Weather in North Texas can swing wildly, including during winters. One year might bring a white Christmas, while the next features sunny skies, T-shirts and shorts.
This year, echoes of warmer winters have been seen. At the end of the day, the high and low temperatures for Dec. 26, 2021, will be added to the official record for future comparison. This official record is maintained by the National Weather Service, which has recorded weather-related information for the Dallas-Fort Worth area every year since 1898.
Take a look back at coverage in The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald from the years with record high and low temperatures on Dec. 26.
COLDEST
Dec. 26, 1983
High 29
Low 16
In 1983, winter weather was big news in Texas. According to the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, a division of NASA, December 1983 to February 1984 was Texas’ coldest winter in 43 years with a mean air temperature of 44.65 degrees Fahrenheit. The center, which released a report on winters from 1979 to date, said freezing conditions in Dallas lasted 22 days that winter.
However, a look back at data from 1898 to present shows that the coldest winter was actually from 1898 to 1899, the first with high and low temperatures recorded by the National Weather Service. During this winter, the Texas Almanac said, the average temperature was 42.5 F and the National Weather Service reported a low of -8 F.
The Dallas Morning News
Weather had prime real estate in The News during December 1983. On Dec. 26, the front page headline said, “Arctic chill forces FW water cutoffs.” This chill swept through North Texas and reporters, and locals, took heed. According to the National Weather Service, it resulted in the coldest December D-FW had ever experienced.
For one Dallas resident, Christmas Day included a disaster. On Dec. 26, The News detailed Dick Powers’ ingenuity when facing the icy results of a ruptured water main. Reportedly, the rupture caused water to spew 45 feet into the air for more than an hour. Powers’ backyard was covered in ice.
The ingenuity came into play as the icy display became an impromptu setting for holiday photographers and gawkers. The house and its ice-covered pecan trees were tourist attractions.
Despite the damage to his house, Powers said, “there ain’t nothing that can shake me up.”
For younger residents, the winter conditions meant a white Christmas and playing outside. On the last day of classes before winter break, some area elementary school students were given an extended recess to enjoy the snow.
Outside entertainment was not reserved for the young. In downtown Dallas, workers had their own fun. On Dec. 23, one of the coldest days of that winter, workers braved the elements to erect a snowman on the incomplete LTV Tower’s third floor.
Dallas Times Herald
On Dec. 26, 1983, the Dallas Times Herald was direct in its headline that “low temperatures shatter records.” An article said that water officials in Dallas and Fort Worth each reported about 100 water main breaks in one day due to the cold. Thomas E. Taylor, director of Dallas water utilities, said this was caused when cold water was pumped out of local lakes and encountered weak spots in city pipes. Taylor told the Times Herald that this was not an unusual occurrence, but “what is different this time is that it has lasted longer than ever before.”
According to the National Weather Service, the Fort Worth Water Department spent nearly $1.5 million to repair city water lines because of that winter’s conditions.
Robbin Cowen, a water field operations superintendent in Fort Worth, said sections of Fort Worth were without water because of the water main breaks. He said the breaks flooded some streets leading to hazardous driving conditions.
In the Dec. 26 article, Cowen told the Times Herald, “this has been the worst day so far.”
The same front page article detailed the challenges Texas citrus growers in the Rio Grande Valley faced because of the freezing temperatures. Plans were underway to sell frozen oranges to orange juice manufacturers, at a lower cost than for other purposes, but that could not salvage the growing season which was expected to yield a loss of at least $3 million. Farmers also expected to lose about 15 percent of the citrus trees in the valley.
While both papers covered issues like burst water pipes, the Times Herald took it one step further with an article that warned of the dangers of space heaters.
A Dallas Fire Department official told the reporter that space heaters, especially gas ones, were the cause of at least one death in Dallas every year. According to the article, individuals were to avoid standing too close to a space heater, especially when wearing long clothing like a bathrobe. Rather, all combustible materials needed to be kept 12 to 18 inches away.
Other space heater-related dangers were from vacated chairs left by residents seeking warmth, as well as carbon monoxide poisoning. The article’s secondary headline advised readers to remember that heaters offered warmth with danger.
NOTABLE
Dec. 26, 2020
High 70
Low 35
Last year’s Dec. 26 — with a high of 70 and a low of 35 — was no record-breaker, but the winter storm that followed a couple months later was.
Of course, winter is more than a single day. February 2021 was indeed record-breaking as it was the coldest February in D-FW since 1979, according to the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center.
On Feb. 16, the National Weather Service declared a new record low for D-FW: -2 F. This temperature tied with Jan. 31, 1949, but both dates placed second to -8 F on Feb. 12, 1899.
WARMEST
Dec. 16, 2008
High 83
Low 65
On Dec. 16, 2008, North Texans woke up to a layer of ice and a dusting of snow. A metal snowman in front of one Oak Cliff house had a sign that said “Let It Snow,” but it did not. That day was the start of a warming trend that lasted through Dec. 26.
The Times Herald folded in 1991 so coverage from this revisit of the unseasonably warm day is taken only from The News.
Dec. 26, 2008, set a new record high of 83, topping the previous high of 81 in 2005.
The temperatures were high and residents took advantage of it by heading outdoors. Staff photographers captured images of teenagers in shorts and tank tops at a park and others playing near White Rock Lake.
Another photographer made it out to Flower Mound, where a resident took his new skateboard, a Christmas gift, on a test run. He did it in a t-shirt and jeans on a street free of ice and snow.
While North Texas was warm, other areas of the United States were not. There were flight delays and cancellations at airports around the country. At DFW International Airport, carolers sang for travelers.
Dallas Times Herald and record heat days
For Dec. 26, the last record heat days the Dallas Times Herald covered were in 1942 and 1971. In both years, the record high was 76.
The unseasonable weather made the front page of the Dec. 26, 1942, issue, which also included articles about World War II. According to the weather story, a warm front contributed to the hottest Christmas night to date. The warm weather was to continue Dec. 26 until the following morning, when temperatures were expected to drop. However, chief weather observer A.M. Hamrick was quoted as saying that no real cold weather was in sight for D-FW.
An article published on Dec. 26, 1971, lamented the lack of a white Christmas in Dallas. However, an out-of-town win by the Cowboys against the Minnesota Vikings was cause for celebration, which extended to the Dallas County Jail, according to Chief Jailer Carl Rowland. Also celebrating the win was an area mail hub staff that had time to watch the game because of a slower-than-usual work day.
OTHER RECORD YEARS
Warmer days
While 1983 and 2008 are record holders for the coldest and warmest Dec. 26 in D-FW, there are other notable years. In second place, at a balmy 82, is Dec. 26, 2015, followed by 2005 when the high was 81.
Colder days
When it comes to cold days, a review of the top years helps put Dec. 26, 1983, into context. The high was 29 and the low 16. In second place is 1977.
