New Orleans, Panama City facing rare snow as Siberian Express plows south

Millions of people across the northern Gulf Coast braced Tuesday for a rare winter storm that’s expected to scatter heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain around the Deep South. It's the southern edge of a blast of Arctic air that has plunged much of the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.

The National Weather Service forecast between 3 and 7 inches of snow and sleet for parts of southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, including New Orleans. In the Florida panhandle, Panama City Beach could see more than two inches by tonight.

In Texas, both Houston airports announced flight operations would be suspended starting Tuesday in expectation of hazardous conditions from the severe winter weather taking aim at a huge swath of the South. New Orleans airport also canceled flights because of extreme cold.

Residents from Texas to north Florida were rushing to insulate pipes, check heating systems and stock up on emergency supplies.

Around 40 million people across the southern U.S. from Texas to Florida, were under some type of weather hazard, including more than 21 million under a winter storm warning, said meteorologist Marc Chenard with the National Weather Service. He added about 170 million people from the Rockies to points eastward were under either an extreme warning or a cold weather advisory.

Winter storm warnings extended from Texas to Florida on Monday, with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain expected around the region into Wednesday. Meanwhile, a state of emergency was declared Monday night across at least a dozen counties in New York as heavy lake-effect snow was expected around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie through Wednesday — with 1 to 2 feet possible — along with extreme cold temperatures.


Anti-ice operations in Houston. (AP Photo David J. Phillip)