As residents braced on Friday for an arctic wintry mix that was expected to plunge the New Orleans metro into freezing temperatures, parish officials announced school and government closures, collected sand and salt to scatter on highways and urged residents to stay home if roads begin to ice.
With state and many parish offices already set to close for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, officials extended those closures into Tuesday, when the worst of the cold weather, including possible snow and ice, was expected to hit the New Orleans area.
Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration shut down state offices. Government offices in Kenner, and Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes will also close.
Schools in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany Parish and St. Bernard parishes will be closed on Tuesday, while St. Charles said they announce a closure decision Sunday. St. John the Baptist Parish had not yet made a decision as of 7:30 p.m. Friday.
In New Orleans, officials will closely monitor the forecast and close streets early, if needed, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said on Friday. She urged city residents to speak Friday with their employers about shutting down workplaces next week.
“Folks, listen to me. If you don’t have to be out, don’t come out,” Kirkpatrick said. “And particularly don’t drive.”
Forecasters are watching a system that will push frigid temperatures across south Louisiana on Sunday and into the middle of next week. Lows will dip into the 20s in some areas, with daytime highs in some parts of the metro area struggling to get out of the 30s on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The National Weather Service says the potential for a wintry mix, including snow, remains uncertain, but is possible overnight Monday and into Tuesday night.
It remained unclear Friday how parades and celebrations for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day across the region would be affected. But officials in New Orleans said the scheduled parade there had been canceled. A small recognition ceremony will take place instead at the MLK monument on South Claiborne Avenue at 10 a.m. Monday.
Kenner’s Martin Luther King parade has been postponed, the city said in a news release.
While a rarity, snow isn’t unheard of in south Louisiana. The last measurable snowfall in New Orleans was in December of 2009. But the northshore, Florida Parishes and Baton Rouge area saw several inches in December 2017.
Daniel Gitlin, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation and Development, said the agency keeps supplies of sand and salt that can be spread on bridges and overpasses in an effort to keep them open. But, he said, there’s only so much to go around and the emphasis is keeping the main traffic arteries flowing as long as possible.
-“All of our stations have supplies and we’re watching the weather,” he said.
In St. Tammany, parish officials had purchased salt to spread on bridges. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway also has a supply of de-icing fluid that can be applied to the roadway, said general manager Carlton Dufrechou. Traffic there can also be restricted to a single lane, which has the effect of raising the temperature of the lane being used.
Closing the spans linking the north and south shores due to ice would be “worst-case,” Dufrechou said, adding that his team will “do what we can keep it open.”
The bridge had to be closed for several hours in January 2024 due to ice.
Gitlin also said DOTD’s aim is to keep routes open for as long as possible, focusing on priority roadways such as U.S. 90, U.S. 190 and U.S. 61, as well as the interstate highways.
But he added, “Even with sand and salt applied, conditions remain far from ideal, and hidden ice can pose additional dangers.” Black ice blends in with the roads, causing cars to spin out unexpectedly.
And if bridges become impassable, “we will close the roads.”
On Friday, as she urged residents to take the freeze threat seriously, Kirkpatrick, a former police chief in three Washington cities, noted her experience dealing with wintry conditions.
Even in areas where it regularly snows, “people think that because they have a four-wheel drive, that they can get around. But you are going to find that on ice, even a four-wheel drive is not going to give you the traction you need.”
Staff writers Willie Swett, Joni Hess and Jessica Williams contributed to this story.
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