AUSTIN (KXAN) — Get ready, Central Texas! A late-season cold snap is coming soon, bringing with it sub-freezing wind chills and a chance for snow in the Hill Country.
Austin is not expected to drop to freezing — the latest forecast calls for 38° on Monday morning — but temperatures at or below 32° are not out of the question in parts of the Hill Country.
While it may seem late in the season, it’s actually right on par with the average. The Hill Country typically sees its last freeze of the season around March 20.
Average last freeze of the colder months
But at Austin’s Camp Mabry, the official weather reporting site for the city, the average last freeze of the season is much earlier. With data back to 1897, the average last freeze each year is Feb. 25. But in recent years, the average has gotten earlier — Feb. 15 is the average for the period of 1991 to 2020.
Again, we’re not forecasting a freeze in Austin with this upcoming cold snap. But if temperatures did fall to 32°, we’d be experiencing one of the latest freezes on record.
The absolute latest freeze occurred on April 9, 1914. On that day, temperatures dipped to 32° at Camp Mabry.