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| Fox Weather has this extraordinary snow forecast map for the Gulf Coast. Lots of snow for places that far south. Could be a couple record snowfalls. |
But that part of the nation is used to that sort of thing in January. The real winter news is going on along the Gulf Coast of all places.
Meanwhile, though, there are separate winter storm watches in effect in decidedly non-Arctic cities like Galveston, Houston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Mobile and Pensacola.
Yeah, this is a weird one. Chances are you'll see lots of photos of palm trees dusted with snow.
Those winter storm alerts actually cover most of the Gulf Coast and Deep South. Those watches extend through southern and central Texas, most of the southern halves of Mississippi and Alabama, and even the western tip of the Florida Panhandle.
Eventually the storm is forecast to reach the coastal Carolinas.
Baton Rouge could see three to five inches of snow out of this. New Orleans is possibly in line for one to three inches.
Parts of far eastern Texas and central Louisiana are expecting up to eight inches of snow.
A bit of snow or ice could mix in with rain Tuesday night even in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida.
Winter storms happen from time to time in the Deep South. There was just one last week. But those winter conditions usually don't extend southward to Interstate 10, which hugs the Gulf Coast from Florida to Houston.
This time, however, it looks like it might just happen.
This kind of thing can obviously be dangerous in areas that aren't used to snow. There's the obvious travel problems, since the Gulf Coast isn't exactly ready with snow plows and salt truck like they are up here in Vermont.
The 5 to 8 inches of snow expected in central and western Louisiana could collapse flat roofs and awnings, since such structures aren't built for snow loads in that area. Trees could collapse under the weight of the snow and ice too.
The cause, of course, is that Arctic blast roaring down from Canada. It's making it all the way to the Gulf Coast.
Storms often form on the southern and eastern edges of these frigid air outbreaks. That's why there's a storm on the leading edge of the cold air on the East Coast today.
This bitter air is running into the warm waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, so a storm is forming there. The storm will force balmy air from the Gulf to try and ride up and over the cold, dense air along the coast.
There, the risk is freezing rain and sleet. But inland just a bit, the cold air will be thick enough so the precipitation will start out as snow and make it all the down to the ground as those flakes.
Usually this kind of thing sets up a little further north, but this time, it's further south than usual. This could be a record breaker or near record breaker in some areas.
GULF COAST SNOW RECORDS
New Orleans has not seen measurable snow in 15 years.
The biggest snowstorm in New Orleans history came on Valentine's Day, 1895, when eight inches accumulated. That same storm dumped an incredible 22 inches of snow on Houston, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and 12.5 inches on Baton Rouge
At least something like that won't happen this time.
In modern history, the biggest snowstorm in New Orleans was 2.7 inches on December 31, 1963. There is a chance they could get that much in this week's storm.
Baton Rouge has a shot at receiving its biggest snowstorm in the past 100 years, too. The had six inches in February, 1940. The next biggest snowstorms were 3.5 inches on January 23, 1940 and December 8, 2017.
Florida's biggest snowstorm that I could find was four inches in the town of Milton, a little northeast of Pensacola on March 6, 1954. There is a very low, but not zero chance of that much snow falling in the northwest corner of Florida this week.
In December, 1989 three inches was reported at two northern Florida cities and 2.5 inches fell that day at Jacksonville, Beach
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