Florida sees first snow in decades
A harsh winter storm dumped snow in Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday for the f irst time in nearly three decades before slogging up the Atlantic coast and smacking Southern cities such as Savannah and Charleston, S.C., with a rare blast of snow and ice.
Forecasters warned that the same system could strengthen into a “bomb cyclone” as it rolls up the East Coast, bringing hurricane-force winds, coastal flooding and up to a foot of snow.
At least 16 deaths were blamed on dangerously cold temperatures that for days have gripped wide swaths of the U.S. from Texas to New England.
A winter storm warning extended from the Gulf Coast of Florida’s “Big Bend” region all the way up the Atlantic coast. Forecasters said hurricane-force winds blowing offshore on Thursday could generate 24foot seas.
Schools in the Southeast called off classes just months after being shut down because of hurricane threats, and police urged drivers to stay off the roads in a region little accustomed to winter woes.
In Savannah, snow blanketed the city’s lush downtown squares and collected on branches of burly oaks for the first time in nearly eight years. William Shaw, a Savannah native, used baby steps to shuffle along a frozen road from his home to the post office.
“It almost seems the town is deserted just like in the last hurricane,” said Shaw, 65. “There’s no one on the street. It’s got a little eerie feeling.”
Dump trucks spread sand on major streets in Savannah before the storm, and police closed several bridges, overpasses and a major causeway because of ice.
By the time the morning’s dreary sleet and rain turned to fluffy snow, Savannah came out to play. The National Weather Service cited unofficial reports of up to 2 inches of snow. It was the city’s first measurable snowfall since February 2010, and families with children flocked to Forsyth Park near the downtown historic district for snowball fights.
Across the Georgia-South Carolina line in Charleston, unofficial reports showed up to 3 inches of snowfall, according to the weather service. There was enough snow outside Chris Monoc’s house for his sons, ages 4 and 2, to go sledding a mile from Charleston’s iconic Ravenel Bridge.
“They probably will be teenagers the next time something like this happens, and that’s kind of sad,” Monoc said. “But we’ll enjoy it while it is here.”
The icy weather forced airports to shut down in Savannah, Charleston and elsewhere. Interstate 95 was nearly an icy parking lot for 60 miles stretching north from the Georgia-South Carolina state line. State troopers couldn’t keep up with the number of reported wrecks, as they climbed into the hundreds.
In Tallahassee, Fla., Michigan transplant Laura Donaven built a snowman 6 inches tall. The city tweeted that snow fell there for the first time in 28 years.
“I made a snowball and threw it at my dad,” said Donaven, a 41-year-old hair salon owner.
The weather service said the winter storm will probably intensify into a “bomb cyclone” that could dump more than 8 inches of snow on the Boston area Thursday and at least half a foot of snow in the New York City region.
Meteorologists say most of the storm’s hurricane-force winds should stay out to sea until it nears Cape Cod, Maine and Canada. Weather Prediction Center lead forecaster Bob Oravec said coastal New England could see wind gusts up to 70 mph.
Blizzard warnings were issued from Rhode Island to Maine.
“It’s sort of akin to a hurricane traveling up the coast,” says Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at the private firm Weather.US.