San Antonio's weather has been known to swing wildly, but the city's historic scorcher remains an outlier. On February 21, 1996, the thermometers in San Antonio hit a record-breaking 100 degrees, marking the hottest temperature ever recorded in the month traditionally associated with chilly days. According to a report by KSAT, this extreme high was part of a month that had its fair share ups and downs, with a temperature roller coaster that began with light icing on February 1 and 2.
Being typically too early to comfortably expect warm spells, San Antonio's weather decided to shake things up by hiking the temperature higher than most would have thought possible for the time of year. "San Antonio reaches at least 90 degrees in February about once every six years," noted Express News. However, the centennial mark on February 21, 1996, remains unchallenged in the city's climatic annals.
Remarkably, the sizzling 100 degrees was part of a four-day heatwave that spanned from February 20-23, during which temperatures stayed stubbornly above 90 degrees. This heatwave stood in stark contrast to just few weeks prior when temperatures plummeted to a bitter 19 degrees on February 4, indicating the erratic nature of Texas weather, as reported by Express News.
While San Antonio weather archives can't confirm if the city was indeed the country's hot spot on that fateful day, it's a safe bet, considering the extremity of the temperature, according to KSAT. The city was then thrust back into winter by the month's end, with ice reappearing on February 29. The whiplash from icy to infernal and back serves as a testament to the unpredictable and sometimes extreme nature of weather in this part of Texas, where wardrobe options must be as varied as the temperatures.
