an aerial view of a city
Photograph ©2025 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
Weather
··2 min read

Topsy Turvy Weather January 2025: Snow In The South

The weather has been really flaky lately.

Weather can be amazing — especially the topsy turvy weather of January 2025 with snow in the south — and I have been continually asked how portions of the southern United States received measurable accumulations of snow but points north of this area did not.

Topsy Turvy Weather January 2025: Snow In The South

Actually, the answer is quite simple: when the unusual occurrence of cold arctic air descends further south than normal — as was first indicated in this article here at The Gate With Brian Cohen — all that was needed was a system of significant precipitation to create the snow. The reason why areas generally south of Interstate 20 from southern Texas all the way to southern Virginia received measurable snow is simply because no precipitation was available north of Interstate 20 in many of these areas. That phenomenon is really no more unusual than areas south of Interstate 20 receiving torrential rain in the summer while areas north do not…

…but the difference in this case was that the air was cold enough to generate snow. The unusual part is the temperature of the air and not so much the actual precipitation itself.

As a result, historic records of snow records were either met or set in many areas — including New Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola. Milton set a new all-time record for any snow storm in Florida with 9.8 inches of snow; and the 13.4 inches of snow that was measured at Grand Coteau could break the all-time record for snow within 24 hours in Louisiana.

This lent to some interesting scenes across the southern United States — especially when some areas of the western panhandle of Florida received several inches of snow. Greater than eight inches of snow were reported in portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina; and some areas near New Orleans reportedly experienced an accumulation of almost a foot of snow.

All was not fun and games, however. Many airports in the southern United States closed due to the weather; and some are not reopening until tomorrow, Thursday, January 23, 2025, which resulted in the obvious cancellation of flights.

At least nine fatalities were reported as a result of the unusual winter weather.

Also, temperatures dipped down into the single digits on the Fahrenheit scale, which created record low temperatures in many areas. Portions of Alaska were warmer than many parts of the continental United States.

“I never thought I’d see the day that my family beach house in Mexico Beach, FL (just east of ECP) has more snow on the ground that at my home here in Wasilla, AK”, FlyerTalk member GagaPilot wrote. It’s insane.”

Now that is topsy turvy.

Final Boarding Call

All that is needed are the right conditions to produce the snowfall that accumulated in the southern United States. The frigid arctic air was in place. The precipitation came. Not often do these conditions exist in the southern United States; but the timing of the cold air and precipitation could not have been better and created a winter wonderland not seen in decades in many places.

When I was at Café Du Monde in New Orleans in November of 2023, the air was indeed cold enough for snow — but no precipitation was available.

As for my travels, my flight to New York concluded approximately two hours late; and my return flight to Atlanta was perhaps 30 minutes late at the most; so my travels were not all that affected by the weather.

Any of the snow which accumulated in Atlanta was mostly gone by earlier this afternoon, Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Photograph ©2025 by Brian Cohen.

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