From severe weather and a World Series win, to gun violence and an at-times contentious legislative session, 2023 featured plenty of major headlines. Over the last two weeks of the year, KRLD is looking back at the stories that defined the year.
It's been a roller coaster of a year for Texas weather, with many communities statewide suffering extreme damage.
The year began mildly enough, but about a month into the year, it took a 180-degree turn.
"Central Texas saw a pretty significant ice storm," KRLD Chief Meteorologist Dan Brounoff said. "Remember, it doesn't take much ice to wreak havoc."
He said that area saw the worst of the cold, but a disaster declaration from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott went on to cover 24 Texas counties damaged by the cold weather and its effects. Those ranged across Central, East and North Texas.
We caught our breaths over the spring, but the summer had wicked twisters in store with one tornado that nearly leveled part of the Panhandle town of Perryton. Barely a week later, the nearby town of Matador would experience the same.
"The Perryton tornado on June 15 killed three. It was on the ground for six miles, several were injured. That was an EF-3," Brounoff said. "June 21, almost a week later in Matador, it touched down just west of Abilene, killed four. Four-point-five inch hail was also reported."
Despite unimaginable loss for many, resources and support poured into the Texas Panhandle. Residents said it was deeply moving to have the help and have relied on their close bonds to move forward.
An additional damaging tornado in June hit near southeast Houston and left damage from Sugarland to Pearland.
If dealing with that level of damage wasn't enough Texans experienced a summer of record-breaking heat, with almost every major Texas city seeing the most 100-degree days in decades.
The heat saw several deaths in Texas of postal workers, construction workers, and others whose jobs forced them to be outside daily.
It was a time for people to get creative in beating the heat. Pools, lakes, and splash pads around Texas were crowded almost every day.
One silver lining to the scorching summer? The state power grid held up beautifully. There were several calls for voluntary conservation, but nary a rolling blackout to be seen. That was due to the abundance of sunshine, which, converted to solar power, was more than enough to keep ERCOT running in the green. The grid did set near-daily records for peak demand though.
This may not have been the El Nino summer we were hoping for, with milder temperatures or steady rainfall, but there's still every for of an El Nino winter to close out this year and bring in 2024
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