Ice, heat and hail: A look back at Central Texas’ biggest weather stories of 2024

  

AUSTIN (KXAN) — From snow and ice to triple-digit heat, and from flash flooding to extreme drought, 2024 had it all.

Here’s a look back at some of the biggest weather stories of the year.

Jan. 14-18: Winter Storm

Meteorologist Kristen Currie said it was “the powerhouse.” Meteorologist Sean Kelly called it “a doozy.” An arctic cold front slammed into Central Texas in the middle of January, bringing frigid temperatures that lasted several days.

Camp Mabry, Austin’s official weather reporting site, recorded a high temperature of just 24° on Jan. 15, and a low of 16° — both new records.

For only the third time in history, the National Weather Service issued a Wind Chill Advisory for the Austin area, with “feels like” temperatures dropping below 0° in some spots. Winter Storm Warnings were also issued for the entire Austin metro area.

While Camp Mabry didn’t get any snow officially, flurries fell in other parts of the city, while some areas of Central Texas were blanketed in a light dusting.

Austin-Travis County EMS crews treated at least 17 people for hypothermia, including a person who was rescued from Lady Bird Lake after being heard yelling for help.

The arctic chill came to an abrupt end on Jan. 18, when the high temperature soared to 77°. The warmup was the fifth-largest 24-hour temperature increase on record in Austin.

Despite the increase, the month ended up as the coldest January in Austin in 17 years. The average temperature, with all daily highs and lows taken into account, was 47.7°, much cooler than the 52.2° seen in a typical January.

Jan. 22-25: Heavy rain and Fayette County flash flooding

Austin’s wettest day of the year came on Jan. 22, when 3.11″ of rain was recorded at Camp Mabry, and 3.54″ was recorded at the airport. The day was Austin’s wettest since August 2022 and the fifth-wettest January day ever, with weather records dating back to the 1890s.

The rain was heavier further east, though. Fayette County was hit by torrential rainfall, leading to flash flooding across the county. The National Weather Service reported a maximum total of 14.45″ of rain there over a five-day period.

The same storm system brought severe storms to the Hill Country. On Jan. 23, Horseshoe Bay was hit by the worst hailstorm since 2010, according to Assistant Police Chief Jason Graham, causing damage to roofs, gutters, vehicles and trees.

“Got a lot of rain, a lot of ice, a lot of wind,” Horseshoe Bay resident Johnny Holmes told KXAN’s Sarah Al-Shaikh. “I could see the hail building up, trees just swaying in the wind, and the rain was coming down.”

One upside to the storms was that flow temporarily returned to Jacob’s Well, the popular swimming hole near Wimberley. Flow had stopped completely in July 2023, but returned after 222 days.

“We’re not out of the drought. This certainly hasn’t solved our regional water problems,” David Baker, executive director of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, told Meteorologist David Yeomans in a live interview on Jan. 25. “But it is a relief for now to see Jacob’s Well flowing and healthy.”

The relief was short-lived. On May 1, swimming season at Jacob’s Well was once again suspended due to low water levels.

April 8: Total solar eclipse

At 12:20 p.m., Meteorologist Rich Segal gave possibly the most important forecast of the year. “Breaks in the clouds will be likely through the afternoon, with a few more of those breaks in our Hill Country communities,” Segal said.

Those clouds parted at just the right moment for thousands of Central Texans to witness a spectacular celestial event: the first total solar eclipse in the Austin area since the year 1397. The next one in the area won’t be until 2343.

Meteorologist Jim Spencer witnessed the eclipse alongside thousands of people at the Long Center in downtown Austin. “People were screaming and clapping,” Spencer said. “It opened up during totality. We saw the diamond ring going in and going out. It was fantastic!”

Temperatures dropped by several degrees during the eclipse. To see the impact of the moon covering the sun, KXAN tracked the temperature every five minutes at the Burnet Municipal Airport. The city, northwest of Austin, experienced 4 minutes, 20.3 seconds of totality during the eclipse.

