Adam Russell
903-834-6191
adam.russell@ag.tamu.edu
So far, there are few silver linings related to the winter storm system that brought historically low temperatures and a mix of precipitation throughout Texas, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.
As damage assessments begin around the state, AgriLife Extension specialists said the positive impacts of the weeklong arctic front were minimal for Texas agriculture. They said snow and ice helped topsoil moisture levels a little and likely insulated some crops from severe damage. And, the cold temperatures may also have had an impact on early emerging generations of insect pests.
John Nielsen-Gammon, Ph.D., Texas state climatologist, Bryan-College Station, said the February arctic front was one of only two winter storms going back to the first weather records in 1881 with similar snowfall totals and low temperatures for all 254 counties.
“From an ag perspective, the extent of the cold temperatures was most relevant, and based upon 26 weather stations in and around major cities, it was a historically cold storm,” he said. “As far as precipitation and helping drought conditions in several parts of the state, snow doesn’t amount to much when compared to rainfall. But the combination of historically low temperatures and significant snow is a rarity in recorded history, and only comparable to an event in 1949.”
Winter storm for the record books
Nielsen-Gammon said the average minimum temperature around the state was 8 degrees on Feb. 15, making it the 10th coldest on record and coldest since 1989. The winter storm delivered the coldest temperatures on record for two major recording stations – Longview and Tyler, at -5 degrees and -6 degrees, respectively. The previous lows in those locations were -3 degrees and -4 degrees, respectively, set in 1930.
In general, most areas around the state reached colder temperatures in 1989, which is the second coldest event on record and caused severe agriculture damage, especially to the state’s citrus crops in the Rio Grande Valley. Damage is still expected as temperatures for the weeklong storm averaged 26.4 degrees in South Texas and along the Gulf Coast. By comparison, the 1989 temperature average was just above 21 degrees.
Nielsen-Gammon said snowfall totals were very preliminary, but that most of the state received measurable amounts.
Reagan Noland, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist, San Angelo, said his location reported 10.1 inches of snowfall, but said it will have minimal positive impact on soil moisture levels.
“Snow is a good form of precipitation as it doesn’t create much runoff and soaks into the soil, and can actually insulate the plants from damaging temperatures,” he said. “But the disappointing thing about this snow is it doesn’t represent an appreciable contribution to soil moisture. The 10 inches of snow was marked as only 0.28 of an inch of actual water.”
Not much good news
Jourdan Bell, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist, Amarillo, said the precipitation value from snow is not equivalent to the same depth of rainfall, and moisture varies with snowfall events. Dry snow was widely reported during the recent arctic front. The two snow events in the Panhandle during the week delivered 0.26 of an inch of moisture according to official measurements in Bushland.
Despite snow’s failure to deliver needed moisture to areas like San Angelo and the Panhandle, where soil moisture levels have been at or near drought level and declining for months, Bell said the snow protected winter wheat fields from low temperatures.
“We are seven days past subzero temperatures, so we may start seeing some evidence of damage, but we are currently only seeing leaf burn,” she said. “Even though the snow doesn’t represent significant moisture, it still provided a blanket to help protect the wheat from extreme temperatures.”
Noland agreed that the snow likely helped insulate winter wheat and other small grains or winter forages from severe freeze, and that any amount of moisture will help growers in his region, especially as cotton planting approaches. But spring rains will be necessary for dryland acres to survive and produce.
In the Rio Grande Valley, cold temperatures damaged orange and grapefruit production and trees, said Juan Enciso, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research irrigation engineer, Weslaco. Luckily around 80% of oranges and almost 70% of grapefruit were harvested before temperatures dipped into the danger zone.
Enciso was heading to the field to assess the severity of crop damages and said any positives from the storm were hard to measure.
“The moisture impact will be minimal, and about the only silver lining I can think of is that it may have killed some insect pests,” he said. “There’s just not much good news that I see coming from this winter storm.”
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