The soft, blinding snow covered the streets, cars and trees outside every Texans window on Jan. 10. Most people’s initial reaction was that this was not real. Austin had around three inches of snow this year when usually it’s an inch or less. Parents and children immediately put on warm sweaters and beanies, yanked on their boots and ran outside to take pictures.

Like many others, Junior Nathan Inman built a snowman that day. Inman said that he was surprised when he saw snow outside because whenever it did snow, it barely stuck to the ground. 

“I didn’t expect the snow to stay for as long as it did since Texas is so hot, even in the winter,” Inman said.  

Inman said he thought that the amount of snow we got that day was around the same amount North Texas would get every year.  

“I never expected it to snow this much here,” Inman said. “I’ve seen snow in North Texas but we’re so far South that I always doubt it when the news says it’s supposed to snow”.

Seeing the beautiful scenery, Junior Jillian Lach said she was amazed by the snow, and jumped at the chance to see the beautiful scenery before it faded away. 

“When I first realized that it was snowing outside, I got so excited,” Lach said. “Since it obviously doesn’t snow a lot in Texas, I was initially shocked because it was so beautiful, and I wanted to get outside because I thought it was going to stop right away.”

Lach used this situation to walk around with her mom and appreciate the snow. This also gave her dogs a moment to explore the snow for the first time. 

“My mom and I took a walk around the neighborhood to admire the snow,” Lach said. “We also took some pictures, and I took my dogs outside in my backyard for them to experience the snow,” Lach said. “I also sat by my fireplace and drank hot cocoa while watching the snowfall”.

Although Lach was born in Chicago where it snows a lot, she doesn’t remember it, so having snow in Texas was exciting for her to experience, she said.

“I don’t remember how cold it would get in Chicago and how much snow we would get,” Lach said. “Having this much snow in Texas was really shocking, and it was so exciting for it to be more than just ice for five minutes.” 

Senior Lauren Brown had just come home from a very snowy vacation in Idaho, so when she saw the snow, she said she felt like she was still on vacation. 

“I’ve experienced Texas snow before but never like this,” Brown said. “It was so cool to see everything covered in three inches of snow.” 

Living in Pennsylvania, senior Kristen Hines, was used to the snow, so when she saw the snow here, she felt like she was back home. 

“I was shocked and in disbelief that it actually snowed because my family said it wouldn’t actually happen,” Hines said.