At 12:20 p.m., just after the start of the partial eclipse in Burnet, the temperature was recorded at 79°. By the start of the total eclipse, at 1:34 p.m., the temperature had fallen by four degrees. Temperatures dropped further, down to 73° by 1:45 p.m., just after the end of totality. A quick rebound then followed as the sun started to reemerge, reaching 79° once again by the end of the partial eclipse, around 3 p.m.

The next total eclipse visible in the U.S. won’t be for another 20 years. The eclipse on Aug. 23, 2044, will only be visible in Montana and the Dakotas.

April 9: Marble Falls hail storm

On April 9, tennis ball-sized hail pummeled Marble Falls, breaking windows, shattering windshields and pelting tree branches.

“I’ve seen a snowstorm so thick that it stopped windshield wipers, and it was like that,” Marble Falls resident Ronald Martin told KXAN’s Dylan McKim. “It was just extreme.”

Marble Falls police said the storm passed over 90% of the town, hitting the downtown area most severely. One person suffered minor injuries.

April 28: Manor tornado

An EF-1 tornado touched down in Manor on April 28, causing damage at a gas station as well as to several homes in the ShadowGlen neighborhood.

According to the National Weather Service, the tornado was on the ground for 4.82 miles and had maximum winds of about 110 mph. No injuries were reported, but NWS survey crews estimated the damage at around $5 million.

May 9: Third-largest hailstone ever in Texas, San Marcos microburst

Central Texas endured several rounds of severe weather in early May, including storms that prompted flash flooding in Kempner on May 5. The strongest storms, however, moved through on May 9, causing damage in Blanco, Hays and Caldwell counties.

A supercell thunderstorm rapidly intensified as it moved into Blanco County and dumped giant hail in Johnson City. The National Weather Service estimated one hailstone was 6.14″ in diameter, the third-largest ever recorded in Texas. Hail up to DVD size smashed through metal roofs and drywall, causing significant damage.

“It was horrible. It just came so quickly. We weren’t prepared,” one Johnson City resident told KXAN. “All of a sudden, we hear all this hail on the roof, then we had water coming in through the air conditioning vent and through the light [fixture].”

The storm then set its sights on Dripping Springs, Wimberley and San Marcos, where winds estimated up to 80 mph caused considerable damage.

“I’ve lived in Wimberley for 35 years, and that was the worst storm I’ve ever seen in Wimberley,” Madonna Kimball, president of the Senior Citizens Craft Shop said. “The electricity was torn off of the building, so we had live wires across the driveway.”

Meanwhile, a Hays County Sheriff’s deputy got caught in the storm. “He had to pull over. Essentially like a bomb going off every time it would hit his roof or his hood,” Deputy Anthony Hipolito said. “Glass essentially getting sprayed all over him. He truly thought he was in a possible tornado.”

The National Weather Service said rather than a tornado, the damage was caused by very strong straight-line winds. While reporting on damage in San Marcos, KXAN’s Sarah Al-Shaikh found Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra surveying the damage at his own home.

“We watched it coming, and we felt it happen,” Becerra said. “All the trees started swooshing. We saw the hail. We saw it all firsthand.”

Throughout 2024, a total of 164 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued by the National Weather Service in the KXAN viewing area, about 100 fewer than in 2023.

San Saba County saw the most warnings, with 31, followed by Blanco and Lampasas counties with 25 each. Travis County had 19 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued in 2024.

July 23-24: Llano River flash flooding

“The big breaking news this morning is that we’ve got a whole lot of floodwater coming down the Llano [River] and into the Highland Lakes.” That’s how Meteorologist Kristen Currie described the situation early on July 24.

The Llano River had risen 15 feet overnight after rain totals of 3 to 6″ in the Hill Country, more than the river’s watershed had seen in more than a year, according to John Hofmann, executive vice president for water at the Lower Colorado River Authority.

The rising river prompted the LCRA to open two floodgates at Wirtz Dam and three at Max Starcke Dam.

