A major winter storm that slammed Texas and blanketed the northern Gulf Coast with record-breaking snow moved east Wednesday, spreading heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and eastern Carolinas.
The weather warning areas included big cities like Jacksonville, Florida, which expected to see snow, sleet and accumulating ice into Wednesday.
Tallahassee woke to snow-dusted palms and icy streets Wednesday. Lina Rojas and her dachshund Petunia had never seen snow like this — far more than the dusting Florida's capital got in 2018.
“This is like … I don’t even know what to call it,” Rojas said of the snow. “You can see it!”
Dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were expected to last over much of the week in the region. Authorities say three people have died in the cold weather. The heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain reached into the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.
The snow and ice closed highways — including more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the nation’s southernmost interstate, I-10, in Louisiana and Florida. Hundreds of flights were grounded at multiple airports. School was canceled or switched to remote learning for more than a million students who are more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days.
Record-setting snow days
It had been more than a decade since snow last fell on New Orleans. Tuesday's rare snowfall set a record in the city, where 10 inches (25 centimeters) fell in some places, far surpassing its record of 2.7 inches (6.8 centimeters) set Dec. 31, 1963, the National Weather Service said.
“Wow, what a snow day,” the weather agency said in a social media post. “It’s safe to say this was a historic snowfall for much of the area.”
Snow fell in Houston and prompted the first-ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border. Snow covered the white-sand beaches of normally sunny vacation spots, including Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola Beach, Florida.
“Believe it or not, in the state of Florida we’re mobilizing snowplows,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
