The recent cold weather a few days before Christmas 2022, where temperatures ranged from 17 degrees to lows of 12 de grees in some of the rural areas, caused many to reminisce about past cold weather events. Though this event was called a “once in a generation” winter storm, many would easily refer to the ice/snow storm of February 2021 as "the" storm to use as a benchmark.
With these facts in mind, per haps we can visit some past cold weather events in Fayette County history.
While official weather records were few before the 1870s, Mike Cox, in his Texas Tales column at the Texas Escapes website, wrote that on February 11, 1899, Galveston Bay reportedly froze over. He also notes in this same article that on February 12, the temperature hit a Texas record with a mark of 23 degrees below zero in Tulia, a small community in Swisher County in the Texas panhandle. This cold weather event did not go unnoticed in Fayette County. The La Grange Journal reported that the thermometer registered two degrees below zero at 4 a.m., Sunday, February 12. The Warrenton re porter stated their thermometer indicated "4 degrees below zero." The December 25, 1924 is sue of the La Grange Journal reported the balmy December weather took a drastic change on Thursday, December 19th of that year. It was reported by the Win chester reporter that “upon arising Saturday morning, the people of our thriving community were very much surprised to find the ground covered with sleet.” The Ellinger reporter wrote that “one of the severest cold spells since 1898 [1899] visited this section of the county.” The newspaper reported that “the brisk Norther came blisteringly upon us with a vengeance.” Apparently, this was quite a change from the previous day’s weather. The Journal reporter further stated that “losses to cattle raisers is reported as being very heavy” across the state. This was followed with the statement that “the loss of cattle in the Houston section, and up as far as Colorado County is tremendous. People riding on the (railroad) cars saw statues of ice created by dead cattle, frozen as a result of the terrific change." In the January 23, 1930 is sue of the La Grange Journal, it was reported that “while the sun shone all day Saturday (January 18, 1930), the temperature was down, where the north winds blew constantly against the thermometer, the register was from 2 degrees below to four degrees above zero.”
One can only imagine how hard it was for the people during those times since the houses lacked modern-day building practices. Leaking windows and doors, no insulation in the walls and attics, and simple wood-burning stoves for heat would have made life extremely hard for those living during those times.
In a story in the Fayette Coun- ty Record dated January 1967, Mr. Ivan Perry recalled the Jan- uary 1930 cold snap. "He and his wife, Elsie, and their son went down to the river east of town to what was known as Kreische’s Bend. The river was frozen solid, the ice fully four inches thick.”
A cold weather event in 1949 made for some wet results in the Fayette County Courthouse. The La Grange Journal, in an article dated February 3, 1949, report ed a “six-inch snow fell and two above zero temperature” resulted in “a three-inch water line at the second story level in the courthouse burst…spraying water right and left”.
In more recent times, many residents of the county will recall the freeze of December, 1983. In a cover photo on the front page of the December 28, 1983 issue of the La Grange Journal, there was a man standing on a private lake in the county. The ice on the lake was reported to be 12 inches thick. The reporter stated that "the year 1983 will long be remembered as the year weather records were broken all over Texas during the Christmas holidays”. The Journal reported that areas in the county recorded tem- peratures from nine degrees to 13 degrees, with light snow flurries at various locations. It also stated that the La Grange State Bank Community Room and St. Paul Lutheran Church in La Grange were opened for stranded motorists. The low temperatures lasted for nearly two weeks and caused many plumbing problems with subsequent water damage.
Only six years later, from De- cember 18 through the 24, 1989, Fayette County residents would face another cold Norther which brought snow and ice to some areas of the county. The Fayette County Record reported temperatures as low as three degrees with the usual problems with plumbing and stock tanks frozen over.
Despite these cold weather events and the heat, drought, tornadoes, hurricanes, high winds, and floods, the residents of Fay ette County carried on. The strength and tenacity of their pioneering ancestors gave them the same strength and tenacity to sustain them through those hard times. Hard times make for hard (and tough) people!
Sources: The Fayette County Record The La Grange Journal Mike Cox, “Remembering When It Got Really Cold,” texasescapes. com Personal records kept by the author
