Texas is thought to be one of the last places to experience any type of winter weather. However, Feb. 2021 proved that wrong when, on Feb. 10, an infamous cold front hit Texas. Two days later, a Winter Storm Watch was issued across the entire state, which led up to the eve of Valentine’s Day when San Antonio got the most snow since 1985.
“We were excited about the snow, something different in San Antonio, but never anticipated it getting that bad,” Lonnie Montellano, campus college, career, and military advisor, said.
Associate Principal Michael Alicea’s childhood experience with cold weather and snow, made him excited to see it again here in Texas.
“Honestly, because my dad was in the military, I spent a number of years growing up in the Midwest, and I lived in England for three years,” Alicea said.
However, this had been a different kind of winter weather than what Alicea saw growing up; power outages occurred in more than 4.5 million homes across the state due to lack of preparation.
“There wasn’t anything that I thought was worse than I expected,” he said. “It was just the failure of the state to manage it, like the failure of the power grid. That was more of a surprise to me of how quickly it turned bad.”
Sophomore Owen Vann’s family spent some time in their car and eventually got a hotel room, since their home lost power.
“We were in the car or going to gas stations to get warm food and ice,” he said. “We were also getting hot cocoa. Eventually, my mom got tired of being in and out of the car, so we rented a hotel for two nights, and it was full. A lot of people went to hotels. I was surprised there was even a room for us.”
The winter storm of 2021 affected everyone in some way or another, whether it was the power outage, snow day fun, or family bonding.
“We were playing board games and reading books and things like that,” Alicea said. “I think the kids not being able to get Disney Plus for them was a big pain.”
Montellano also spent time with her family during the storm.
“I actually didn’t stay home,” she said. “I went and stayed with my parents. So I was able to just make sure that they had everything that they needed, they were cared for, make sure they had heat, food, and meals.”
Even now, the winter weather has made its way back. Though, the snow hasn’t made its appearance yet. But some doubted the effectiveness of cold weather.
“They canceled school last time [January 20] when they were talking about roads freezing over,” Vann said. “And nothing happened with that. So I feel like it’ll be really cold. But I feel like it’ll [February 3rd and 4th] be anti-climatic.”
As February is coming to a close, so does the winter weather, but as the saying goes, “Don’t like the weather, just wait a minute, it will change.”
