Rare snowstorm hits Texas

A rare winter storm barreling through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast froze New Orleans and Houston on Tuesday, closing highways, grounding nearly all flights and canceling school for millions of students more accustomed to referrals due to hurricanes only on snowy days.

The storm triggered the first blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border. Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected across the Deep South, as a vortex of arctic air plunges much of the Midwest and eastern United States into freezing temperatures.

Nearly two thousand flights within the United States, departing from or arriving in the country, were canceled Tuesday and about 10,000 more flights were delayed, according to online tracking site FlightAware.com. In Texas, both Houston airports announced that flight operations would be suspended starting Tuesday due to hazardous conditions.

Nearly all flights were canceled at New Orleans Louis Armstrong 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.

Winter storm warnings stretched from Texas to North Carolina on Tuesday, with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain expected to move east across the region through Wednesday.

Separately, a state of emergency was declared Monday evening in at least a dozen counties in New York State as heavy lake effect snowfall is expected around Lake Ontario and the Lake Erie through Wednesday – with 30 to 60 centimeters possible – accompanied by extremely cold temperatures.

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

The blizzard warning in effect until midday Tuesday was the first issued by the office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, according to meteorologist Donald Jones. Strong winds accompanied by bands of denser snow reduce visibility, and areas of the southern Gulf that rarely see snow are expecting possibly unprecedented snowfall, Jones said.

Snowfall of 1 inch per hour or more is possible from east Texas to west Florida, and historic snowfall of 3 to 6 inches is forecast along the highway corridor 10, including Houston, New Orleans, Mobile (Alabama) and Pensacola (Florida), according to the weather service. Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected over Georgia, northern Florida and the eastern Carolinas overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

Forecasters warned of subfreezing temperatures that could threaten sensitive vegetation and exposed plumbing in areas not accustomed to bitter cold.

In Louisiana, authorities asked residents to “stay home” and not “tour” during the storm, warning that icy roads could make travel dangerous. Weather services warned that power outages were possible in areas with significant snow and ice accumulation.

Elsewhere, an area from the Rocky Mountains to the Northern Plains will experience colder than normal weather for several days. Frigid wind chills are expected through Tuesday morning across parts of the Northern Plains and into parts of Illinois, with subzero wind chills affecting a large swath of the country from the Southern Plains eastward. East.

As at the beginning of the month, this new cold snap is due to a disruption of the polar vortex, the ring of cold air usually trapped around the North Pole.

According to the National Weather Service, the minimum temperature in Houston on Tuesday will be around minus 8 degrees Celsius, which is low enough for water to freeze in pipes, expand and cause them to burst. Snowfall of several centimeters is also possible.