US
Four dead after rare winter storm brings ice and snow to US Deep South
A major winter storm, linked to four deaths, has hit US states from Texas to Virginia, breaking snowfall records.
The freezing weather has closed highways and schools, grounded flights and prompted governors to declare states of emergency.
On Tuesday a temperature of -40F (-40C) was recorded northwest of Grand Lake, Colorado, compared with 83F (28C) in Hollywood, California, according to the National Weather Service.
A snowstorm warning for 31 million people – from southern Texas east through Georgia and north to the Carolinas and into Virginia – is in effect.
Snow covers Canal Street in downtown New Orleans. Pic: AP
A further 172 million people have been under cold weather alerts, enduring temperatures 20-35F below average.
Four people have died of suspected hypothermia, two in Austin, Texas, along with another in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and also in Georgia where temperatures fell as low as 16F (-9C) in parts of the state overnight.
A snowy scene in New Orleans’ French Quarter on Tuesday. Pic: AP
In Louisiana, around 10in (25cm) had already fallen in some parts of New Orleans by Tuesday evening, breaking the record of 2.7in (6.8cm) set in 1963.
It has been more than a decade since snow last fell on the city.
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People attempted to ski along the city’s historic Bourbon Street, and elsewhere in the city a priest and nuns engaged in a snowball fight.
In Texas, the first-ever blizzard warnings were issued for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border, where 6in (15cm) fell in Pine Forest.
In Houston, both major airports and Port Houston – one of the largest ports in the US – suspended operations.
Meanwhile, snow and ice triggered about 168 crashes involving vehicles in Harris County, the local sheriff said.
Snow has covered the white-sand beaches of normally sunny vacation spots, including Alabama and Florida, where snowploughs have been deployed.
Road closures have hit parts of Pensacola, Florida. Pic: Tampa Bay Times/AP
Ahead of the storm, governors in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida declared states of emergency.
The ice and snow forced the closure of airports not just in Texas, but Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi too.
Snowploughs have been clearing the runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Pic: AP
There were 2,718 flights cancelled on Tuesday and 20,323, delayed according to Flightaware.com
Severe winter weather is also hitting the northeastern US, where a state of emergency has been issued in at least a dozen New York counties, with up to 2ft (60cm) of lake-effect snow and extreme cold expected around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
Freezing temperatures saw inauguration proceedings in Washington DC moved inside the Capitol’s Rotunda for the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency on Monday.