‘Historic’ winter storms spark first ever blizzard warnings in parts of US Deep South
Rare winter storms have sparked extreme cold weather warnings – some of the first in history – for parts of the US Deep South.
Lake Charles, Louisiana, had a blizzard warning in place for the first time on record on Tuesday, local meteorologists said.
Historic snowfall of between three and six inches (eight and 15cm) was forecast across Houston, New Orleans, Alabama, and Florida, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
And Texas was bracing itself for never-before-seen snowfall of one inch (2.5cm) per hour on Tuesday into Wednesday, the forecasters said.
Heavy snow in Houston on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Police help residents in a suburb on New Orleans on Tuesday. Pic: AP
New Orlean’s French Quarter on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Blizzards are set to bring heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain all the way along the Gulf Coast from Texas to North Carolina – conditions usually only seen further north.
Meanwhile, Arctic air will also mean colder-than-usual winter temperatures to the US’s east coast and upper Midwest.
Residents in the Dakotas and other parts of the Midwest are being warned of the risks of hypothermia and frostbite amid forecast wind chills of between -34C and -46C.
Sledging in Houston. Pic: AP
Children play in the snow in Houston, Texas on Monday. Pic: Reuters
Snow covers Canal Street in downtown New Orleans on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Thousands of flights cancelled
Almost 2,000 flights were cancelled across the country on Tuesday, with around 10,000 other delays.
Both airports in Houston said they had suspended all flights in anticipation of the bad weather.
Snow being moved off the runway at closed George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Pic: AP
Before snow started to fall on Monday, the city’s mayor John Whitmire warned people across the state: “Get prepared to be in your house, in your residence, in your warming place for the next 48 hours.
“Don’t let even clear skies on Wednesday and other days fool you. This is a serious arctic blast.”
Meteorologist Daniel Jones said of record snowfall across the Deep South: “The last time we saw snow of this magnitude was way back in 1960.
“By modern standards this is going to be a historic and very memorable storm for this part of the world.”
Snow in Vermont on Tuesday. Pic: Reuters
Crews blast drifting snow from the streets in Benton Harbor, Michigan on Monday. Pic: AP
States of emergency have been declared by the governors of Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, where schools and businesses were told to close.
Ten counties in New York have also put in place emergency measures.
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.
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A state of emergency has been declared in South Carolina as wildfires caused by dry and gusty conditions have forced people to evacuate some areas.
More than 175 fires covered 6.6 square miles in the state on Sunday as the National Weather Service warned of an increased risk of blazes in the region.
The number of fires was down to 163 by early Monday, the state’s forestry commission said.
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on Sunday to support the wildfire response effort and a state-wide burning ban is in effect.
People in eight neighbourhoods were forced to evacuate as several fires raged in the state’s Horry County, officials said.
Soldiers used two Blackhawk helicopters to drop water 600 gallons at a time on the blazes, the South Carolina National Guard said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, firefighters made progress containing a fire in Carolina Forest, where people had been ordered to evacuate several neighbourhoods, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.
Footage showed some people running down the street as smoke filled the sky.
However, Horry County Fire Rescue announced by late Sunday that Carolina Forest evacuees could return home.
The Red Cross of South Carolina said approximately 135 Carolina Forest residents had taken shelter in a county recreation centre.
Smoke is seen rising from fires in Horry County. Pic: AP/Horry County Fire Rescue
The fire in the area had burned 2.5 square miles as of Sunday evening, the South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated.
No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.
It came as fire crews were working to contain multiple wildfires burning in four forests across North Carolina.
The largest covered around 0.6 square miles and burned in Uwharrie National Forest – about 50 miles east of Charlotte.
The North Carolina Forest Service said on Sunday that it had been made progress on the fire, reaching about one-third containment.
People flee an area in Myrtle Beach. Pic: AP
The small southwestern town of Tryon in Polk County, North Carolina, had urged some residents to evacuate on Saturday as a fire spread rapidly there.
The evacuations remained in effect on Sunday.
A decision on whether to lift the evacuation orders was expected to be made on Monday after intentional burns are set to try to stop the fire from spreading.
That fire had burned about 0.8 square miles as of Sunday evening, with 0% containment, according to the Polk County Emergency Management and Fire Marshal’s office.
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A helicopter drops water to help contain a fire in the Carolina Forest area. Pic: AP
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The North Carolina Forest Service was conducting water drops and back-burning operations on the ground and residents should expect a lot of smoke during those operations, officials said.
It comes as at least six active fires were burning in Georgia on Sunday, with nearly 5.8 miles burned in a seven-day span that brought the region gusty winds and low humidity, according to a Georgia Forestry Commission fire summary.
Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.
The dry and gusty conditions fuelling the fires are expected to fade as a cold front pushes out the dry air mass over the southeast of the US and brings rain by Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
The convergence of warmth, dry air and gusty winds is not inconsistent with the season’s La Niña weather phenomenon, which is associated with warmer, drier winters in the Carolinas, according to North Carolina State University.
The blazes come after two wildfires in Los Angeles killed 29 people and scorched thousands of acres across 24 days.
More than 18,000 structures were damaged or destroyed in the deadly Eaton and Palisades blazes, which swept across California in January.
Cryptocurrency prices have jumped after Donald Trump revealed he would like Bitcoin and other lesser-traded tokens to be in a new US strategic crypto reserve.
He said his January executive order on digital assets would create a stockpile of currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano (ADA).
The names had not previously been announced.
The American president said in a post on Truth Social: “A US Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA.”
“I will make sure the US is the Crypto Capital of the World.”
“And, obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be at the heart of the Reserve,” he said in a follow-up post. “I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!”
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, rose over 11% to $94,164 after Sunday’s announcement.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up around 13% at $2,516.
XRP surged 33% while the token tied to Solana jumped 25%. Cardano’s coin soared more than 60%.
Bitcoin was trading up around 20% from last week’s lows.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on cryptocurrencies in January. Pic: Reuters
The total cryptocurrency market rose about 10%, or more than $300bn (£238bn), in the hours since the announcement, according to cryptocurrency data and analysis company CoinGecko.
This is the first time Mr Trump has specified his support for a crypto “reserve” rather than a “stockpile”. While the former assumes actively buying crypto in regular installments, a stockpile would not sell any of the crypto currently held by the US government.
Mr Trump is hosting the first White House Crypto Summit on Friday, and investors will be watching closely for more clues about the direction of the reserve plans.
His family have also launched their own coins, including his wife Melania.
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Mr Trump first introduced the idea of a Bitcoin stockpile, which would “keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future” last summer at major industry conference Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.
After his re-election to the White House in November, there were more calls for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, helping to send the price of the flagship cryptocurrency to new all-time highs.
Under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, regulators cracked down on the industry in an attempt to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering.
Under Mr Trump, the Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn investigations into several crypto companies and dropped a lawsuit against Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US.
But in recent weeks, crypto prices have fallen sharply, with some of the biggest digital currencies erasing nearly all of the gains made after Mr Trump’s election win triggered excitement across the industry.
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