El Paso is not known for its crazy winters. We aren't called the Sun City for nothing. But every once in a while, we get walloped by the Snow Miser and a winter storm shuts the city down. In April of 1983, El Paso was unexpectedly covered in 16.5 inches of snow. For El Paso, it might as well have been 16 feet of snow. We just aren't equipped to handle that kind of weather.

Fast forward to February 2011. As you can see from the graphic, the freezing weather held the city in its grip for a few days, and we found out just how quickly things could go from normal to dangerous. There were frozen pipes bursting in people's homes, rolling blackouts and disruptions in natural gas service, and even reports of fights over bottled water at Walmarts. Former Mayor John Cook inadvertently raised everyone's temperature when he left town and didn't come back to help and said, "I'm not a plumber. Do they want me to fix their pipes?"

It might not seem like it's been seven years, but it has been. Take a look at the coverage a few days into the freeze to see what it was like when El Paso froze.

More From 93.1 KISS FM