A historic, devastating winter storm is eyeing the Gulf Coast through Tuesday, poised to bring snow and ice to millions of people whose main weather concern is usually hurricanes.
For this storm to form and the track it will take, many ingredients must come together. And that is exactly what we see as Arctic air spilling becoming entrenched across the Eastern U.S., including the Deep South and the Gulf Coast. A disturbance over Texas will begin to gather Gulf of Mexico moisture and will form an area of low pressure will tonight off the northern Mexico/Texas coast.
What follows is a weather setup fit for the Northeast or Midwest. The cold air in place will interact with the storm’s Gulf moisture, leading to a ribbon of snow and ice across eastern Texas early Tuesday, which will spread eastward along the Gulf Coast through the rest of the day. Cities such as Houston, New Orleans and Tallahassee, Fla., could be in line for accumulating snow and ice, making roads into skating rinks.
Winter Storm Warnings stretch from the lower Rio Grande to the Mississippi coast, including Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas, Lake Charles and New Orleans, La., and Gulfport, Miss. Winter Storm Watches and Winter Weather Advisories ring the edges of the warnings, including the Rio Grande Valley, the Alabama coast, northern Florida and central Georgia.
Snowfall and sleet accumulations are likely to be on the order not seen in these cities in decades. Houston could see as much as 2 to 4 inches of snow and sleet, with New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., also likely to pick up 2 to 4 inches of snow. Inland areas, such as Baton Rouge, La., could see as much as 5 or 6 inches of accumulation, with northern Florida and southern Georgia potentially seeing 0.1 to 0.3 inches of ice.
With roads likely to be snow-covered and slick, it is imperative that if you do not need to go out in these areas, please remain at home!