Rare snowstorm blankets Houston and New Orleans in white

HOUSTON - A rare winter storm churned across the US Gulf Coast on Jan 21, bringing heavy snow, ice and wind gusts to a region where flurries are unusual, while much of the United States remained in a dangerous deep freeze.

As the storm moved east, crews near Houston ploughed highways, while downtown streets, covered in white, were virtually deserted during the morning rush.

In the centre of Houston, few people ventured out into the snow as some restaurants and bars remained closed. The Houston metro rail was running but passengers were scarce. Schools were closed on Jan 21 and 22 as the city expected about 10cm of snow to fall.

“I’ve been in Texas my entire life and I have never seen this depth of snow,” said Mr Ishan Bhaidani, 29, who owns a fintech consulting company in Houston. “It typically gets more icy but this type of fine snow, this is a first.”

Authorities in Houston are investigating two possible weather-related deaths, including a homeless man who was found dead near an apartment complex, the Harris County Sheriff said on X.

Snow was also falling in New Orleans, where as much as eight inches were expected to accumulate by the end of the day, threatening to tie a record set in 1895. The last time the city received any measurable snowfall was 2009, according to the National Weather Service.

“Stay home and stay off the roads,” said a bundled-up New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell as winds whipped snow in her face in a video message to residents on X.

The storm is expected to crawl through Mississippi, Georgia and Florida early this week. Up to 12cm of snow were forecast for Mobile, Alabama, where such accumulations have not been seen in more than 60 years, according to the NWS.

A snowstorm warning was in effect for 31 million people - from southern Texas east through Georgia and north to the Carolinas and into Virginia - on Jan 21 until the morning of Jan 22, the service said.

Hundreds of flights in and out of the region’s airports were delayed or cancelled on Jan 21 morning. Some 960 flights departing or bound for Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport were cancelled, according to Flightaware.com.

Temperatures were expected to dip on Jan 21 into single digits Fahrenheit, well below freezing, across the region. Forecasters and local leaders urged residents to protect themselves from frostbite and to take steps to keep their water pipes from rupturing.

Across the South, the snow, combined with an inch of ice accumulation and wind gusts of up to 64kh, could make road and air travel difficult for several days, while threatening to topple power lines and trees, forecasters said.

In southeastern Texas, some 30,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to Poweroutage.us.

“While we experienced a few isolated outages, our system overall remained steady,” CentrePoint Energy, which provides electricity to the Houston area, said in a statement.

Texas ports and pilots, who assist in guiding vessels, suspended some operations on Jan 20 as frigid weather hit the state.

Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama, opened warming centres and closed government offices in anticipation of the storm. Numerous school districts cancelled classes, according to local news.

To the north, most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States were experiencing brutally cold temperatures as an Arctic front was expected to linger through at least Jan 21.

It was minus 21 deg C in Chicago, minus 15 deg C in Cleveland and minus 11 in New York City, the NWS said.

Those morning readings were balmy compared to the minus 39 deg C recorded near Grand Lake, Colorado, the coldest spot in the US on Jan 21 morning. REUTERS