SAN ANTONIO – Usually it’s tornadoes and snow that highlight our top 5 weather countdown. This year, outer space said not so fast!
Here’s a look at the top 5 weather events of the year, as decided by KSAT’s meteorologists.
NUMBER 5: MLK ICE
While winter weather wasn’t a huge issue in January and February, the one event we did have came with horrible timing. Ice developed on many of the roadways early on January 15, causing numerous accidents and treacherous conditions. Sadly, the ice caused Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in San Antonio to be canceled. It also gave us this harrowing near-miss on air.
NUMBER 4: NORTHERN LIGHTS IN THE… SOUTH?
It may have been cold in January, but it’s not like we live in the Arctic Circle, where you’d more normally see our next event: the northern lights. It’s something that rarely, and I do mean rarely, happens in South Texas. Thanks to a powerful magnetic storm on May 10, San Antonio got a once-in-a-lifetime (literally) glance at the northern lights.
NUMBER 3: BERYL BARRELS ASHORE
Hurricane Beryl was a long-track hurricane that began its journey way out in the Atlantic. Traveling more than 6,000 miles, we watched as Beryl brought significant damage to places like Barbados, Jamaica, and Cancun. It then began to make a turn towards Texas. Initially, concerns were high that it may greatly impact the area. The hurricane had different ideas, however, and took a turn to the east. It left San Antonio dry, but a landfall near Matagorda, a category 1 storm, did leave behind damage on the Texas coast. We were there as Beryl moved ashore, and it brought us the story of this impromptu beach wedding.
NUMBER 2: THE-ALL-TOO-FAMILIAR BLAZING HOT SUMMERS
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: it was a record-setting summer. After records dropped left and right over the summer of 2023, 2024 said hold my beer! Some of the records included a high of 108° on August 21 (San Antonio’s third hottest temperature all-time), the hottest heat index on record (117°) on June 4, and the all-time hottest October for San Antonio.
NUMBER 1: ECLIPSE-MANIA
No surprise here. It was the event of a lifetime, literally. The total solar eclipse, which passed over northwest San Antonio and the Hill Country, occurred after years of anticipation. People came from across the world to see the celestial event. The KSAT meteorologists did have some serious trepidation when it came to the cloud forecast, but many, thankfully, did get to see, or at least experience, the moment it went dark in the middle of the day. That includes Adam Caskey and myself who were stationed in Fredericksburg. I can’t be sure, but I think I saw Adam shed a tear!
Here’s a toast to what will be likely another eventful weather year in 2025! 🍾