January 13th, 1985

“Snowpocalypse”

San Antonio experienced a “Winter Wonderland” when an estimated 13.5” of snow blanketed the city over the preceding 2 days. This snowfall exceeded the previous record set in 1926 when 6.4” fell.

(Photo courtesy of NWS San Antonio)

A little over a week earlier, on January 2nd, San Antonio received 2” of snow…but this was just a precursor of things to come.

KENS 5 Weatherman Alex Garcia had warned everyone of a “winter storm warning” (Youtube) and down it came, from Friday January 11th until Sunday January 13th, bringing the city to a virtual standstill.

San Antonio was far from ready for such an event, and equipment was not available to deal with the situation, however, the city did the best it could with what was on the ground, and road graders became makeshift snow plows for roads, and the runway of San Antonio International Airport. San Antonio only had 10 road graders in their inventory, and they travelled at a maximum speed of 10 m.p.h. so it was a tedious process.

( NWS San Antonio / San Antonio Express News )

Supermarkets experienced a rush on the usual “emergency” supplies like eggs, milk, bread, cocoa, artificial fireplace logs, antifreeze….and cat litter, which homeowners used to provide traction on their driveways.

Anywhere where there was a gradient, the locals used whatever they could find to enjoy toboggan rides, and snowmen popped up everywhere, which led Ed Raedemarkers, the Managing Editor of the now defunct “San Antonio Light” to remark, “We were a city of a million people, and 500,000 snowmen”