Texans started to see some sunshine Friday and temperatures finally started to climb to 32 degrees or warmer. For dozens of locations, this was the first time in a week or more to get above freezing.
The prolonged cold temperatures caused water systems to become compromised, with broken pipes or machines not working. About 12 million Texans are being told to boil their water for safety reasons and thousands are finding water damage inside and outside their homes as the frozen pipes thaw.
Below is a look at some of the record-breaking cold streaks.
Abilene: 10 days, or 252 consecutive hours, at or below freezing temperatures. The National Weather Service says the previous record was 7 days, or about 202 hours, back in 1983. Feb. 14 set a record with 14.8 inches of snow, the previous record was 9.3 inches in one day in 1996.
Austin: 7 days at or below freezing temperatures, this sets a new record. The old record was five days, set in 1983.
Central Texas: The Central Texas region, including Waco, Bryan and Killeen, set a new record with 9 days, about 205 hours at or below freezing. This broke the previous longest stretch, 150 hours set in 1983.
San Angelo: 6 days, or 152 consecutive hours, at or below freezing temperatures. The National Weather Service says the previous record was 144 consecutive hours, back in 1951. Feb. 14 set a record with 10.1 inches of snow, just beating the old record of 10 inches set in 1919.
What about the Dallas-Fort Worth area, one of the largest in Texas? Dallas-Fort Worth International reported 6 days, about 139 consecutive hours straight below freezing. This is just the 5th longest streakin history for the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The longest below freezing cold snap was 295 hours back in 1983.
