A significant winter storm impacted the southern United States on Tuesday, bringing unprecedented snowfall to many areas. Moist air from the Gulf of Mexico merged with a low-pressure system, resulting in heavy snow accumulation across the region. By Tuesday afternoon, Lafayette, Louisiana recorded an impressive 10.5 inches of snow, nearing the state’s historical record of 13 inches set back in 1960.
The National Weather Service reported snowfall amounts ranging from 7 to 8 inches between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where the previous record of 2.7 inches, established in 1963, was expected to be surpassed. Meanwhile, the Houston-Galveston area in Texas received 2 to 4 inches of snow by midday.
In a notable development, the Weather Service’s office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, issued its first-ever blizzard warning. Additionally, the office in Mobile shared clips on social media of people engaged in a snowball fight at Orange Beach, Alabama, just a short distance from the Gulf Coast.
Tom Kines, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, emphasized the rarity of this event for many residents, particularly for children who have never experienced snow before. “For kids that have never had snowball fights … they’re going to have one,” he remarked.
The Gulf Coast typically deals with hurricanes rather than snow events; for instance, Houston experienced Hurricane Beryl earlier in July. According to Bradley Brokamp, another meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Houston, such winter storms are infrequent in this region, unlike the Northeast, where heavy snowfall during winter is more common.
In Houston, one of the few restaurants still operating, the Yale Street Grill, became a social hub as employees took advantage of the unusual weather to create a three-foot snowman, showcasing typical winter fun with a nose made of carrot and a scarf.
Reports also indicated that Florida may have broken its state record snow accumulation of four inches, which was set in Milton in March 1954. The National Weather Service’s Mobile office recorded five inches of snow in Pensacola, while Mobile’s airport registered 6.2 inches, breaking the previous record of five inches from January 24, 1881.
Despite the double-digit snowfall near Lafayette, it paled in comparison to the historic Valentine’s Day snowstorm of 1895, which dropped 19 inches in Houston and 15.4 inches in Galveston.
As the winter chill spans much of the continental United States, it is attributed to a disruption in the polar vortex—a system of strong winds typically confined to the Arctic that has allowed frigid air to plunge southward. Areas in southeastern Texas anticipate wind chills dipping between 10 to 15 degrees on Wednesday, as advised by an extreme cold warning from the National Weather Service.
Experts are increasingly noting that such occurrences are becoming more common, with research linking them to climate change driven by human activities. Studies indicate that the warming trend in the Arctic is causing significant shifts in temperature and pressure, increasing the likelihood of disturbances in the polar vortex.
