Southern Texas is facing a rare coating of ice as temperatures continue to plummet to record lows.
“The crazy thing is that the current cold snap this week looks to be a bit more modest in the face of next week’s outbreak,” Matt Rogers of the Commodity Weather Group told Bloomberg. “The cold coming for the end of January is sufficient to make this the coldest month of the century so far and the coldest the Lower 48 has felt in at least 20 years.”
Interstate 10 from Texas to Louisiana had to be closed because ice on the highway caused multiple accidents. State police warned residents to avoid the roadways as conditions deteriorated through the day Thursday and into Friday.
At least two deaths have been attributed to the icy accidents.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency because of the storm.
Texas officials are warning residents Friday that even if the winter weather warnings have been lifted, roads and bridges can freeze and be ice covered after dark.
National Weather Service models for Tropical Storm Karen now indicate the storm will make landfall in southwestern Louisiana some time Saturday afternoon.
High wind shear and dry air from the west have been hampering the storm’s ability to strengthen and it appears unlikely the storm will reach hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall. Tropical storm warnings are in place for the Louisiana coast while Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are under hurricane and tropical storm watches.
The National Hurricane Center says that the chances of Karen reaching hurricane status are 23%, down from 41% odds in Thursday’s afternoon forecast.
Forecasters also say it’s likely that high wind shear will weaken the storm west of the storm’s center when it makes landfall and that rainfall totals will be less than 3 inches. West of the center could see up to 8 inches of rain from the storm.
Models say the highest probability of tropical storm force winds is at Buras, Louisiana.
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Unlike Hurricane Katrina which rushed through New Orleans and Louisiana, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac have stalled sending over two feet of rain that has flooded the areas around New Orleans.
The upgraded levee system put in place after Hurricane Katrina spared the city itself of flooding but surrounding towns are under several feet of water. Continue reading →
Over two feet of rain has fallen over New Orleans and Louisiana as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac move very slowly to the north. The continual heavy rain is causing massive flooding issues including threatening to cause a dam to fail.
An immediate evacuation of Kentwood, Louisiana was issued just before 2pm on Thursday due to the possible failure of the Lake Tangipahoa Dam. The dam is located just across the Mississippi/Louisiana border in McComb, Mississippi. Mayor Whitney Rawlings said it was a 50/50 chance the dam would fail. Continue reading →
