Winter has hit the southern coast of the United States. Snow falls abundantly in places where even light rainfall is rare. Houston, Texas, has been hit particularly hard by severe weather, with authorities advising people not to hit the roads. Thousands of flights were canceled across the country.
The Arctic cold that descended over the United States reached as far as the southern Gulf Coast, bringing with it heavy snowfall and frost. These are extremely rare weather conditions in this part of the country. States of emergency have been declared in Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
The effects of snowstorms are most felt in Texas, whose authorities have mobilized two state agencies to fight the rare winter attack. On Tuesday morning, local time, there was already 2 to 7 centimeters of snow in a large area from Houston to the southern coast of Louisiana, with even more than 15 centimeters in some places. This is not the end of rainfall.
The University of Houston published photos of its buildings in an unusual snowy scenery on social media.
Empty streets and houses without power in Houston
In the center of Houston, Texas' largest city, the streets were virtually deserted during the morning rush hour, writes the Reuters news agency. Some restaurants have been closed. As of Tuesday morning local time, about 45,000 homes and business buildings in South Texas were without power.
The Texas Department of Transportation sent snowplows to Houston because the city doesn't have them.
“This is not a normal sight in this part of Texas, but we have snowplows clearing lanes for emergency services. We strongly advise against all travel. Conditions are not safe,” the local authorities wrote on social media.
“I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to say that in this part of the world.”
Louisiana's largest city, New Orleans, is bracing for historic snowfall. According to forecasts, up to 8 centimeters of snow is expected to fall there by Tuesday. Such thick snow cover has never been recorded there. The last time measurable snowfall occurred in New Orleans was in 2009, and the record in 1963 was just under 7 cm. In northern districts, it may accumulate more than 17 cm by the end of the day.
According to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, his state received support from Arkansas in the form of 12 snow plows.
“I didn't think I'd ever have the opportunity to say this in this part of the world, but snowstorms are possible in some areas,” Donald Jones of the National Weather Service in Lake Charles in southern Louisiana told CNN.
The Alabama coastal city of Mobile could see up to 13 centimeters of snow, an amount that hasn't been seen there in more than 60 years.
Heavy snowfall in LouisianaENEX
Flights canceled, schools and offices closed
Snowstorms hamper the operation of many airports. On Tuesday morning, over two thousand flights were canceled in the US. Due to very poor conditions in Texas and Louisiana, long sections of Highway 10, which is an important communication artery for Los Angeles, Houston and New Orleans, were closed.
In some states, authorities decided to cancel school classes on Tuesday and close offices.
Unusual frost
Tuesday in the United States marks the second straight day of heavy frost from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. Local media reported that one death in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was linked to low temperatures. On Sunday, an 80-year-old man died probably of hypothermia.
In North Dakota, the wind chill dropped to -51 degrees Celsius in places on Monday night into Tuesday. Meteorologists from the NWS branch in Bismarck warned that the next night would also be dangerously frosty, and in such conditions it would take just five minutes for frostbite to occur on exposed skin.
CNN, NWS, Reuters, eu.jsonline.com
Main photo source: University of Houston/X