Snow in Louisiana
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Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
in the southern part of
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
presents a rare and serious problem because of South Louisiana’s subtropical climate. For snow to push into the southern region of Louisiana, extreme weather conditions for the area must be present, usually a low-pressure system coupled with unusually low temperatures. Average snowfall in Louisiana is approximately per year, a low figure rivaled only by the states of
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. Due to the infrequency of these cold weather patterns, southern areas affected in this state are often unprepared to deal with slick streets and freezing temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, measurable snowfall amounts occur on an average of only once every other year in Northwest Louisiana; many consecutive years may pass with no measurable snowfall. The heaviest snowstorm of record in the Shreveport area is in December of 1929. This fell on the 21st and 22nd, and one-half inch remained on the ground December 25th, making this the only Christmas Day of record with snow on the ground. In 1948, 12.4 inches of snow was measured for the month of January for the greatest monthly amount on record. Occasional ice and sleet storms do considerable damage to trees, power and telephone lines, as well as make travel very difficult.


Notable events

1895: A large snow storm spanning from
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
to
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
left
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
with approximately of snow, Lake Charles with of snow, and Rayne with of snow. However, these are unconfirmed. 1899: With the
Great Blizzard of 1899 The Great Blizzard of 1899, also known as the Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899 and the St. Valentine's Day Blizzard, was an exceptionally severe winter weather event that affected most of the United States, particularly east of the Rocky Mountains ...
, snowfall in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
reached with strong winds and temperatures below . 2000: This snow was nationally televised as the
2000 Independence Bowl The 2000 Sanford Independence Bowl, part of the NCAA football bowl games, took place on December 31, 2000 at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The competing teams were the Mississippi State Bulldogs, representing the Southeastern Conf ...
was being played on December 31, 2000 in Shreveport. The game was later referred to as "The Snow Bowl", as a snowstorm (rare for the Shreveport area) began just before kickoff, blanketing the field in powder, and continued throughout the entire game. 2004: The
2004 Christmas Eve snowstorm The 2004 Christmas Eve United States winter storm was a rare weather event that took place in Louisiana and Texas in the United States on December 24, 2004, before the storm moved northeast to affect the coastal sections of the Mid-Atlantic stat ...
swept across southern Texas and Louisiana, leaving unprecedented amounts of snow in areas that had not seen snow in 15 to 120 years. 2008: It snowed in and around semi-tropical New Orleans on Thursday December 11th, 2008. From dawn to mid-morning a thick snowfall of plump, wet flakes buried much of southeast Louisiana, from Amite to Westwego, under a blanket of white. Snow height: Amite, LA: Washington, LA: Opelousas, LA: Covington, LA: Hammond, LA: 2014: The
early 2014 North American cold wave The early 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event that extended through the late winter months of the 2013–2014 winter season, and was also part of an unusually cold winter affecting parts of Canada and parts of the north-cen ...
that blew through the eastern portion of the continental United States produced record low temperatures and brought freezing snow and sleet to Louisiana. 2017: Early in the morning on December 8, 2017, a winter storm dripped snowflakes on much of south Louisiana. Throughout the day, more and more snow fell. Snow lasted all day long. Heavy snowfall fell on the ground, giving some places a height of of snow. Most schools across Louisiana closed due to the snow. 2021: Significant snow and ice was reported nearly statewide on February 14–15, 2021 with the
February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm A major winter and ice storm had widespread impacts across the United States, Northern Mexico, and parts of Canada from February 13 to 17, 2021. The storm, unofficially referred to as ''Winter Storm Uri'' by the Weather Channel, started out ...
and again on February 17 from the
February 15–20, 2021 North American winter storm The February 15–20, 2021 North American winter storm, also unofficially referred to as ''Winter Storm Viola'', was a significant and widespread snow and ice storm across much of the United States, Northern Mexico, and Southern Canada. The sys ...
.


State preparedness

Because of the scarcity of freezing temperatures in Louisiana, many citizens of the region are often left unprepared to handle what might be considered a storm of little consequence in more northern states. The region has developed a system of road and school closures with only minimal snowfall, as most drivers in the area are unprepared to deal with slick, frozen roads. In 2014, Gov. Bobby Jindal invoked the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act in advance of the weather and assembled teams to assist in preparation and recovery.


Louisiana's environment

The state's typically humid subtropical climate rarely encounters
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
coupled with freezing temperatures. The low latitudes and proximity to the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
helps maintain this climate, particularly closer to the coast. The normally extreme summers are rarely countered by cold winters, with snowfall low in intensity and frequency. Also the southern portions of the state typically has two seasons, a
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
from April to October and a
dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
from November to March. The cooler season typically brings in very little precipitation, also limiting snowfall. Average winter temperature normals in southern Louisiana vary from the 40s to the 60s Fahrenheit. Natural disasters such as
hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s are far more common, and such an
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
is ill prepared for snow, particularly the seafood supply on which Louisiana relies for much of its revenue. Little research has been done directly linking effects on Louisiana's ecosystem to snow conditions. However, the jet stream that created the 2014 North American cold wave has been linked to
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, and resultant
cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...
s have been linked to
salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...
intrusion in Louisiana's
Atchafalaya Bay The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp (; Louisiana French: ''L'Atchafalaya'', ), is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the At ...
. However, one of Louisiana's most famous animals, the
alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
, has proved versatile in adapting to cold weather conditions by burrowing in "alligator holes", which they usually use for waiting out a drought. Studies conducted in Finland and Sweden suggest that snow creates more potential problems in urban communities due to increased
pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
in runoff. Due to the state's lack of resources and funding, however, it is unclear what levels of pollution due to snow affect the Louisiana area.


See also

*
Snow in Florida It is very rare for snow to fall in the U.S. state of Florida, especially in the central and southern portions of the state. With the exception of the far northern areas of the state, most of the major cities in Florida have never recorded measur ...


References


External links


''Louisiana Office of State Climatology''.
losc.lsu.edu
''United Nations Environment Programme''
unep.org {{World topic, Snow in, noredlinks=yes
Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
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