s to upper 60s by the middle of the week.