Winter delivered a bone-chilling Christmas to much of the nation Saturday, but holiday travelers made it out in droves despite record snow that shut down highways two days earlier in the central states.
South Texas awoke to a rare blanket of snow, when up to 13 inches shattered records for the region. The deep freeze brought Victoria, Texas, its first white Christmas in 86 years and snarled holiday plans for thousands of travelers.
“It’s totally snowed over,” Tawnya Evans, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, said Saturday. “It’s unusual to see that here.”
“A bunch of people are excited because it’s a white Christmas.”
The snow was expected to melt as temperatures warmed into the 30s and 40s throughout Christmas Day, but Evans said some of it could refreeze overnight.
Conditions on Indiana highways were improving Saturday, two days after a winter storm dumped up to two feet of snow in some areas, followed by subzero temperatures.
Indiana State Police said traffic was moving, but almost all highways in southern Indiana were still covered by snow or ice.
The wintry mix caused hours-long delays on Interstate 65 about midway between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky., on Friday, when several semitrailers were jackknifed or stuck.
Authorities reopened a portion of Interstate 64 from the Illinois state line to Evansville in southwestern Indiana on Friday, a day after more than 100 stranded travelers were rescued from their snowbound vehicles, which hampered snow and salt trucks from clearing the highway, police said.
In Ohio, about 175,000 homes and businesses remained without power – down from 327,000 on Thursday. Some customers might not have electricity restored until Monday, American Electric Power officials said.
A few small churches in rural areas of south-central Indiana canceled Christmas services, while even more called off Christmas Eve services to keep parishioners off the treacherous roadways.
Startled New Orleans residents saw snow falling steadily – the first Christmas snow in 50 years and the first time in 15 years the city recorded any snowfall at all. Most of the flakes melted when they hit ground, but cars and lawns showed a modest layer of white.
Freezing rain, sleet and low temperatures forced Louisiana state police to shut down interstates and state highways on Saturday.
Still, AAA predicted a record 62 million people, including about 51 million motorists, would be traveling this weekend and next, when New Year’s Day also falls on a weekend.
Associated Press
Tom Hermansen takes his morning run in Corpus Christi, Texas, after more than 4 inches of snow blanketed the city on Saturday, breaking an 1895 record.
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing newstips@heraldnet.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to letters@heraldnet.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.
