‘Once in a lifetime’ snow hits parts of the southern US

On By Littum

ONE winter storm On Tuesday, snow swept through the southern United States at levels millions of residents have not seen before.

A rare cold storm swept through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow that closed highways, grounded planes and canceled school for more than a million students. Some residents went outside to make the most of the snowfall.

Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico combined with a low pressure system and cool air to drop significant amounts of snow in some places. That included 10.5 inches near Lafayette, Louisiana on Tuesday afternoon — within striking distance of the state record of 13 inches set in 1960.

The National Weather Service said 7 to 8 inches of snow had been reported in areas between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. New Orleans’ old record was 2.7 inches set in 1963. In Texas, the Houston-Galveston area had 2 to 4 inches before noon.

The National Weather Service’s Lake Charles, Louisiana, office issued its first ever blizzard warning on Tuesday. The NWS mobile office reposted video on X of two people having a snowball fight in Orange Beach, Alabama, just steps from the Gulf of Mexico.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for a lot of these people down there. For kids who have never had snowball fights … they want one,” said Tom Kines, a meteorologist with the private weather company AccuWeather.

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A person walks on a snow-covered street Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The U.S. Gulf Coast is far better known for its hurricanes — Houston was rocked by Hurricane Beryl in July, for example — and it’s a “fairly rare phenomenon” to see snow in the region, said Bradley Brokamp, ​​a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Houston. It’s a combination seen a little more often in the Northeast, which gets snowy winters and the occasional tropical storm.

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A person uses cross-country skis as he walks through a snowy hill at Herman Park on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

In Houston, the Yale Street Grill was practically the only business open in an inner-city neighborhood. A few of the restaurant’s employees had time to venture outside and build a 3-foot-tall snowman complete with carrot nose and scarf.

“I’ve seen all the storms. I’ve been through all the hurricanes. So this has been really fun. I have a 4-year-old daughter at home that I’m ready to get back to so she can play in the snow,” said Emma Kratky, a waitress and assistant manager.

Florida appeared to have broken its state snowfall record of 4 inches, set in Milton on March 6, 1954. The National Weather Service’s Mobile office said Pensacola had gotten 5 inches.

That office also said Mobile’s airport had received 6.2 inches, surpassing the old record of 5 inches set Jan. 24, 1881.

Even the double-digit snowfall near Lafayette was a far cry from the Valentine’s Day blizzard that hit parts of the Gulf Coast in 1895. That storm dumped 19 inches over Houston and 15.4 inches over Galveston.

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Paige Encarnacion builds a snowman on the beach during a winter storm Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Winter cold blasts and climate change

A rare winter storm has hit the southern United States, bringing widespread snowfall to areas like Louisiana that hadn’t seen snow in years.

Meanwhile, the cold blankets most of the continental United States thanks to a polar vortex disruption. The Arctic vortex is a band of strong winds over the North Pole that normally locks in extremely cold air, but is currently stretching south, allowing bone-chilling air to flow down. For example, parts of south central and southeast Texas are expected to see wind chills as low as 10 to 15 degrees into Wednesday, according to an extreme cold warning from the NWS.

Researchers say these stretching events are becoming more frequent and have been linked to global warming emissions released by humans. Studies Report that anthropogenic climate change is raising Arctic temperatures at an alarming rate and decreasing the pressure and temperature differences between cold Arctic air and warmer air below it, increasing the chance of polar vortex disruptions.

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People walk in the French Quarter as snow falls in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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Associated Press reporter Kristie Rieken contributed from Houston.

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