Deep South braces for rare winter storm threatening heavy snow

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A rare winter storm barreling through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast left New Orleans and Houston frozen Tuesday, closing highways, grounding nearly all flights and canceling school for millions students more accustomed to hurricane layoffs than snow days.

The storm triggered the first-ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border. Heavy snowSleet and freezing rain are expected around the Deep South as a blast of arctic air plunges much of the Midwest and eastern United States into a deep freeze.

Nearly 2,000 flights to, from or within the United States were canceled Tuesday, and about 10,000 more were delayed, according to online tracking site FlightAware.com. In Texas, both Houston airports suspended flight operations starting Tuesday in anticipation of hazardous conditions.

Nearly all flights were canceled at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, although officials said the airport itself would remain open “as long as conditions are safe.” Most airlines plan to resume normal operations on Wednesday.

The East Coast was blanketed in snow while residents from the northern Plains to the tip of Maine shivered. very cold temperatures from the frigid Arctic air mass that plunged temperatures well below normal. Dangerously cold wind chills were expected through Tuesday morning.

In New Orleans, Robert Hammock, 65, donned a beanie and gathered with his border collie Tillie for a snowy and frigid morning walk.

“She loves the snow,” Hammock said as Tillie happily sprawled in the slush on the sidewalk. “I’m from south Alabama, so I hate snow.”

Winter storm warnings extended from Texas to North Carolina on Tuesday, with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain expected to move east across the region through Wednesday. Meanwhile, a state of emergency was declared Monday evening in at least a dozen New York counties. lake effect snow was expected around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie through Wednesday – with 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) possible – along with extremely cold temperatures.

Snow on the Gulf Coast

Ahead of the storm, governors in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency and many school systems canceled classes Tuesday.

The blizzard warning in effect until noon Tuesday was the first issued by the office in Lake Charles, La., according to meteorologist Donald Jones. Strong winds accompanied by bands of heavier snow were reducing visibility, and areas of the southern Gulf that rarely see snow are expecting near or record snowfall, Jones said.

Louisiana Transportation Agency employees worked through the night to prepare bridges and roads.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, already had 1.5 inches of snow in downtown Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service — the first snowfall in the capital since 2018. Parts of Interstate 10 were closed due to icy conditions and some neighboring parishes have implemented curfews.

“The last time we saw snow of this magnitude was in 1960, and before that the previous snowfall record, which still exists today, was in 1895,” Jones said. “By modern standards, this is going to be a historic and very memorable storm for this part of the world.”

In Harahan, a suburb of New Orleans, as a rare snowstorm began to blanket the roads, a gloveless Harahan police officer rubbed his hands to warm them after responding to a security alarm. ‘a church. The slush turned to snow as the sun rose, with barely a car on the road.

Before snow and sleet began to fall Monday evening, Houston Mayor John Whitmire asked residents to stay off the roads, emphasizing that temperatures above freezing were not expected until Thursday.

Snowfall rates of 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) per hour or more were possible from east Texas to west Florida and historic snowfalls of 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters ) were planned along the Interstate 10 corridor, including Houston; New Orleans; Mobile, Ala.; and Pensacola, Florida, according to the weather service. Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected Tuesday night into Wednesday in Georgia, northern Florida and the eastern Carolinas.

Return of the Arctic explosion

Much of the east coast is experiencing some of the coldest temperatures this winter. Bitterly cold weather persisted across the eastern two-thirds of the country, with several record lows possible through midweek, particularly on the Gulf Coast and parts of the Southeast, the weather service said. Normal temperatures are expected to return only slowly by the end of the week.

Wind chills were expected to reach minus 30 degrees to minus 50 (minus 34 C to minus 46 C) at times in parts of the Dakotas and the Upper Midwest, posing an extreme risk of hypothermia and frostbite . Subzero wind chills are expected to continue from the Central Plains eastward through Wednesday evening.

Extreme cold prompted school districts across the upper Midwest to close schools or hold classes online Tuesday.

The weather service has issued cold weather advisories throughout the Great Lakes region.

Like at the beginning of the month, this last cold snap comes from a disruption of the polar vortex, the ring of cold air usually trapped at the North Pole.

In Texas, Jonathan LeBron, plumbing manager at Nick’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning in the Houston area, said the company began fielding calls Monday from homeowners worried about frozen pipes.

The low temperature in Houston on Tuesday will be around 18 (minus 8 C), according to the weather service, or low enough that water will freeze in pipes, expand and then cause pipes to burst. Several centimeters of snow were also possible.

Santa Ana winds expected to return to Southern California

In Southern California, where fires killed at least 27 people and burned thousands of houses, dry conditions and strong Santa Ana winds remained a concern.

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Sarah Brumfield, Associated Press writers in Cockeysville, Maryland; Jack Brook and Sara Cline in New Orleans; Julie Walker in New York; Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn.; Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey; Corey Williams in Detroit; and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.