The downstream impact caused the water level on Lake Travis to rise from 634.43′ on July 22 to 642′ by July 31 — or from 40.7% full to 47.8% full.

Aug. 21: Hottest day of the year

All the rain in July helped keep temperatures down, and the month ended up cooler than June for only the 10th time since on record in Austin.

Things really started heating up in mid August, though. Austin saw a 12-day stretch of triple digit temperatures, reaching a maximum of 109° on Aug. 21 — which tied for the ninth-hottest day ever in the city.

Aug. 22-25: North Art Complex Fire

“Fuel conditions have really increased over the past several months, and now that we’re in a drying trend, we’ve just been poised waiting for an ignition source,” Shane Crimm with the Texas Forest Service said.

An ignition source — lightning — started a wildfire in Mason County on Aug. 22 that would grow to consume more than 4,000 acres in total.

The North Art Complex Fire burned 4,313 acres over a four-day period, just east of Mason. Video sent to KXAN showed firefighters battling intense flames.

In total, 29 fires burned more than 5,800 acres across Central Texas in 2024. Other notable wildfires include the Hudson Fire, which burned 400 acres in Bastrop County in early November, and the Perry, White Creek, Old Brush, Lower Willow and Mesquite Fires, all of which burned more than 100 acres in the Hill Country.

Sept. 3: More flooding in the Hill Country

Another round of heavy rain dumped several inches of rain in the Llano River watershed, causing the river to flood again. More than 6″ of rain was recorded in the city of Llano itself.

This was the view of Cherokee Creek, north of Llano, sent to KXAN by Devin Everett.

The LCRA once again opened a floodgate at both Wirtz and Max Starcke Dams. The downstream effect caused Lake Travis to rise to its highest level since October 2022 — 642.95′ on Sept. 9, meaning the lake was 48.8% full.

Oct. 13: Latest triple-digit temperature ever

The 2024 meteorological fall season, from the start of September to the end of November, was the hottest on record in Austin, with an average temperature of 75.8°, surpassing the previous record of 75.1° set back in 1931.

October ended up as the hottest and second-driest on record in Austin, while November was the fifth-hottest and September was the 10th-hottest.

The abnormally warm fall can clearly be seen in the chart below, which shows how the high temperatures each day compared to average. Days in red were hotter than normal.

Numerous heat-related records were set during this year’s meteorological fall, including the latest triple-digit temperature ever recorded. Camp Mabry hit a high of 101° on Oct. 13, well past the previous record of Oct. 2, set in both 1923 and 1938.

In total, Austin reached the triple digits 32 times in 2024, down from 80 in 2023, but still above the average of 29.

So what could 2025 bring?

The Climate Prediction Center said La Niña conditions are likely to return, making this the fourth of the last five winters with a La Niña pattern.

In Central Texas, winter is typically warmer and drier under La Niña conditions, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see any wintry weather. In fact, the February 2021 winter storm and the January/February 2023 ice storm both occurred during La Niña winters.

This La Niña is expected to be weaker and shorter, which complicates long-range forecasts.

“A weak La Niña doesn’t mean that we won’t necessarily see La Niña-like impacts across the United States,” Tom DiLiberto, a climate scientist with NOAA, said. “It just means we may not be as confident in that coming to fruition.”

With that said, here’s the in-depth forecast from the KXAN First Warning Weather team:

• We expect average temperatures this winter to be 2-3 degrees above the 30-year normals.
• La Niña winters have the potential to bring brief spells of arctic temperatures with colder Canadian air spilling farther south. We expect 1-2 of those particularly-cold blasts this season, with the potential for at least one winter weather event.
• The precipitation forecast is more challenging. One wet week can reverse a season of drought, but the expected storm track does not look to favor frequent rains. We expect most of the area will see 1-2″ less rain than a typical winter.

In its three-month outlook, the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting both warmer and drier weather than average this winter.

As for the rest of 2025, Chief Meteorologist Nick Bannin and the entire KXAN First Warning Weather team will be there with you throughout!