Freezing rain followed by two winter storms, each producing additional freezing rain and several inches of snow, turned most of the state of Texas into a disaster area this past week. Places such as Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are three of the top 10 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States, in part because of the absence of severe winter weather. However, these same areas have had snow and cold weather in the past. A light fall of snow happens in Dallas every winter or two. It is more rare, but not unheard of, as far south as Houston.
However, these areas had snow that drifted and temperatures near zero this week. In any region, there is weather that happens virtually every year and weather that only happens every few years. There is also that rarer form of weather that happens only once every several decades. Many Texans had such a "once in a lifetime" experience this week.
