Potentially historic storm could drop rare snow on Florida

MOBILE, Ala. — More than 230 million people across the United States are facing dangerous cold that will also open the door for a potentially historic and crippling winter storm that could deliver snow as far south as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm — in combination with frigid air — will bring snowfall, freezing rain, icy roads and other major travel disruptions from late Monday into Wednesday morning in southern cities from Texas to South Carolina where harsh winter weather is rare.

A brutally cold blast of Siberian air has caused temperatures to plummet 20 to 30 degrees below normal from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and beyond during what’s already the coldest time of the year.

The already serious cold is made more dangerous by gusty winds, which are bringing dangerous wind chills to millions. The wind chill hit 57 degrees below zero in Rolla, North Dakota, Monday morning. Wind chills this low can cause frostbite on exposed skin in less than 5 minutes.

Across the northern US, multiple cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, New York City, Washington, DC, Boston, and Philadelphia could go days without seeing a high-temperature climb above freezing.

Southern cities like Houston, Atlanta, Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, could also see highs below freezing Monday or Tuesday. This prolonged period of cold temperatures could cause pipes to burst.

By Wednesday morning, low temperatures in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, could fall to record levels last set in the 1930s.

Historic snow on the way for the South

In addition to the brutal cold, large sections of the Interstate 10 corridor, stretching from central Texas through northern Florida, could experience snow accumulation rarely seen in the region.

Messy wintry weather will begin Monday evening in Central Texas and pick up in intensity and extent overnight. By sunrise Tuesday, snow, sleet, and freezing rain will stretch from coastal Texas to Louisiana and Mississippi. This hazardous mix will expand east into the rest of the Southeast on Tuesday and reach parts of the Carolinas on Tuesday night.

From Monday night into Wednesday morning, widespread snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches will occur from southeast Texas—including Houston—through southern Louisiana and into parts of southern Georgia and coastal South Carolina. Totals greater than 3 inches are possible, mainly in far southeast Texas and parts of southern Louisiana, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

New Orleans hasn’t recorded measurable snow — meaning at least 0.1 inch — since 2009 and has never recorded more than 3 inches of snow. The city’s all-time snowiest day on record dates to 1963, when 2.7 inches fell.

Since 1932, Houston’s Hobby Airport has only had measurable snow a dozen times, most recently in February 2021. The highest snowfall in a single day at the site was 4.4 inches in February 1960.

Pensacola, Florida, could record its first measurable snow since 2014, with a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain on the way. If measurable snow coats the ground anywhere in Florida, as it’s forecast to do, it’ll be the first winter since 2010 that all 50 states have had measurable snow.

Freezing rain will increase travel danger. It’s possible over much of northern Florida and parts of southern Georgia and South Carolina. Any amount of ice is dangerous, especially for a region so unaccustomed to it.

Moderate-to-major impacts are likely along the Gulf Coast as a result of this storm, according to NOAA’s Winter Storm Severity Index. Travel conditions will be hazardous for many in the area and could be dangerous or even impossible in some areas — especially southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana.

“Consider delaying all travel,” the National Weather Service in New Orleans urged Monday. “Use extreme caution if travel is absolutely necessary.”

A state of emergency; airports, schools shut down

Across the South, authorities warned of the possibilities of dangerous travel, power outages, downed trees, and frozen pipes due to the rare winter weather.

On Saturday ahead of the winter storm, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency, while Texas authorities have directed state agencies to mobilize resources due to the threat of snow.

Both of Houston’s civilian airports will shut all day Tuesday as the storm and cold impact the area, the city’s Mayor John Whitmire announced at a Sunday news conference.

“I’ve been convinced that we are about to experience a very serious and dangerous weather episode,” the mayor said. The closures will start at midnight Monday.

The Houston branch of the weather service warned that freezing rain and ice could make driving treacherous until midday Wednesday, but that below-freezing overnight temperatures will remain in place until Friday.

Schools in the Houston Independent School District — the largest in the state and the eighth largest in the country — will also be closed until Wednesday, Whitmire said.

New Orleans public schools will also shut on Tuesday.

Houston’s mayor urged residents to protect their water pipes before the frigid temperatures hit, noting that the city’s water system is already “fragile” with more than 1,000 active water leaks in Houston.

“Let me emphasize the preparation of your pipes,” Whitmire said Sunday. “Wrap your pipes if all possible.”

He urged residents to stay inside, to check on vulnerable neighbors and family members, and to utilize one of the city’s 24-hour warming centers. Officials are doing “everything we can” to encourage homeless people to seek refuge in warming centers, he added.

In Minnesota, where wind chills were as low as 50 below zero Monday morning, Kristi Rollwagen, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, urged residents to wear appropriate clothing and carry an emergency survival kit during the unusually cold weather, the Associated Press reported.