A powerful winter storm unleashed a rare spectacle across the Deep South, blanketing major cities with snow and bringing record-breaking cold temperatures. The storm's impact was felt from Texas to Florida, disrupting transportation, closing schools, and prompting emergency declarations. The snowfall in cities like New Orleans and Houston was unprecedented, turning everyday life into a winter wonderland.
A powerful winter storm that slammed Texas and blanketed the northern Gulf Coast with record-breaking snow moved east Wednesday, spreading heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia, and eastern Carolinas. The weather warning areas included major cities like Jacksonville, Florida, which was expected to see snow, sleet, and accumulating ice into Wednesday.
The Jacksonville International Airport closed Tuesday evening due to the weather and planned to reopen at midday Wednesday. Schools canceled classes, and government offices were closed Wednesday. 'We are expecting some winter weather we're not used to in Northeast Florida,' the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook. 'The safest place you can be Tuesday night and Wednesday is at home!' In eastern North Carolina, drifting snow was anticipated with near-blizzard conditions in the state's Outer Banks, where up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) could fall. Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were also expected to persist over much of the week in the region. Authorities reported three deaths related to the cold weather. The heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain hitting parts of the Deep South came as a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.It had been more than a decade since snow last fell in New Orleans. Tuesday's rare snowfall set a record in the city, where 10 inches (25 centimeters) fell in some places, far surpassing its record of 2.7 inches (6.8 centimeters) set on December 31, 1963, according to the National Weather Service. 'Wow, what a snow day!,' the weather agency said in a social media post. 'It's safe to say this was a historic snowfall for much of the area.' Snow closed highways, grounded nearly all flights, and canceled school for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days. Snow fell in Houston and prompted the first-ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border. Snow covered the white-sand beaches of normally sunny vacation spots, including Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola Beach, Florida. 'Believe it or not, in the state of Florida, we're mobilizing snowplows,' said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. People made the most of it — from a snowball fight on a Gulf Shores beach to sledding in a laundry basket in Montgomery, Alabama, to pool-tubing down a Houston hill. In New Orleans, urban skiing was attempted along Bourbon Street, a priest and nuns engaged in a snowball fight outside a suburban church, snowboarders shredded behind a golf cart, and people went sledding down the snow-covered Mississippi River levees on kayaks, cardboard boxes, and inflatable alligators. High school teacher David Delio and his two daughters glided down the levee on a yoga mat and a boogie board. 'This is a white-out in New Orleans, this is a snow-a-cane,' Delio said. 'We've had tons of hurricane days but never a snow day.' The nuns at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School near New Orleans encouraged their students last week to pray for the snow day they received Tuesday, said Rev. Tim Hedrick. The priest said he invited the nuns to make snow angels, and they challenged him to a snowball fight that has since received tens of thousands of views on social media. 'It's a fun way to show that priests and sisters are humans, too, and they can have fun,' Hedrick said. Mobile, Alabama, hit 5.4 inches (13.7 centimeters) Tuesday, topping the city's one-day snowfall record of 5 inches (12.7 centimeters), set on January 24, 1881, and nearing its all-time snowfall record of 6 inches (15.5 centimeters) in 1895, the weather service said. More than 2,300 flights to, from or within the U.S. were canceled Tuesday, according to online tracker FlightAware.com. Both Houston airports suspended flight operations, and nearly every flight was canceled at New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport. Most airlines planned to resume operations Wednesday
WINTER STORM SNOW DEEP SOUTH RECORD COLD NEW ORLEANS HOUSTON FLORIDA GEORGIA CAROLINA TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS
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