Posted on 01/24/2025 11:22:01 AM PST by Red Badger
A rare winter storm brought frigid temperatures and heavy snow to states from Texas to North Carolina.
A record-breaking winter storm swept through the southeastern U.S., bringing unprecedented snowfall and freezing temperatures.
Cities like New Orleans experienced more snow than Anchorage, Alaska, during this period. The storm’s intensity and the resulting closures of major highways like Interstate 10 marked a significant meteorological event.
Unprecedented Winter Weather Strikes the Southeast
A powerful winter storm swept through the southeastern United States in January 2025, bringing freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall. The storm set new snowfall records across the region, leading to widespread flight cancellations and the closure of more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) of Interstate 10, according to news reports.
On January 22, temperatures plummeted to single digits in southern Texas and Louisiana as an arctic air mass collided with a low-pressure system over the Gulf Coast. Baton Rouge recorded a temperature of 7 degrees Fahrenheit (−14 degrees Celsius), the coldest in the city’s 95-year weather record.
Blizzard Conditions Overwhelm the Gulf Coast
Blizzard conditions hit southwestern Louisiana, a region unaccustomed to such severe winter weather. Wind gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour (50 to 65 kilometers per hour) combined with heavy snowfall, creating hazardous whiteout conditions. Several cities, including New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida, recorded their highest-ever snowfall totals for a single day. New Orleans received around 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow, while Pensacola saw 5 inches (13 centimeters).
Satellite Views of Snow-Covered Gulf Coast
Flakes continued to fall in the Carolinas and southeast Virginia on January 22, when the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image. Large swaths of the Gulf Coast look like a frozen tundra. Bright white snow along the winding course of the Mississippi River stands out.
“Many of the old river channels of the Mississippi can be seen in the image,” said Alex Kolker, a professor of coastal geology at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. “In a delta like this, riverbanks are higher than other areas because sediment was deposited here over many years. These lands accumulated a little more snow and show up brighter in the image.”
Historical Snowfall in Southern U.S.
The rare storm brought more snow to New Orleans than has fallen in Anchorage, Alaska, since the start of meteorological winter, noted the National Weather Service. Cold lingered in the south on the morning of January 23, and large stretches of Interstate 10 were still closed due to icy conditions.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.
The climate change people are having a party about this.
Maybe we are headed towards a new ice age.
Quick, burn more fossil fuels!!!
Trump solved global warming with just one day on office! *snicker*
Doncha know, glow-ball warming causes blizzards in historically warm areas.
Makes perfect sense to globalists, socialists, and assorted other leftists.
The videos about this have been awesome. Watching blizzard condition with the Palm trees whipping around in the wind and the gulf beach in the background was hilarious.
Lived here 43 years and never ever seen snow like this!...............
Dems...Go...to hell!!
It has happened before just not at this level of intensity. Looking at the record it seems snow happens in North Fl about once every decade
Usually we just get a fine dusting, not 5 inches like I had in my yard!.............
Last three days it has been to cold to snow. Last night it was 1°F in South Jersey.
It’s been great up here in the PNW. I tuned up my snow blower a few weeks ago in anticipation that if I do that it won’t snow. It’s been sunny and unusually warm for us. It’s great.
Oh... I mean. THIS IS TERRIBLE. Global warming... blah blah blah.
It was a nice change in Houston.
I caught about an inch plus from this about an hour from Houston.
I guess now we can talk about the southern version of ‘lake effect snow’ near the Great Lakes.
Call it ‘Gulf Effect Snow’.
Gulf of America Effect Snow
It is not “unprecedented”.
Houston had such snow in 1895, as did New Orleans.
One my way to the gym this morning (outside Mobile) there were still patches of ice on the road. And it’s going to be 24 tonight so there will still be some issues. Then it’s going to get back to normal. It was pretty crazy watching it snow, pretty durned heavy, all day long. I never expected to wake up Wednesday morning with 7 inches of snow on the ground.
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